cat3unit1 C'est À Toi 3 - Unit 1
This is what I found about "montagnes russes."
1A:
Classroom Expressions

I just participated in the Summer Institute in Alsace and Savoie with Roland and Catherine Durette (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.)  It was "formidable!"  One day I asked Catherine (a native of
France who taught HS in the US for 19 years) to give me the "real" French equivalent of certain classroom expressions. Some of the terms (marked by an asterisk) don't exist because the French "lycee" is different from the American HS, but she suggested acceptable expressions.

un manuel - a textbook (NOT un texte!)
un proviseur - HS principal
un proviseur adjoint - HS assistant principal
une interro  - a short quiz
une interro orale - speaking evaluation
un contrôle  - a quiz, slightly
larger that "une interro"
un examen - a test
un concours - a competition, or a test such as the AP exam
faire un brouillon - to do a rough draft
une rédaction - a composition
*un carnet de notes - a grade card--in France they have a "carnet" (booklet) for their grades, not a piece of paper or computer printout
*un permis de sortie - hall pass (not used in France, where they can just ask permission and leave!)
*un permis d'entree (accent aigu on the second e) - an admit slip (again, not used in France)
être renvoyé - to be suspended (Catherine didn't know the expression for "to have a detention")
une polycopie - a photocopy
polycopier - to photocopy
le labo de langues - language lab
le labo d'ordinateurs - computer lab
Rendez-moi vos papiers - Hand in your papers
Taisez-vous!  - Be quiet!  (They NEVER use the expression "Fermez la bouche!")
(You can also say "Calmez-vous" and "Soyez sage(s)"  I heard these expressions a lot when I visited French schools years ago.
Levez le doigt - raise your hand (they raise their index fingers in class, not their hands!)
la salle de permanence - study hall (on a schedule they might write "permanence")

Some other tidbits:  We visited le Lycee Bartholdi in Colmar and spoke with two teachers of English there.  We noticed that there are some small rectangular storage lockers in the school, and I asked if all of the students have lockers (there weren't many lockers, and I wondered where the others were.)  The answer is that students who live far away from the school RENT them, so they can store things at school, but that most students don't have a locker (un casier.)

A sign in one of the courtyards informed students that they could smoke in the other courtyard! There was a condom machine in the courtyard, right next to the candy, coffee and softdrink machines.  And there was a poster in the school advertising a "Nuit du Bac" party at a local cafe. Every student who attended would receive a free condom! (The teacher admitted to being surprised about the condoms, which were offered by another organization, and as the school sponsor of the event she had to ask special permission to put up the poster, but the proviseur didn't object!)  Students in French high schools can receive condoms in the school infirmary, too.  The "Nuit du Bac" is the night students learn the result of the Bac.  We were at
the school when students arrived to view the results, which are posted in the main courtyard.  Only the names of the students who passed are listed.  We saw lots of students jump for joy and hug their friends, but we saw some tears, too.  There were lots of "portables" or "telephones mobiles" in evidence.  Students who were close to passing the Bac were able to take a "ratrappage" the next week.

Here are a few more French expressions that may not be in textbooks:
payer en espèces - cash (Vous payez en espèces?)
une carte bancaire - seemed to be used more frequently than "une carte de crédit"
NEVER refer to the waiter as "garcon"!!!  Call him "monsieur!"
un texte - a excerpt of a document that students may be studying
les paroles - the words to a song, etc. (not "les mots" or "le texte")

Bev

1B:From the Grand dictionnaire terminologique on line:

Depuis l'inauguration du premier ((parc d'attractions)) en 1884, à Coney
Island dans l'État de New York, les manèges entraînent les amateurs de plus
en plus haut, de plus en plus vite. Les premières montagnes russes ont été
créées à Saint-Petersbourg, en... Russie, il y a 400 ans. On glissait en
traîneau sur des montagnes artificielles de bois, recouvertes de neige et
de glace. En 1804, les français améliorent l'idée en remplaçant les
traîneaux par des véhicules à roues et la neige par une structure en bois.
Le « Thompson's Switchback Gravity Pleasure Railway » de Coney Island
((devint)) la première montagne russe moderne.
Useful links
Last updated  2008/09/28 03:48:40 EDT