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French Friday Roundup week 14

Owen — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:25:40 +0000

Come join us for French Friday's at Delicatessen

French Friday’s is a long running group brought to you by Narelle of English in Toulouse.

The idea is that native French and native English speakers get together and spend half the time speaking in English and half in French to improve our language abilities. Sometimes we favor one language over the other but we usually speak them both, and you can certainly insist. We meet at Delicatessen which is a bar that serves coffee, tapas, and of course beer and wine. Come for a drink, a bite to eat, stay a little while or a long time, speak English, French, or both, we are flexible, until we are not. Start your weekend right!

What happened this week at English in Toulouse’s French Friday?

One thing to resolve this week is the issue of people coming and going throughout the evening and “forgetting” to pay. I agreed to help police this by insisting people pay as they order, but also the bar needs to insist too. I am torn by being direct and risking looking mean or trying a nuanced approach. Hmmm not really much of a choice here if you know what I mean.

It turns out, I didn’t have to be mean, once everyone started ordering and paying and the bar participated it went smoothly. Of course I left around 21h so if there was a tab still to be paid I don’t know about it yet, but the bar was told that from now on no one would be responsible for unpaid bills, pay as you go or don’t come at all seems to work.

We had some new people show up, some of whom were expecting to speak English and some French. There is not a good system in place to rotate the language so we usually end up speaking whatever language people want, but for newcomers this might not be so good. It worked out last night though.

It was a little lighter than normal in terms of attendance, I guess Easter vacation’s effect, that and maybe the super warm and beautiful weather we are having, it was a shame to be indoors at that hour. There is a terrace out front but not enough room for days when we reach 35 people or so.

Some went on to de Danu to watch the rugby match, which one? don’t ask me, I have no idea, just to illustrate you can come for coffee, a drink, a bite to eat, some networking and later go on for more fun. A little something for everyone.

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English in Toulouse May 15

Owen — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:45:32 +0000

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English in Toulouse meets today at Bapz from 4-7. English in Toulouse is a group of native speakers of English AND non-native speakers who want to practice, perfect, and speak English. Bapz is located just off Rue de Metz on Rue de la Bourse. See the map here.

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I never thought I would like getting together with other English speakers while living in France. In fact, I really enjoy it now. At first I was like, why would I do that, I moved to France, I want to speak French. I speak French all the time now and my level has greatly improved. I still find language barriers and get frustrated trying to express exactly what is in my head. Meeting with others in English in Toulouse is now more important to me than at the beginning of my life in France. I love being able to tell a joke from beginning to end without having to think too hard. I love laughing at the right moment. I love saying slightly cynical things at all the right times.

Join us at English in Toulouse today. I’m going in just a few moments. We are at a table near the front to the right.

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English in Toulouse- Friday Afternoons

Owen — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:32:46 +0000

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Bapz Tea House

Do you want to practice your English? Are you a native English speaker looking to connect socially with other English speakers? Whatever your reasons are, come to English in Toulouse on Friday afternoons at Bapz Tea House from 4-7. Each Friday English in Toulouse meets informally at Bapz. No registration is required, just come and hang out. Coffee, tea, pastries, etc are all served at Bapz. We are the big table to the right against the wall in the middle when you walk in. It will make sense when you get there. We don’t wear signs.

English in Toulouse site

Don’t get lost! Here’s a map to help you.

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English in Toulouse

Owen — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:59:28 +0000

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English in Toulouse is a group that is totally bilingual in French and English. They are located in Toulouse, France. Before we moved here Jean-Jacques went to a French Fridays meeting. He met some really great people and had a very nice time. They try to strive for a group that has a high level of fluency in both languages so you can practice one or the other and not get bogged down with beginners. For some reason we didn’t manage to go back to the group until some 7 months after we lived here. Visit the website here. They held a picnic at a park in the Jolimont neighborhood of Toulouse, See picture below. If you live in Toulouse and want to practice either English or French sign up for French Fridays here. It is a very nice group of people. This picnic was called Christmas in July. It is based on the idea that in the southern hemisphere Christmas falls in the summer time so the whole snow motif doesn’t make sense, so in July in the southern hemisphere there is snow, if at all, and the typical “Christmas” weather. It was a hot day in Toulouse though.