IB FRENCH SURVIVAL GUIDE

Bonjour à tous! Bienvenus! 

I have posted May 2014 Examination Papers 1 & 2 without markschemes. If you are interested in the markschemes please send me a message via email at julesfranco@ibfrenchsurvivalguide.com and we can discuss further. 

Furthermore, I would like to announce that IB French B SL & HL Survival Guide will no longer be branded under that name. Come December 15 2018, the website will relaunch under IB French Survival Guide.

What is the difference? Currently the website serves students all around the world studying the French B SL and HL curricula. Beginning next month, I will be adding materials, resources, and past papers that students studying the curricula of French AB Initio and French A SL and HL students can utilise for their studies.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns... leave them down below. N'hésitez pas de m'envoyer un message sur Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr ou même ici!

à bientôt!

​-Jules 

Bonjour à tous et bienvenus! Je suis content de te revoir. I must apologise for the lack of content being posted as of late. I have been busy with a few projects and will be launching some new exciting features and experiences to this website. Enough on that let us get to today's word of the day which is 'embaumer'. 

Origin:

The word embaumer's first recorded use dates back to 1711! Over the years, the popularity of the word has declined. But what does it mean?

Etymology:

The word embaumer's etymology is comprised of the following:

The prefix originates from the Old French en- which stems from the Latin in-, meaning ("in, into, on, onto"). The prefix can also denote that the word at hand will have something to do with covering or causing.

The root originates from the Old French, basme, which comes from the Latin balsamum which borrows from Ancient Greek's βάλσαμον (bálsamon). This word translates to 'balm' in English. Collins Dictionary defines the word balm as the following:

1. any of various oily aromatic resinous substances obtained from certain tropical trees and used for healing and soothing

2. any plant yielding such a substance, esp the balm of Gilead

3. something comforting or soothing

4. any aromatic or oily substance used for healing or soothing

The suffix -er is used to denote that the word is a verb that you can conjugate.

Okay. I know you're thinking to yourself, "Why do I need to know any of this"? I will tell you. If you start to understand what the prefixes and suffixes of words are and mean, you will be able to guess the meaning of a word simply by looking at it. This proves rather helpful when you are in the exam room and you come across a word that you are unsure of its meaning or context in relation to the rest of the text. The image below will visually present to you all the information I have provided you thus far. 

Translation:

Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please! The moment you have all been waiting for and by now may have already guessed... THE TRANSLATION! The word of the day, embaumer, translates to "embalm" in English. Collins dictionary defines the word embalm as follows:

1. to treat (a dead body) with preservatives, as by injecting formaldehyde into the blood vessels, to retard putrefaction
2. to preserve or cherish the memory of
3. to give a sweet fragrance to

Can You Use It In A Sentence?
​
The following is a short excerpt from chapter eight of Antoine De Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince. In this excerpt the Little Prince talks about never trusting the flowers on his home planet and furthermore expressed the distress he felt from the sweet fragrance the flowers provided him and his planet. I can go on and analyse this more but this is not a literary lecture. So here you go!

"J'aurais dû ne pas l'écouter, me confia-t-il un jour, il ne faut jamais écouter les fleurs. Il faut les regarder et les respirer. La mienne embaumait ma planète mais je ne savais pas m'en réjouir. Cette histoire de griffes, qui m'avait tellement agacé, eût dû m'attendrir..."

Il me confia encore:

"Je n'ai alors rien su comprendre! J'aurais dû la juger sur les actes et non sur les mots. Elle m'embaumait et m'éclairait. Je n'aurais jamais dû m'enfuir! J'aurais dû deviner sa tendressse derrière ses pauvres ruses. Les fleurs sont si contradictoires! Mais j'étais trop jeune pour savoir l'aimer"