Ceci n'est pas une endive - Comments

Put your money where your mind is, not where we tell you to - Vania Amorim

Vania Amorim — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:15:21 +0100

Dear Delphine, I write from Brazil and I need to talk with you about a photo that I find in Wikimedia Commons. What is your e-mail?
Thanks a lot and a very happy new year,
Vania

Tell Me How You Eat I Will Tell You Who You Are - Brent

Brent — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:22:18 +0100

I think it's up to the generosity and intelligence of the host to recognize (and even enjoy) cultural differences that otherwise would raise eyebrows. The essence of gentility is compassion.

Why the French Don't Speak Any Other Language - AndreasP

AndreasP — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:17:55 +0200

I do not believe that the commonplace statement above is still true. True, the French used to deny to speak any language other than French, but last year I experienced quite the opposite, at least in Paris. I don't speak French too good, but I manage to ask and order pretty everything I want in French (hint: always order two of a kind, so you don't have to think about articles... un/une croissant? make it: deux croissants, and everyone is happy... :-) Now, in Paris, at touristy places and sometimes even in not quite so touristy places people will not wait for anyone not obviously French to try their French at all. In hotels, restaurants, but also in museums, department stores, bookshops, theatres, I have often been addressed in English from the very beginning. Example: enter the hotel, say "Bonjour", and they ask you something in English. That's kind of insulting (my French is not _that_ bad). From my observation, maybe the many 2nd/3rd generation immigrants are to "blame", who seem more at eas with speaking foreign languages and even want to show off the English they've learned, and who don't seem to have the old French attitude "if you mispronounce one sillable, I will not understand your whole sentence in what you believe is French, you foreign idiot", having all kinds of accents themselves. By the way, another observation of mine was that the good old Parisian rudeness on the streets and in shops etc. has pretty much gone away... Ils sont fous ces lutéciens!

Another regional aspect is also interesting: If you try to speak German in Strasbourg or Metz (outside a shop), people will look at you as if you just came from another planet. I'd never even dare to try this, but have seen it a lot there (of course this has not only to do with the language and centuries of difficult national relations, but also with the blandness and stupidness that tourist groups are known for internationally). If you say one or two obviously German-accented French words, they'll answer in fluent and friendly German... (also a generalization, but still astonishingly true at least for the older generation).

Tell Me How You Eat I Will Tell You Who You Are - punafish

punafish — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:37:49 +0200

Nice blog. Just wanted to stop by and see where all the traffic was coming from. Thanks for referring your readers to my blog post "Glimpses of Culture Through How We Dine".

Aloha,

Tim

Faute de grammaire, on mange de la dessert - Darkoneko

Darkoneko — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:20:52 +0200

Si tu veux souffrir un bon coup, mais version anglaise, il y a la manière dont les japonais le massacrent dans leurs marques sur http://www.engrish.com/ :)

Job Hunting: How Culturally Unconventional Can You Be? - notafish

notafish — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:47:14 +0200

Yeah, I get that sometimes. I actually wrote the first recommendation right. Funny thing is, I usually do that mistake the other way around!

Which Language Says it Best? - Stéphane Deschamps

Stéphane Deschamps — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:39:28 +0200

For "background", in French I do use "un fond" or "un passif".

But yes, I see what you mean nonetheless.

And here's my pet annoyance from english to french: "lashing out". My kids do it sometimes (you know, they're mad at nothing in particular, so they just grouch and claw around), and there's really no french equivalent that I can think of.

There are others, assuredly. I'll try to come back here if they pop back to my mind.

Job Hunting: How Culturally Unconventional Can You Be? - Dedalus

Dedalus — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:35:33 +0200

Recommandations? You're definitely francophone. Try to get some more recommendations.

Which Language Says it Best? - notafish

notafish — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:05:11 +0200

Background, exactly! I can't translate that either. It definitely is missing in French.

Which Language Says it Best? - Cécile

Cécile — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:14:29 +0200

Background as in cultural background, family background, etc. Impossible to translate into French accurately... Believe me, I have tried.

Which Language Says it Best? - jredmond

jredmond — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:03:31 +0200

The Spanish words "macho" and "machismo" didn't really exist in English, so we stole them. "Macho" is an adjective I usually take to mean "competitively masculine", though there are often connotations of foolishness; "machismo" is the noun form.

I Am More French Here Than in France - Henriette Weber

Henriette Weber — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:05:56 +0200

I think you just get more national when you go international. When I lived in Ireland and the UK I was so much more danish than I have ever been back home. I think a large part is because it kind off becomes your identity like "Henriette from Denmark" or in people's memories "that crazy chick from denmark"... =)

I Am More French Here Than in France - Sourisdansroquefort

Sourisdansroquefort — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:42:54 +0200

It remembers me of a colleagues' affirmation as I arrived in Germany. He (german) had spend several months in Marseille and told me he never felt more German than there. It was kind of puzzling to me, I didn't understood. Now I know... But I still can't grasp what makes me french.

[ping] Pourquoi les français ne parlent pas de langues étrangères - notabene

notabene — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:54:31 +0200

Statut de notabene sur Monday, 25-May-09 15:54:28 UTC

Un test d'URL avec identi.ca : http://blog.notanendive.org/post/2009/05/25/pourquoi-les-francais-ne-parlent-pas-de-langues-etrangeres...

Why the French Don't Speak Any Other Language - Multilingual

Multilingual — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:35:50 +0200

Coming from a country, today independent but that was once a British, then a French colony, I learnt both languages from age 5 at school, where all subjects are taught in English( except for French). Now a thirty-plus adult, I speak both English and French t the level of a native, with meticulous attention to form both when speaking and writing( something native French are incapable of nowadays). My native language is neither French nor English, but Creole( a sort of unstructured French). I also read, write and speak Hindi( also learnt from the age of 5).

The reason why most British, American, or French people struggle to speak a foreign language is simple. Language-learning should be done during the early years of life, not during adolescence, when it's too late. There exists a window of language development skills that become more and more difficult to crack in later years. Very few people (I'm talking exceptional capacities here) can successfully learn a new language if foreign languages are not introduced very early. After 5 or 6 years of age, it just becomes more and more difficult to grasp new language structures, forms, etc.

This is less an issue of lingustic chauvinism or laziness.

There, that's my take( based on my personal experience) on this debate.

On the question of how the French view Americans, one major influence is dubbed American movies. Everything is lost in translation, all dialogues are dumbed down for the French people.

Why the French Don't Speak Any Other Language - notafish

notafish — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:11:18 +0200

@Fiere d'être français - Ah ben voyons. Vous avez peut-être raté au fil de votre lecture le fait que je (auteur de ce blog) suis française ? Je suis fière de l'être, sauf quand des français comme vous viennent insulter les américains (ou qui que ce soit d'autre, d'ailleurs) sur mon blog. Vos clichés à l'emporte-pièce (pas de culture, centre du monde) dénotent un manque certain de discernement, voire une impolitesse qui invalide vos propos par défaut. A bon entendeur...

Why the French Don't Speak Any Other Language - Fiere d'être français

Fiere d'être français — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:04:24 +0200

Les français apprennent d'autres langues. Moi je dirais que vous les américains vous ne parlez que l'anglais! Vous pensez toujours être au centre du monde!
Nous on est fier d'être français et on n'est pas plus impoli Les français n'ont pas non plus une bonne image des américains, et y'a de quoi : vous n'avez pas de culture et vous vous croyez les + forts!
Bye les gros

The Credit Card Hell - ParkerQ

ParkerQ — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:25:44 +0200

Credit cards are widely known as a medium for acquiring goods and services. It is safe and convenient to use unless the issuer offers a very high interest. Its terms may vary depending on the issuing company. You can use one to open your door if you have a cheap enough lock and you get locked out. They also can be used for shot glass coasters. You could even use credit card to gap spark plugs, in a pinch if it's the correct distance.

[blog owner edit] I got rid of the spam link and kept the comment because I found it funny.

Why the French Don't Speak Any Other Language - minu546

minu546 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:53:51 +0100

And English speakers can't do a pure 'o' without some 'w' sound attached with it.

Holy shit! The Church got me. - Moya

Moya — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:00:34 +0100

This is a dreadful situation for the unsuspecting foreigner in Germany. There should be some kind of obligation on the authorities in Germany to explain to every foreigner employed in Germany that being Catholic or Protestant has nothing to do with religious faith but with finance.

The scandal is that opting out of paying Church Tax requires the person to renounce his/her faith. In the case of a baptized Catholic, from the point the 'church leaver' signs the formal declaration at the Local Court, he is excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Germany is the only country in the world heaving with apostates! Leaving the Catholic Church in Germany incurs severe penalties. As an excommunicated Catholic you cannot then be married in a Catholic Church. Your children cannot be baptized. You cannot be buried in a Catholic cemetery, your children cannot go to a state-funded Catholic school and so on.

The Catholic institutions, schools, hospitals, kindergartens, retirement homes are funded by Church Tax, which is collected by the state on behalf of the Church. Thousands are employed by these institutions and remunerated from the income from Church Tax. The problem is, the price paid to keep these insitutions going by the richest Church in the world is the highest that could be paid: excommunication if you don't want to pay this troubling tax.

Catholics have been leaving the Church in droves in recent years. The question is whether the German Catholic bishops are willing to ditch Church Tax for ways of financing its services which other countries around the world have been using for ever. It will of course mean than German Parish Priests will no longer be paid the high salaries they have accusomed to, or cruise around their parishes in Mercedes, but maybe, just maybe, they will then start remembering that the founder of the Church wanted to bring people to God, not drive them away.