I (Chris) started blogging when we moved from the United States to Switzerland. It has been an easy and fun way to share our experiences and keep in touch with our many friends. The result is Chris and Sue’s Excellent (?) Adventures which is viewed not only by friends and family but increasingly also by strangers who “liked”, commented on and even started following the blog. This is my first ever blog entry which was posted on November 15, 2009 at 2am !

I am surprised how this project has been continuing for almost three years. New post goes up on average twice a week but it does take time and effort to fix the selected photos and write about them. And now I am re-starting my French classes, with home work and all, less time will be available.

So, this is the idea. Rather than stopping or reducing the output, what if I blog about the language and my attempt to learn it? I can even write about my observations of its usage in my surroundings. While this must have been done many times before, it is an experiment that is worth trying. These posts will certainly help me retain what was taught in class (at least if memory fades, I can look it up online). Wikipedia has this map showing the Francophone countries.

While it is not difficult to find a topic for sharing online, it can be a struggle to continuously find interesting things to post under the chosen topic and to make it enjoyable to read so that people will return for more. So here are several ideas on what I might post. With most languages (except perhaps computer languages), there are always some exceptions to the grammar and usage rules. The irregularities and exceptions are the bane of any language student as each has to be learned individually. I might write something about these oddities which are commonly used.

Another topic of interest is the so-called “false friends” or faux amis – pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects that look or sound similar, but differ in meaning. Maybe I would also explore the root of certain words which has a common origin with English.

All the photos here were taken somewhere in Lyon in 2010.

Expect to see these posts once in a while, and I will try to keep them entertaining. Á bientôt.