April Fools Day in France
Posted by Adam on 1st Apr 2016 in the blog in the french culture category
- Share:
-
-
Poisson d'Avril
Did you know that April fools day is called "poisson d'Avril" in France? The literal translation is: "fish of April".
What's the tradition?
It is traditional to cut a fish shape out of a piece of paper and stick it on someone's back without them seeing it. Rumours say that the tradition was born in the sixteenth century following the change of the new calendar year when Kings Charles IV of France changed the start of the year from the end of March to the first of January. At that time, people who failed to keep up with this change and so still celebrated New Year at the end of March and beginning of April had jokes played on them.
Check out some of our other blog posts!
Why the funny paint names?
Posted on by Adam in the categoryFancy paint names have never been so fashionable nowadays but do paint industries think of us when they ask us to remember which colour is 'Je m'appelle Missy' or 'Bonjour!'? Put it this way, I can only say that my 50 shades of grey searching was not as exciting as the book (unfortunately, wink, wink).
Read more
Tips to avoid cabin fever during self-isolation
Posted on by Nancy in the learning french categoryA lot is still unknown about the coronavirus right now, and many countries and cities are implementing lockdowns and many are taking it upon themselves to practise social distancing by self-isolating for a minimum of fourteen days.
Have fun learning French Today
People from all over the world enjoy learning French with Alexa Polidoro’s popular French audio and video lessons.