The informal French expression avoir du pain sur la planche is very similar to English's :
To have a lot on one's plate
Si, de nos jours, "avoir du pain sur la planche" signifie avoir en perspective beaucoup de tâches fastidieuses à accomplir, le sens de cette expression était bien différent à la fin du XIXe siècle.
Cela signifiait que l’on avait assez de réserves pour affronter l’avenir.
Effectivement à cette époque les paysans préparaient de grandes quantités de pain qu’ils conservaient sur une planche de bois fixée au plafond.
Par la suite, l’expression a pris le sens "d’avoir de quoi vivre sans devoir travailler".
Le sens actuel "avoir du travail en réserve" semble n’être apparu qu’au début du XXe siècle.
“I studied with Jenna for many years. When I started, I struggled with forming sentences. After a year, we were conversing comfortably, and now conversation is fun and easy! Lessons were always fun and studying grammar was integrated int lively conversation”.
Jed Greene, U.S.A.
“Jenna is a very kind and patient French teacher I have ever met. I studied French wth her for more than 3 years and my French got a great improvement. Jenna as not just taching me academic French (grammar...) she also shared with me so much useful daily French and culture which I could use in daily life”.
Isabel Yu, Hong Kong
“Jenna is a great teacher and she makes our lesson fun. We are learning in a smal group. Each of us is different in what we want to learn and Jenna is flexible and creative to accomodate is. Our classes are interactive and practical”.
Aaron Choi, Hong Kong
“Jenna is an excellent teacher in French and I truly enjoyed the lessons, especially the way she starts with the basics and links it to life and daily conversations”.
