Archives des Speak Easy Puzzles - FUSAC Paris Classifieds

Learn French! Bear! Espèces d’ours!

Bear! Espèces d'ours! After being charged by an adult male grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park (2026 marks the 10 year anniversary of this dangerous incident) and shouting "Bear!" John and Lisa (read about it here or listen to John tell the story here) were amused to return to Paris to find an exhibition entitled The World of Bears or Espèces d'ours! at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. So they trotted right over to see what the museum had to say about bears. It turns out there are 8 species of bears in the world. The grizzly bear John and Lisa encountered, called Ursus arctos horribilis in scientific nomenclature, is a subspecies of the brown bear. It is also less commonly known as the silvertip bear. Scientists generally do not use the name grizzly bear but call it the North American brown bear to distinguish it from the European or Asian brown bear. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark called it "grisley". They were notoriously bad spellers and perhaps m…

14th of July in Paris: La Marseillaise and where to watch the fireworks

The big event is 14th of July Military parade and flyover

For the National Day celebrations, the July 14, 2026 parade is themed around "Europe’s Strategic Awakening." This major event highlights the commitment of the armed forces and internal security forces, illustrating their synergy in protecting the nation and its allies in Europe with a special focus on Eastern Europe. There will be lots of folks lining the Champs-Elysées for the 2 hours event that starts at 10am, so get ready for serious crowds or better yet for a safer, better view, with commentary watch on TV.

As usual Secrets of Paris has the best comprehensive listing of July 14 events.

Did you know? The French call the national holiday, the 14th of July, NOT Bastille Day.

Where to watch the fireworks

In 2026 the fireworks sponsored by the city of Paris centered on the Eiffel Tower will be held on July 13th. You'll find slightly smaller crowds and a panoramic…

Horse puzzles – Horseplay!

One of the most famous horse races is the Kentucky Derby. It takes place each year in May. The horse racing season in Paris opens in the spring as well at the Hippodrome de Longchamps. Somehow both events have become associated with the most beautiful hats with attendees out doing each other. But that's another story.

Here are 2 horse puzzles, games based on Horses that we put together for the kids next door to whom we were "teaching" English over the garden wall during confinement. I stood up on a ladder to see over the top and they were in their front court. It was pretty funny to see. They enjoyed having some authentic conversation although they had trouble with my "odd" US accent as opposed to the British one they hear in school. It was a welcome distraction for us all. It was tricky to select a "program" as there are 3 girls ages 10 to 17 to entertain and challenge. They have such different levels of English amongst themselves and of course there is the age di…

Birds in Paris and Speak Easy

A few years ago I started noticing birds and now the city is full of nature. Birds are everywhere, including in the city, if you just look and listen a little more closely. Here are a few of the birds you can see in Paris. Two of my favorites are the tiniest and busiest. The European robin and the wren. The European robin is the one you see on greeting cards all over the place, he is an artist's favorite with his bright orange-red face and neck. When you see him you'll recognize him right away by his color and shape - he looks like he just ate a ping pong ball - just that size and nicely round. The Wren is even smaller, multi-shades of brown has a stubby turned up tail. The wren makes a noise bigger than most bigger birds. Once you learn their song (listen here) you'll start hearing wrens everywhere. Another big talker is the Magpie. This bird is a little smaller than a crow, has a long thin tail and is iridescent black and white. When the sunlight glints off his…

Spring Speak Easy

I have a "spring in my step" and want to do a Speak Easy!

Speak Easy puzzles are matching games of French and English idiomatic expressions. It's a great way to learn French or English and put some spring in your language skills. Spring doesn't refer to just a season, it is also a noun, adjective and a verb. There are all kinds of ways to use this word.

Answers - Réponses: 1l; 2o; 3b; 4e; 5u; 6n; 7j; 8p; 9r; 10q; 11m; 12d; 13h; 14s; 15f; 16i; 17t; 18g; 19k; 20c; 21a The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FUSAC magazine for more than 25 years. Readers liked them so much they would cut them out and save the whole collection. It is widely used by teachers of English and French as well. Because they were so popular we combined them into a lively book illustrated with watercolors. This Spring Speak Easy Puzzle is one of 150 puzzles in a 3 volume collection which is available exclusively at Bil…

Speak Easy – Etre marteau

Time to do a Speak Easy puzzle! The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FUSAC magazine for more than 25 years. Readers liked them so much they would cut them out and save the whole collection. It is widely used by teachers of English and French as well. Because they were so popular we combined them into a lively book illustrated with watercolors. This Crazy Speak Easy Puzzle is one of 150 puzzles in a 3 volume collection which is available exclusively at Bill & Rosa's Book Room or by email : BRBookRoom@gmail.com There are more sample Speak Easy Puzzles on our website.

Avoir les portugaises ensablées

In making this Speak Easy puzzle I very much enjoyed learning the origin of "Avoir les portugaises ensablées" via the wonderful website Expressio. The expression means to be deaf, so indeed I was intrigued to know how deafness and Portugal are related. The origin goes back to the a slang term for ear (oreille) from the middle of the 20th century which was "portugaise". Portugaise simply refers to a type of oyster called portuguese which is shaped like an ear. From there to the idea of the oyster full of sand making you hard of hearing is just a short stretch. Next obvious question then is why do we call huitres creuses "portuguese" oysters? 1868 - the ship called The Morlaisien, was delivering oysters from Portugal to France (some stories say to northern France some say to the Arcachon bassin) when the ship was forced to hold over in the Gironde Estuary. The oysters spoiled and the captain decided to dump them overboard. Apparently not all of them had expired, some even thri…

Speak Easy: Siamese Twin Words

Speak Easy: Siamese Twin Words All the English words in this Speak Easy puzzle are «Siamese Twin Words» or «Irreversible Binomials», in other words a pair or grouping of words used together and joined by either «and» or «or» and in which the order of the words cannot be inversed. Many of these phrases are rhythmic or alliterative making them catchy. Some word combinations have become so widely used that their meanings surpass the meaning of the constituent words and are thus inseparable and permanent parts of the English lexicon. Many of them are also clichés, thus should be used with caution. Some of them translated to French by another set of Siamese Twins. Please make a comment below if you know what the equivalent French linguistic term is! The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FUSAC magazine for more than 25 years. Readers liked them so much they would cut them out and save the whole collection. It is widely used by teachers of English and French as well.…

French postage stamps include the baguette

French Postage Stamps are a view of the history of the country, they also tell you what is going on currently as various events are commemorated. In 2024 obviously there are several sets of Olympic and Para-olympic stamps. There are also two collector sets for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the 150 years of Impressionism. But did you know that 2024 is also the 500th anniversary of the European discovery of New York? And to commemorate the baguette, listed on the intangible heritage of humanity of UNESCO since 2022, a Scratch 'n sniff stamp was released. A great way to highlight artisanal know-how and the traditional French baguette.On May 16th, the day of Saint-Honoré, patron saint of bakers, the national printing works in Boulazac, near Périgueux, began printing 594,000 copies of a stamp decorated with the French baguette swirled in a bleu blanc rouge ribbon. Created by La Poste in collaboration with the National Confederation of French Bakery-Pâtisserie, this stamp wa…

Speak Easy: Flirting with French

This Speak Easy game is based on expressions found in the book Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me and Nearly Broke My Heart by William Alexander. Mr Alexander is an IT guy with obessions. One of his obessions was to learn French.

He realizes learning a language as an adult is a frustratingly hard, dreary, lonesome experience. He is easily distracted from this studying by exploring how and when language is acquired. He’d rather ponder the seemingly illogical gender assignments of French nouns, or his digressions meander to try to understand how the General Commission for Terminology and Neologisms decides what words can and can’t be officialy part of the French language. He revels in idiom translation. He would have liked our Speak Easy puzzles. Read more about the book here. And try an idiomatic expression brain twisting flirting with French Speak Easy below.

The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FU…

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