Since you asked, part I...

Well, maybe YOU didn't ask, but there are a few questions I get regularly. I'm going to try to answer them over the next few days. So here goes part I...

We get quite a few visitors who find our blog via Google searches for how to pronounce 'C'est la vie', which means, "That's life" and is the title of our blog. Here's the scoop.

C'est la vie is pronounced say-lah-vee. You can hear it here.


Here are a few more handy French lessons...which will likely come in handy only if you read this blog.

How do you pronounce 'Lyon'?

If you're American, odds are you'd say it "Lee Own". Brits tend to prefer "Lee Ohn". You may occasionally come across some outdated info that still has the city spelled Lyons with the 's' on the end. This last letter was dropped a while back, but in any case should never pronounced in either French or English.

And how do you say 'Masson'?

This one causes confusion for everyone. It's actually French in origin, but then Americanized to be said in English. The confusion comes in when very well-meaning French people try to pronounce it as they think it should be in English. So you get a French-accented English version of a French name.

Here's how to pronounce it in English:
1. Say 'massage'. You're halfway there.
2. Now say, "John" with a little oomph.
3. Now keep the 'mass' and add the 'ohn'...and you get Masson!

So it's not May-sun. It's not Mass-uhn. It's Mass(age)ON.

What did we learn today? "Jonathan et Kari Masson habitent à Lyon. C'est la vie!"

Stay tuned for 'Since you asked, part II: how to add a banner at the top of your blog.'