That’s a good question and it depends greatly upon where you are in France.
It’s a fundamental part of living in France that can leave foreigners a little flummoxed.
“La bise” is the way people greet each other by exchanging kisses on the cheek.
In France, cheek kissing is called “faire la bise”.
A popular French joke states that you may recognize the city you are in by counting the number of cheek kisses, as it varies across the country.
It is very common, in the southern parts of France, even between males, be they relatives or friends, whereas in the north, it is less usual for two unrelated males to perform ′la bise′. The custom came under scrutiny during the H1N1 epidemic of 2009. Generally speaking, women will kiss both women and men, while men will kiss women but refrain from kissing other men, unless they are close friends or relatives, instead preferring to shake hands with strangers.
However, it depends where you are in France as to how many kisses are given – from one in Finisterre in Brittany up to 5 in Corsica.
Where does this beloved tradition come from? And what are the rules? Genie Godula and Florence Villeminot teach you the basics of “bise etiquette” and how to avoid giving an unintentional French kiss.
Incidentally, La Bise is also the name of a cold, dry wind in Switzerland which blows through the Swiss Plateau from the northeast to the southwest.
How many bises according to region in France
How many kisses are a traditional greeting in your country / region?
Before listening, do you know what bucket lists are?
While listening.
1. Does Sue want to swim with dolphins?
2. Where does Chris want to go for his bucket list?
3. Where does Sue say she thinks the Northern Lights are?
Listen to the podcast and try the following :
First relax, sit down, close your eyes then listen to the podcast all the way through.
Note down some ideas of what you expect the Podcast will be about. If needed have a look on the Internet for the keyword, ‘Bucket Lists’ to prepare yourself for the listening. Here is a link HERE and HERE to start you off.
Listen to JUST Sue, ignoring Chris and try to work out globally what her questions and comments are. (you won’t understand everything, so there is no point trying at this point.)
Listen to just Chris as above.
Now go back and listen to Sue – take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, on the left of the paper, write any ideas that you have of what Sue was talking about.
Now do the same for Chris.
Now listen to the podcast all the way through THEN write down any more ideas that you have about the podcast.
Leave the podcast for a day or two, then come back and listen.
Do you understand any more than from the first session of listening you did?
How do you rate the difficulty level for you? (Too difficult at the moment / A challenge / I understand enough).
When will you return to this podcast to check your listening progress?
Remember :
You won’t understand everything you hear.
There is a lot of regular work to do to tune your ear into Real English – you need to work on listening regularly.
NEVER write notes at the same time that you are listening.
ALWAYS – try to set yourself realistic objectives.
REMEMBER – this is just a part of your learning and you need to be able to connect this work with your other work.
This is REAL English – we don’t believe that slow, over-articulated speech prepares learners for the real world – you may be able to understand an audio extract that is spoken slowly, but what good is that if you don’t understand real people in real situations.
At english-podcasts.com we want to help you to be ready for the real world – it will be difficult at first, but later you will feel the benefit – it is just pure, common sense.
Top Ten Marriage Proposal Fails – Oh dear – it’s Valentine’s day and I’ll bet there are lots out there that are going to pop the question today … but, is it a good idea?
Are you sure that he or she will say, yes?
If you are planning to propose, make sure you know 100% that he or she will say YES!
Otherwise you will look like one of these poor guys here – watch and learn what not to do.
Are you able to sweep your Valentine off of their feet with your charm or do your actions lead to you having a quiet cup of tea with the curtains drawn alone?
Test out your romantic prowess with our Valentin’s Boot Camp and see how your partner, or future partner, really sees you.
How will you do?
After doing this tongue-in-cheek quiz … you will know just how good your Valentine’s day is going to be…
Happy? …. Sad? …. Don’t care? …
Do you need to stay at home, in a dark room with a cup of tea on Valentine’s night?
Do you have hope, but you still need to do a little work on your romantic side?
Are a bit of a smooth operator? If so, Valentine’s day should go without a hitch for you.
Is your first name Romeo or Juliette? – happy Valentine’s day to you if it is!
Is any available person not safe on Valentine’s day with you on the loose!
Can you survive our St Valentine’s Boot Camp quiz?
Can you survive our Valentine’s Boot Camp quiz?
Will you woo your Valentine on February 14th or will your Valentine see through
you? Check out this tongue-in-cheek quiz to see if you are really a true
romantic or just an imposter ! The Boot Camp experience is known for being
tough, so get ready for our tough questions to put you through your romantic
paces. Take a deep breath,.... go..........
How many bises according to region in France
