-
鶹ýӳ: jouer à l’oreille and more musical phrases
Fine-tune your music-themed vocabulary for the fête de la musique on June 21
-
Three reading recommendations: books about France in English
Tips for trying to make French friends, a gripping tale set in Paris, and romantic easy-reading set in Provence
-
鶹ýӳ: nouns that even native speakers commonly misgender
‘The struggle is real’, says our French writer Théophile Larcher - see if you can score higher than him in our mini quiz
Soft in the Head

Soft in the Head, Marie-Sabine Roger, Pushkin Press, £8.99 ISBN: 978-1-78227-1581
HIS mother calls him a “halfwit” but something is unleashed when 45-year-old Germain starts an unusual and life-transforming friendship with 85-year-old Margueritte.
They become friendly after chatting when he goes to count the pigeons in the square and she introduces him to books. Soon Germain learns the value and power of words.
Uplifting, bright and hopeful from the first pages, this is a wonderful little book. It follows Germain perfectly from the short tabloidese of the first chapters to the longer, more thoughtful vocabulary later. Frank Wynne’s translation is superb.