Le Premier Mai
In France, May 1st isn't just a holiday ... it's two holidays!
Bonjour !
You probably know that May 1st is a holiday in France - but did you know that it's actually two holidays?
le Premier Mai =
la fête du Travail
la fête du Muguet
Both la fête du Travail (Labor Day) and la fête du Muguet (Lily-of-the-valley Day) fall on the first of May, so what's the deal? This issue of Lawless French à fond has everything you need to know about these springtime celebrations.
Videos
Watch these videos to learn about the two faces of le 1er Mai while practicing your French listening comprehension. (There's always a transcript and translation if you need help.)
Bonne fête du Premier Mai ! (B1)
What's the connection between these two seemingly unrelated holidays?
D'où vient la fête du Travail ? (B2)
The international history of France's fête du Travail.
Pourquoi y a-t-il une fête du Travail ? (B2)
Adorable animated video about French Labor Day.
Slideshow
📜 Premier Mai, poème de Victor Hugo (C1)
Discover some photos of the renowned French poet while listening to a recitation of his beautiful ode to the 1st of May.
🙋 B1 - B2 - C1 ?
These are 3 of the 6 CEFR language proficiency levels.
Lessons
Demonstrations and Strikes
Because it's Labor Day, May 1st in France is usually marked by workers' marches and protests. Here's some vocabulary to help you make sense of them.
❓ Jours fériés
May 1st is un jour férié - but what does that actually mean?
📅 Dates
Learn how to talk about dates in French.
🥇 Ordinal Numbers
Premier is the first ordinal number - find out what comes second, third, and beyond.
🌼 Flowers
Discover French names for more flowers.
Writing
Going lily-of-the-valley picking
Practice your French translation skills with this B2-level writing exercise.
Quiz Time
La tradition du muguet en France
Test yourself on adjective agreement with this themed quiz.
Vive le printemps !
Test yourself on some French vocabulary for spring in this fill-in-the-blanks quiz.
Célébrez !
📫 Greeting Cards
Surprise your favorite Francophile with a virtual muguet.
💗 Remerciements
Thanks for reading Lawless French à fond - see you again soon!
In the meantime, I wish you a ...
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📧 Partagez !
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