Day 2087 (Friday) 24th February 2023.

Today’s photos

The Gorge du Verdon

This is Saint Tropez

When I got to the Maybourne Riviera I had a lovely surprise; my room was being used for another training station so I had to go to a room. I was expecting a different room for the staff but when my students took me up to the 12th floor and into a guest suite I was amazed. It costs 10,000€ a night and has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two sitting rooms and two dressing rooms.

This is one of the dressing rooms

Recently the lead vocalist of Depeche Mode stayed in this suite and one of my students was called to his room and found him fast asleep on the sofa with his mouth hanging open – at first Stephane thought he was dead but he was just asleep. I Googled him when I got home and I can’t work out how he has enough money to spend 10,000€ a night in the Maybourne.

Dave Gahan is the lead vocalist and co-songwriter for the Alternative Rock and New Wave band Depeche Mode. He was born in North Wealed, Essex, United Kingdom on 9th May 1962. Depeche Mode was formed in 1980 by Vince Clarke, Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore. They recruited Gahan later that year. Clarke left in 1981 to pursue other projects and was replaced by Alan Wilder, who left in 1995. Depeche Mode is now comprised of Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher.

Originally an Alternative New Wave Synth-Pop band with their own unique sound - and Gahan's unique baritone vocals - Depeche Mode discovered an instant audience with their first two albums 'Speak & Spell' (1981) and 'A Broken Frame' (1981), both making the top ten in the UK. It was the top ten album and single 'Construction Time Again' and 'Everything Counts' (respectively) in 1983 that would convey a significant shift in the band's sound - a more mature sound - and would catapult Gahan and Depeche Mode into the international arena. The music has often been controversial, especially 'Master and Servant' (and 'Blasphemous Rumours' which is a dark yet wry look at the misery in the world and what part religion plays in this). The single was banned from many American Radio Stations.

The early 1990s saw another shift towards the Alernative Rock sound, Gahan admitting he was influenced by the Seattle Grunge Scene. He particularly liked the sound of the bands Nirvana and Jane's Addiction. The new Depeche Mode album, 'Songs of Faith and Devotion', was indeed a dark project, at times moody and introspective, with the distorted guitars synonymous with Grunge. The album debuted at number one in America and the United Kingdom.

Gahan has since worked on solo projects, as well as continuing to serve as lead vocalist for Depeche Mode. He has shared in no less than 15 top ten albums and more than 40 top forty singles with Depeche Mode. The band have become one of the biggest alternative acts in music history. Gahan has had additional success with his solo albums 'Paper Monsters' and 'Hourglass'.

It has quite a mini-bar

This is one of my groups – left to right, Keliane, Remy and Stephane

I worked in there for three hours and it was difficult to focus because of the view.

Huw and I are still struggling with learning French and I found these tips on The Local France – I’m not sure how helpful they are but…

A language expert’s top three tips for learning French

Many people struggle with learning French, a language with plenty of complex grammar rules and tricky gendered nouns. The Local asked French language expert Camille Chevalier-Karfis her top three tips to help you learn French more efficiently.

Learning French can be a daunting experience – the grammar is complicated (oh, the dreaded subjunctive) and pronunciation can differ greatly to how the word is actually written on paper.

For most people their French-learning journey will be a long one with a mixture of formal classes, informal French practice with friends, neighbours and colleagues and some learning aids like French TV or radio.

But there’s always room for a little help in making your language-learning as efficient as possible, so The Local spoke with French language expert Camille Chevalier-Karfis, teaches French and runs the website French Today. 

Here are her three top tips to boost your progress;

Tip 1: Learn French with Audio

“I am amazed to see that there are so many people who are still learning French only from books, and as such they do not have the pronunciation”, said Camille.

She explained that pronunciation can be particularly tricky with French, especially if you are only learning using written text.

She noted the trouble language learners have with liaisons in French. For instance, the phrase Ils ont (They have) is roughly pronounced ‘ils zont’ with the liason between both words.

Other phrases like Je suis allé (I went) and Je ne sais pas (I do not know) also have liaisons which make the pronunciation different from what one might expect when looking at the written version.

“When it comes to learning French, stick to level appropriate audio, if you are a beginner, find audio made for beginners”, she told The Local.

“Learn everything with audio alongside. Don’t just use it for conversations”.

So when it comes to learning how to conjugate, build your vocabulary, or anything else, seek out ways to hear what it sounds like too.

Tip 2: Don’t over-intellectualise your approach

Camille’s second tip is basically summarised as “keep it simple”.

“A lot of students learn French as an intellectual challenge – they are interested in the mental stimulation they get from trying to decipher French grammar”, she explained.

“A lot of people hate French grammar but in fact, a lot of people also love French grammar – they approach it like a mathematical problem and they want to challenge their brains”. 

However, she cautioned against turning French learning into too much of an intellectual puzzle.

“That is something you can do on top of your French studies. But if you are learning French to communicate, you need to do exactly the contrary – you need to simplify your sentences”, she elaborated.

“You cannot show your wit in French…in the beginning”.

Tip 3: Be humble

Finally, the French language expert recommends staying humble.

“You are going to make mistakes, there is no way around it”, Camille said, adding that many language-learners feel frustrated by their inability to express themselves the way they would like to.

“You cannot show your real voice when you’re still learning”, the expert told The Local. “But please do not think people will think you are stupid because you cannot conjugate a verb in its correct form.

“And if they do think you’re stupid then they are the stupid ones because you are the one speaking French!”

The other thing she mentioned is a possible cultural difference that Anglophone French-learners might stumble upon in France.

“The French have a tendency to correct people. French is a difficult language and that’s how we teach French to our children. We correct them all the time, and we tend to do the same thing to adults.

“Don’t take it personally if you are corrected. It does not mean they think you are stupid, it’s just that they are so accustomed to doing this that it may not have crossed their mind that it might block you from speaking French”.