Célébrations de Mariage Français- French Wedding Celebrations!

French weddings are found to be a lot more traditional in the small villages of France. In the earlier days, the bride’s best dress was made into a wedding gown by adding lace and beads to it. However, the customary white dress soon took over, as it symbolized the innocence and purity of the bride. Earlier on, blue was a symbol of purity.

It is French tradition that the ‘wedding armoire’, also known as the ‘hope chest’, carries the bride’s ‘trousseau’, which literally means bundle. The trousseau is a bundle of her linens, silks etc. This hope chest is hand-carved by the future bride’s father and is given to her while she is still an adolescent. She then collects the favourite clothes from her wardrobe in this chest, to take to a new home, as a souvenir of her prosperous and happy childhood.

The wedding itself is carried out traditionally only in villages today. The groom calls upon his future wife on the wedding day. They walk to the venue of the wedding together, and on their way, the kids in the crowd hold out white ribbons to block the bride’s way, and it is custom that she cuts each of them.

The wedding is carried out as per normal customs. A square silk cloth, called a ‘carre’, which means square, is held over the bride and groom as they receive the final blessings of the priest. The same ‘carre’ is later used for the baptism of their child.

As the newlyweds walk out of the chapel, the people shower them with rice, as rice is a symbol of prosperity and fertility. At the wedding reception, the couple toast to each other in an engraved, two-handled cup ‘la coupe de mariage’ meaning the wedding cup.

A toast and a party finish off the ceremony with greeting and blessing from family and friends!

Click here to learn French at SIFIL now!

Bon Appétit!

French food has evolved a lot over time. From it’s inception, it has been modified and played around with by a number of chef. During the medival ages, the french aristocracy saw a large use of banquets where the food was served service en confusion – which means all at once. Beef was salted, pork was salted and smoked and bacon and sausages were smoked in the chimney. Fruits, nuts and vegetables were boiled in honey and preserved. Food presentation was taken very seriously and a dish had to be very visually appealing. Thus, the colour from various condiments were used to enhance the display of a dish.

The French Revolution played a huge role in shaping French cuisine. It was during this period that French cuisine was refined and the famous mother sauces were discovered – espagnole, velouté, and béchamel. Soufflés, too made an appearance during this period.

The most popular french dishes are the baguette – a kind of french bread which is usually eaten during breakfast. The chocolate mousse – which is prepared from egg and cream. The ever popular Éclair – which is a long pastry with a cream centre and icing. Crêpe – these are pancakes that have been made from wheat and flour. Bouillabaise – which is a fish stew with different kinds of cooked fish that have been infused with various herbs and spices to add flavour and Ratatouille – a dish prepared with a lot of fresh vegetables, usually in the summer and can often be eaten either as a side dish or a whole.

French cuisine goes hand in hand with the most popular beverage – wine.

Enrol yourself at SIFIL ELTIS today and enjoy some great French food too! Bon appetit!

Parlez Vous Française?

FRANCE
Capital - Paris
Currency - Euro
Population - 65,821,885
Religion - Roman Catholicism




500 million people worldwide speak French as either a first, second or foreign language. French has been derived from Latin (essentially, vulgar Latin.) The nasal sound in theFrench language plays a huge part in the phonology. It is the official language in 30 countries .

French is the second most common language in Canada and the official language in Quebec. The difference between the French spoken in Quebec and the french spoken in France is similar to American english and British English.

The language is written using the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet with the four diatrics or accents appearing on the vowels. French spelling is extremely difficult to try and spell depending on the sound - something, we often do in English.

Learning a language like French, which is spoken in so many continents, will help you immensely when it comes to job selections as well as embracing the culture and tradition of various places. Surprisingly, it can also help you improve on your english vocabulary as over 40% of French words have been derived from the english language. Your proficiency in French will also improve your grammar skills and give you a huge advantage over a lot of people.

France is also one of the most visited places in the world. The language is so smooth and has always been categorized as romantic. Isn’t that encouragement enough to start learning?

SIFIL-ELTIS is going to conduct a French Language batch from the 22nd of February. Enroll today and show off your smooth French accents!

ELTIS – The English Language Teaching Institute of Symbiosis

Learning a different language is not everyone’s forte. People often choose to learn a new language in an attempt to try and learn the different cultures and embrace all they can learn from it. Languages like French, German, and Spanish are now considered to be part of every layman’s vocabulary. People are now testing the waters with much more exotic languages like Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. 

The scope languages like Mandarin and Japanese have now is mind boggling! Business translation is a hot new job up for grabs for those that can handle it. However, learning these languages as a mere hobby is always an asset. You never know when your multi-lingual skills may come in handy. 

ELTIS also offers a short-term and long-term English language course for foreign students. The timings offered are flexible and can suit the needs of working professionals and students. They also offer a "Speakfast" course module which has rapid training sessions that skims through the basics of the English language which enables foreign students to communicate better.