THE FRENCH TRANSCRIPTION CAN BE FOUND BELOW THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Hi everyone,

Welcome to “Learn French, Become Français” with Ruben! Welcome, almost-French . Before we begin, I want to thank all my listeners. Thank you!

The transcript for this episode is in the description.

In this episode, we'll be talking about the heatwave! The cani-what? The canicule! Canicule is the French word for heat wave! We're going to talk about the canicule in France, and how the French are coping with it!

Are you ready? Then let's get started!

Today is the last day of August, and it's raining where I live! In my town, it rained all summer, and when it didn't rain it was a heatwave, which was really annoying. In France, most people don't have air conditioning. Air conditioning is the device that makes the air cooler, that blows fresh air. Most people don't have air conditioning in their homes. This year, my little brother bought an air conditioner because he works from home, teleworking on his computer! Without air conditioning, his computer could overheat and he'd have to stop working.

Some offices have air conditioning, but not everywhere! I think offices in the U.S. are always air-conditioned! I think that office workers who come from a country where air conditioning is very widespread, very common, are not prepared to face the French heatwave. Do you have an air conditioner at home? If you don't, I hope you at least have a fan! A fan is a bit like an air conditioner, the difference being that an air conditioner blows cool air, whereas a fan only blows wind . It's the fan blades that turn on themselves to make the wind. The air conditioner is cooler than the fan. Why aren't there many air conditioners in France? In fact, the French believe that air conditioning makes them sick. I've often heard my father say: “The air conditioning was too strong, it made me sick”. In fact, most French people use air-conditioning in very few places. For example, the few places where they use air-conditioning include the few public places where there is air-conditioning. Air-conditioning is often available in cinemas, shopping malls or museums, but rarely in police stations or town halls. A town hall is where the mayor, the head of the city, is located.

As for the metro, I know that the Paris metro doesn't have air conditioning on all lines, whereas the Lyon metro has air conditioning everywhere. Another situation in which the French use air conditioning is when they take the car!

In addition to using the air-conditioning, there are other reflexes to adopt during a heatwave, other things you should do automatically during a heatwave! Together, we're going to list 3 things you should do during a heatwave:

The first thing to do during a heatwave is to take care of your pets.

If you have a dog, don't leave it in the car in hot weather, even with the windows open or ajar (a little)! Dogs only sweat through their tongues! They can't cool their bodies like we can, and are much more sensitive to heat than we are! It would be a shame to have to take your best friend to the vet for treatment! To the “animal doctor” for treatment.

The second thing to remember concerns smokers! Be careful not to throw your cigarette butt out of the window after you've finished smoking! Many forest fires start because of cigarette butts thrown out by car drivers. These giant fires sometimes get out of control, even burning down entire villages. Especially in the south of France!

The third thing to remember is to drink plenty of water! During a heatwave, you sweat a lot, and it would be a shame to feel unwell and have to go to hospital just because you forgot to hydrate haha! If it's really hot, you can even drink electrolyzed water, also known as ionized water.

Have you ever been to France during a heatwave? Are there heatwaves in your country too?

Tell me about it in the comments or send me an e-mail!

This podcast is already over, I hope you've learned lots of new words!

Thanks for listening, we'll be in touch for a new episode, love!