A language learners’ forum

Oh, and a fantastic view that isn't the usual places ... Go up to Kong, the Restaurant. A bit fancy (expensive) but also possible to just get a drink at the bar early (it gets crowded). Best time is around sunset.

I always like to recommend people visit the Catacombs (old quarry and current ossuary) and the sewers (Think subterranian river as opposed to stinky teenage mutant ninja turtles type sewer).

Both of which have tours, both of which are a very different Paris; neither of which smell.

Any bookstore recs for books in other languages (ie not French)? I found an Italian one somewhere near the Poisonnière station; I'm interested in various Romance languages (including minority languages) and books about France/Paris in languages other than French or English.
Also, I'm kinda fascinated by all the posts BD's. I've seen a BD shop near Bastille but didn't enter. Have any good BD's been translated into other languages? Is it possible to find them in Paris?

My trip is so much better now that I understand a lot thanks to Italian. I'm still not actually learning French but I find myself trying to pronounce things correctly

I went to hammams a few times, they seem very authentic, owned by people of North African origins. Very relaxing after all the walking. You don't need to bring a towel or flip flops btw. A great place is Mille et une nuits.

On Friday I took a day trip to Lyon and Saint-Étienne. They're quite far away but Clare told me there's an express train to Lyon. I didn't see much of course but still yay. (this was after spending all of Thursday at the Disneyland... fantastic two days but omg exhausting)

Earlier I also went to Lens and Lille, these are even closer.

Otherwise... I got a metro card but today I've been fined 33 € for not putting my name and photo on it

Serpent wrote: I'm still not actually learning French

Un jour, tu basculeras du côté obscur de la force

I've found a link giving a few addresses. Check on Google, because they often change (pressure of money).
Attica is a library of textbooks and FLE (french as a second language) and the address has changed (south of paris, now)
The german library next to Beaubourg has closed a few months ago (it's not listed in the link, anyway)
There is also Gibert Jeune (the blue one, situated in the middle of the Boulevard St-Michel): they have italian and spanish books (not many) on the 2nd floor and the language library is on the 4th floor (a few BD in english, chinese: generally Tintin)
Joseph Gibert (the yellow one) at the right of the fountain St-Michel is listed in the link: a few italian and spanish books too...
There is also a polish library, 123 Boulevard Saint-Germain 75006

Second link lists also specialized libraries like gay, erotic, museums, travel, garden, etc (in french, but who knows...)

Though I haven't been there yet, I heard an interview on RFI in Portuguese with the owner of Librairie Portugaise & Brésilienne. Next time I'm in Paris, I'll pop round

Globo wrote:Com o Brasil como país homenageado, o idioma que nos une tomou espaço no Salão do Livro de Paris, que encerra hoje. Mas, ao longo do ano, os lusófonos habitantes ou visitantes de Paris nem precisam evocar a palavra mais bonita da língua portuguesa: é possível matar a saudade na Librairie Portugaise & Brésilienne, um espaço dedicado a edições de diversos autores brasileiros, portugueses e africanos, na língua original ou em versões traduzidas para o francês.

A fachada é linda, de um azul acolhedor como os azulejos típicos das ruas lusitanas - especialmente de uma Lisboa aconchegante, terra mãe de nossa bela língua. link

19/21 rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques
75005 PARIS (place de l’Estrapade)
À 20 m du Panthéon... Tél. : 01 43 36 34 37
Du lundi au samedi, 11-13h 14h-19h
website

many thanks
what about the minority languages, including Occitan or Franco-Provençal? I was hoping to find something in Lyon but I didn't.
I also forgot to mention Yiddish. Do you think I can get any books or learning materials in Paris? I'm also interested in workbooks for the Hebrew alphabet.

Well, most BDs don't get translated, but there are some. Persepolis and others by Satrapi have been translated, and others (I'll try to remember and let you know). Asterix has been translated to tons of languages, including minority ones and Latin.

Astérix a ainsi été traduit en 107 langues selon les éditions Albert-René (112 si on y ajoute quatre éditions pirate en lituanien, mandarin, cinghalais et thaï, ainsi qu'une publication d'Obélix et Compagnie en groenlandais sous forme de feuilleton dans le quotidien Atuagagdliutit en 1981 et 1982). Les albums sont d'abord traduits par une personne vers la langue de destination, puis retraduits par une autre en français et relus par Albert Uderzo et René Goscinny pour s'assurer du bon niveau de la traduction[réf. nécessaire].

Plusieurs albums ont été traduits dans des langues régionales ou minoritaires. En France, l'album « La rentrée gauloise » a été traduit dans 6 langues régionales, mais c'est en Allemagne qu'on trouve le plus grand nombre de traductions dans des parlers régionaux (65 albums et 29 dialectes)54.

Astérix a également été traduit en latin avec l'album Le ciel lui tombe sur la tête (Caelum in caput ejus cadit)55.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ast%C3%A9 ... 8s_mondial

Thank you
Is there any big bookstore that is worth checking out no matter what you're looking for?
FWIW these are the places I mentioned: La libreria; BDnet Bastille.
Persepolis is the next read of Emma Watson's book club so I'm definitely interested in getting it, in an IGS language (or smth else but not English/Russian/French, obviously) any idea where? the Italian and Portuguese bookstores' sites don't list it, at least.

Serpent wrote:FWIW these are the places I mentioned: La libreria

I did go there of course. Even this place had a lot of books in French, including those that have nothing to do with the Italian language or culture. The ground floor is all French books and you have to go downstairs to find Italian ones. There was a decent selection of travel stuff, learning materials, a whole section with parallel texts and international literature (in Italian, from Coelho to Gogol and whatnot). Surprisingly few of the books were translations from French btw. Apparently it's not common for the French to learn languages by reading French books in translation. Oh and they also had kids' books and BD's in Italian, books on linguistics and generally non-fition. Of course Italian fiction was available, too.
I also went to a big FNAC store on Champs Elysée, which had a woeful selection of non-French books, including language learning materials. I would've bought Persepolis in English but they didn't have it. Very few BD's in English.
Now I'm back in Moscow btw. I didn't see any actual bookstore at the CDG airport, just the usual Relay chain with their small selection of things like crime. I've also seen many books about Paris of course, but those not in French or English seemed pretty basic. After two visits to Paris, I didn't feel like they could give me anything interesting, apart from random cool details. They were available at various museums/touristy places and at the airport too (don't remember if I've seen them at Relay or a souvenir store).

This is way late for Cavesa's visit, but if anyone else looks here for advice I have three places to visit from things that have come up in my French studies.

1. The house of Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist and a character in Harry Potter, is the oldest standing house in Paris. Apparently he didn't actually live there at any time, but he owned the house. It is on Rue de Montmorency, which is a few streets north of the Pompidou Centre. I haven't visited, but it was one of the clues to the mystery in the A1 book Enquête capitale, so I intend to look for it when I visit Paris next.

2. Fontaine Stravinsky which my kids were excited to visit because it featured in every episode of French in Action (many of which they watched with me). It's fairly well-known, but a cool place to hang out for a while just south of the Pompidou Centre.

3. La dame de Canton is a restaurant in a Chinese junk on the river Seine. This is another one I haven't visited yet, but I learned about it because it's a hangout for the cops in Boulevard du palais, so it will be another must-see on my mythical upcoming visit to Paris. Reviews are mixed, but I imagine going for a drink between meal times would be the best bet anyway (if they're open then).