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Swimming pool, honestly

As a French teacher, my students are a bit surprised to learn that piscine actually means swimming pool. Once I had to send a letter to a parent to confirm it.

Sent by: Guito

Comments

Anonymous 2009-10-28

Actually - I had an art teacher who was friends with a French teacher who ran into his room one day repeating "un phoque, un phoque..." not understanding why her students had become hard to control after the 'seal' flashcard came up....

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P A MagLOCHLAINN, Belfast, Northern Ireland 2009-09-18

Guito, go even further back: the "Piscina" was originally the monastery fish-pond / fish-farm! (Fish on Fridays, remember!)

We always wondered if it should be pronounced with "a silent p" !

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Anonymous 2009-04-26

A classmate and I always remembered the word for pool with the phrase "Don't piscine the pool."

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stephane 2009-04-26

I can only imagine the reactions if you had tried to teach them a story about a seal (un phoque)!!

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