If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Parlez-vous franglais?
The government in France has a branch whose job it is to defend the purity and proper usage of the French language.The Académie Française was created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII.It has forty members, known as ‘immortals’, who hold office for life, and the body is the chief authority on the French language and publishes an official dictionary.
Article 24 of the statutes of the Académie Française states that “The principal function of the Académie is to work, with all possible care and diligence, to give clear rules to our language and to render it pure, eloquent and capable of treating arts and science.”
However, that doesn’t always work. Certainly advertising campaigns in France and the wide use of social media is only adding to the issue of “franglais” .
Here’s the Wikipedia definition: “Franglais means a mangled combination of English and French, produced either by poor knowledge of one or the other language or for humorous effect.“
Le parking, le best-of, le jogging, le shopping and le hot dog are just a few examples. I’m guilty of using franglais every time I say, “Bon weekend”. Somehow that just works for me!
Click here to read an article from BBC News Magazine on the subject.
In June, my friend Anne-Marie Simons dropped by the blog to talk about her book of delightful vignettes on life in France, Taking Root in Provence.
Here’s another of her amusing commentaries, this time on the subject of language in France.“Which brings me to my favorite subject: Franglais.
One of the pleasures of living in France is the language and the numerous bookstores. It is a bit of a surprise, therefore, to discover how little respect the French have for languages other than their own. On French radio and television Anglo-Saxon names are regularly tortured beyond recognition, and every foreign word—no matter what its origin—comes out sounding French. All English-language television programs are dubbed, with famous drawlers like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood speaking in staccato French. The French love American movies as long as they are in French.
Yet, France is still the first tourist destination in the world and in cities like Paris and Aix-en-Provence a timid effort is being made to accommodate non-French-speaking visitors. This can have surprising results, sometimes missing their intended goal but all the richer for it.
Check these menu items:
Croque-Monsieur = Crunch Mister
Canapés à la Crevette = Shrimp Sofas
Herbes de Provence = Grasses of Provence
Assiette Américaine (hamburger) = Round Loaf with Sesame Seeds Furnished with a Chopped Steak
Pavé de Saumon = Salmon Paving Stone.
Bon Appétit!”
If you haven’t discovered Anne-Marie’s blog, Provence Today, I suggest you check it out. It’s my go-to site for informative posts about what is newsworthy in French culture today.
This seems to be giveaway season for me!
Southern Writers Magazine ~ a fabulous site for readers and writers ~ is offering some signed copies of your choice of The Bridge Club or The Promise of Provence. Click on the link to the left of this post … and bonne chance!
Next Friday I will be announcing the lucky winners of the giveaway offered in The Provence Post. There were so many fabulous responses, it was difficult to pick just three!
Bon weekend tout le monde! After being away without internet or cell service for three days this week, I will be paying the price and attempting to clear out my inboxes! What are your plans?
I love finding myself in a waiting room in France. It’s the moment to trawl through all the magazines looking for a kind of English that the fashion and beauty industries in particular seem to rely on in search of ‘le must-have’ look.
There’s no question that’s the perfect place to find some choice examples!
being from Canada, our third official language is Franglais–
C’est le truth!
oui, it is
I was amazed, a few years ago when we were watching some game shows from France, at how much English had crept into the French language. But the heart of Franglais is New Brunswick where they say things like “la hem de ta skirt, elle hang” or “va across la rue m’acheter une loaf de pain”!
Joss, that is hilarious! Some day when you have time, send some more of those NB examples. Thanks for the chuckles.
It’s interesting how the French have always disregarded the English-speaking people. Back in the late 1970s when my mother traveled there, she received terrible service and poor quality food in restaurants unlike the French patrons. She was ignored if she ever asked for help with directions of people she knew understood and spoke some English. So I never gave a thought to visiting. However your book and blog have given me the impression that today France is a friendlier and a bit more open to English-speaking visitors. I may never get there but I so enjoy reading about it. It’s so full of history and beauty!
There’s no question attitudes have changed dramatically since the ’70’s, although there are still places where locals appreciate visitors at least trying to speak French or Italian or whatever the native language may be. When Europeans visit North America, they don’t immediately ask “Do you speak Italian or Polish or whatever …” and yet that is often the first thing English speakers ask in a foreign country. The increase in international travel in the last 40 years is helping all of us to be more thoughtful and accommodating.
I agree, Patricia, and I think it’s wonderful – on both sides of the ocean!
Those translations of Anne-Marie’s are hilarious. Crunch monster! I love me a bit of Provence grass with my chicken. Yum.
I found when I was in Paris that as long as I made an effort, they were willing to help. I only came across one man who steadfastly refused to help (I’d left my backpack on the Metro ~ he was the operator dude at the station), but his partner not only helped, he called all the other stations down the way to alert them to my lost backpack. I’m happy to say it was found and everything was still inside!
I’ll have to put Anne-Marie’s blog on my list of ‘must visit’ blogs. I do love me some French travel without the expense. 🙂
I’m so glad you found your backpack and all of its contents! And yes … armchair travel can be a wonderful thing! One of these days I’ll convince you to come with us out of the chair!
Very happy to have you along for the ride on Provence Today: http://provencetoday.blogspot.com/ 😉
That’s what I love about being a French speaking Canadian. I speak perfectly in both French and English, and in my small community, that’s definitely an asset. As a “franco-ontarienne” I’m proud of my francophone roots and I try to keep myself surrounded by people who pseak my native tongue, but I also respect anyone that only speaks English.
Don’t worry about Parisians. Some of them can be very “mean”, even people who do speak perfect French. I had a few encounters while I was in Paris with some people who were ignorant. Just because I didn’t have their Parisian accent meant they couldn’t understand me but they gave me the impression they understood me perfectly when they just didn’t want to admit it. Don’t get me wrong, the people in Paris (and France!) can be very nice. You just have to ignore those inconsiderate people who can’t deal with the tourist industry.
I admire every Canadian who speaks fluently in both of our official languages. What a shame our education system was never set up to accomplish this. Thanks for stopping by, Stéphanie!
This post made me think of a car by Renault that was popular in the late 70s called Le Car.
I remember that! There was some talk they were going to bring it back on the market.
They brought back the Mini and the Fiat 500, but at least those two were cute back in the day. I always thought the Le Car looked a lot like Le Junk.
I had to laugh out loud at Shrimp Sofas! It’s good to know that my bad try at French will at least be appreciated when we travel there for a vacation.
You’ll be just fine, Phil, and no doubt come home with tons of great blog material!
Vive la Franglais! I love these menu translations. Thanks for sharing, and for the interesting history lesson.
I recently saw a relevant article from The Guardian. I think the same branch of government recently ruled to call what was formerly known as “le binge drinking” “la beuverie express”.