If you spend a lot of time learning grammar rules, you may be doing yourself a disservice, as many grammar rules are now okay to break! The rules we learned in school all those years ago? Evolution has rendered them useless. English is a language whose speakers adapt and manipulate to fit the speaker, and not the other way around. In general, Anglophones don't derive their identity from their language as many other cultures- such as the French. Instead, English is nothing more than a tool to be used by its speakers; it's not a part of our cultural heritage. I found the following article on the subject of English rules to be very interesting (and funny):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/life/ct-tribu-words-work-rulebreakers-20120919,0,4074825.story
Enjoy!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The largest French cities in the world are...
Quick - name the top five cities that house the most French citizens. Surely you guessed Paris as the largest, and that's correct. There are 2.3 million French citizens in the City of Lights. Next is Marseille with 859,000 followed by Lyon with 488,000. Next in line is Toulouse with 447,000 and rounding out the top five is Nice, with a French population of 344,000.
But you'll never guess number six.
Here's a hint - it isn't Nantes, Bordeaux or Alsace. Did that help? I didn't think so.
France's 6th largest city is...
Wait for it...
London!
Yep, you read that right! According to the BBC and the French Consulate in London, there are between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens living in the British capital!
But you'll never guess number six.
Here's a hint - it isn't Nantes, Bordeaux or Alsace. Did that help? I didn't think so.
France's 6th largest city is...
Wait for it...
London!
Yep, you read that right! According to the BBC and the French Consulate in London, there are between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens living in the British capital!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Bon appétit !
La France est le pays du bien manger ! Pas étonnant que certains villages portent un nom qui évoquant la nourriture ! En voici quelques-uns :
Des noms de fromage :
Camembert, dans l’Orne
Brie, en Ille-et-Vilaine
Gruyères, dans les Ardennes
Munster, dans le Haut-Rhin
Coulommiers, en Seine-et-Marne
Des noms de fruit :
Orange, dans le Vaucluse
Cassis, dans les Bouches-du-Rhône,
Mûres, en Haute-Savoie
Coings, dans l’Indre
Fraize, dans les Vosges (fraise pour
la vraie orthographe du fruit)
Des noms de légumes :
Choux, dans le Jura
Lentilles, dans l’Aube
Ognon, dans l’Oise (oignon pour la
vraie orthographe du légume)
Chanterelle, dans l’Yonne
Girolles, dans l’Yonne
Des sucreries :
Bombon, en Seine-et-Marne (bonbon
pour la vraie orthographe de la sucrerie)
Compôte, en Savoie (Sans l’accent
circonflexe pour celle qui se mange)
La madeleine, dans le Nord
Sorbets, dans le Gers
Et enfin, connaissant l’amour des Français pour le pain, le meilleur pour la fin (ou la faim J) : Painblanc en Côte-d’Or !
Bon appétit !
Friday, April 13, 2012
Are French people really that rude?
I was reading a report the other day that said that in a survey of over 1,200 people that guess which country was declared the rudest for visitors? Yep, the old stereotype of French people being rude reared its ugly head. I was angry and didn't know where to start! I completely agree with the article's author that Parisians seem to be just as rude to each other as they are to visitors! But the part of the survey that bothered me most were the criteria used to judge a destination's 'friendliness' or 'rudeness'. Are you ready? The two main criteria were (1) how much the locals *smile* and (2) where were the people particularly 'unfriendly' (no criteria given as to what exactly constitutes 'unfriendly').
Why are these bad criteria to use? Well, anyone who's read a book on French culture such as 'French or Foe' by Polly Platt or 'Culture Shock: France' can tell you that no one in France walks down the street with a perma-grin, unless they want to be perceived as the village idiot!
As an aside, both of these are excellent books to read before travelling to France- once you know the French 'code', you'll find that the French are never rude...well, almost never (but that's the case anywhere).
As for 'particularly unfriendly', I can only assume that this means that someone yelled in English at a Parisian who then refused to help them, even if they probably did understand. I'm not making this up- I've seen tourists walk up to people in Paris and begin speaking English without so much as an 'Excuse me' or 'Hello'. Can you imagine? You're trying to live your life, going to or from work, and a visitor to your country stops you to babble in a foreign language without even trying to speak your language? And then gets mad at you. How would you react the 10th or so time this happened? That's what I thought!
So am I way off base? Is this a survey we should take seriously or is it completely invalid due to its criteria not being culturally specific? What have your experiences been?
Rudeness, a stereotype- much like this guy |
Why are these bad criteria to use? Well, anyone who's read a book on French culture such as 'French or Foe' by Polly Platt or 'Culture Shock: France' can tell you that no one in France walks down the street with a perma-grin, unless they want to be perceived as the village idiot!
As an aside, both of these are excellent books to read before travelling to France- once you know the French 'code', you'll find that the French are never rude...well, almost never (but that's the case anywhere).
As for 'particularly unfriendly', I can only assume that this means that someone yelled in English at a Parisian who then refused to help them, even if they probably did understand. I'm not making this up- I've seen tourists walk up to people in Paris and begin speaking English without so much as an 'Excuse me' or 'Hello'. Can you imagine? You're trying to live your life, going to or from work, and a visitor to your country stops you to babble in a foreign language without even trying to speak your language? And then gets mad at you. How would you react the 10th or so time this happened? That's what I thought!
So am I way off base? Is this a survey we should take seriously or is it completely invalid due to its criteria not being culturally specific? What have your experiences been?
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Vive la crise !
La crise n’a pas que des mauvais
côtés. Elle peut aussi être une source d’inspiration, à l’exemple de ce texte
plein d’humour et très bien tourné. Parfait pour améliorer son français !
Malheureusement, l’auteur de ce texte n’était pas mentionné. Si vous le
connaissez, n’hésitez pas à nous le faire savoir !
« Avec cette crise, tout le
monde souffre
- Les problèmes des boulangers sont
croissants
Alors que les bouchers veulent
défendre leur steak
- Les éleveurs de volaille se font
plumer
Et en ont assez d’être les dindons
de la farce
- Les éleveurs de chiens sont aux
abois
Les pêcheurs haussent le ton
Et bien sûr, les éleveurs de porcs
sont dans la merde
- Les céréaliculteurs sont sur la
paille
Alors que les brasseurs sont sous
pression
- Les viticulteurs trinquent
Heureusement, les électriciens
résistent
Mais pour les couvreurs, c’est la
tuile
Certains plombiers en ont ras-le-bol
Et les autres prennent la fuite
- Chez GM, les salariés débrayent
Et la direction fait marche arrière
- Les cheminots voulaient garder
leur train de vie
Mais la crise est arrivée sans crier
gare
- Les veilleurs de nuit vivent au
jour le jour
Et les carillonneurs ont le bourdon
- Les ambulanciers ruent dans les
brancards
Pendant que les pédicures
travaillent d’arrache-pied
- Les croupiers jouent le tout pour
le tout
Les cordonniers sont mis à pied
Les dessinateurs font grise mine
Les exterminateurs ont le cafard
Des militaires partent en retraite
Et les policiers se sont arrêtés
- Les imprimeurs dépriment
Les météorologues aussi sont en
dépression
Les pendus sont sur la corde raide
Les prostituées se retrouvent sur le
trottoir
C’est vraiment une mauvaise
passe… »
- Auteur Inconnu
Voilà un excellent exercice pour les
professeurs de français langue étrangère !
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