Franglais

Lost in translation across the Channel

France might be just across the English Channel from Britain, but Emma Jane Kirby says both nations are still prone to the pitfalls of linguistic misunderstandings.

Last weekend, standing on Pegasus bridge in Normandy for the D-Day celebrations, I was touched to see two classes of French primary school children singing the British national anthem in honour of the veterans.

As I went closer, I realised with delight that while they had got the tune off pat, the words were just slightly off the mark.

Standing tall and proud, the children were calling on the Almighty to "sieve the Queen and her setter, Victoria."

It took me straight back to my own school days when I had learned to sing the nursery rhyme Frere Jacques.

For many years I had warned *Frere Jacques to wake up not because the morning bells were ringing (sonnez les matines), but because there was *"sunny semolina" to be had.

'Yoghurting'

Even in your own language, it is difficult to catch accurately the words of a song if they are not written down in front of you, and in France, which imports most of its music from the US or UK, there is even a word for the appropriation of lyrics.

It is "yaourt", or "to yoghurt".

You start singing confidently... and then trail off into inarticulate "yoghurting" when your lexicon runs dry.

As far as I understand it, so long as you look slightly pained and shut your eyes while you yoghurt, you seem to get away with it.

Some years ago, an Irish friend of mine was on a French exchange in Paris and was hanging out with some of the local teenagers.

Desperate to impress her, they began to reel off their repertoire of English songs.

They said their favourite was a hit by Queen that they had picked up on the radio - I believe the original version was called I Want to Break Free - but unfortunately, the boys knew only the yoghurt version.

Although retaining the original passion, it had lost a little of the sense. It went: I Want a Steak Frites, I Want a Steak Frites.

'Simply hysterical'

Mispronunciations can have embarrassing consequences.

A French friend of mine, preparing a few snacks to hand round at an English drinks party, implored her guests to help themselves to nipples.

My father once returned from a trip to France complaining bitterly that the French had just laughed at him when he had tried to ask for directions to the railway station.

A few probing questions revealed that he had not asked for la gare at all - he had asked for la guerre (the war) - and the locals were simply hysterical at the idea of this white-haired, would-be combatant showing up for duty 65 years too late.

But it can happen to the best of us.

Madame de Gaulle was said to have been lunching with the American ambassador at the time of her husband's retirement when she was asked what she was most looking forward to in the years ahead.

She thought for a moment before announcing boldly: "A penis". A startled hush fell over the table until the former president leant over and said: "My dear, I think it's pronounced 'happiness'."

Speak in French, wrote Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, when you cannot remember the English for a thing.

But there are many faux amis (false friends) to be wary of in English and French.

'Slip of the ear'

You can flatter a French woman by telling she looks formidable in her new dress, but tell an English woman she looks formidable in her new frock and she will quickly go and change.

And that one wrong word can do untold damage.

In English, looking and watching are two different things. In French, one word - regarder - will cover you for both.

My American friend Janet, on holiday in Montana with her French husband Eddy, suggested he wandered around the shops while she tried on her zillionth pair of shoes.

After a few minutes spent in a bed linen store he was approached by the female assistant who asked him if he needed any help.

"No thanks, I am just watching," he smiled, and was puzzled as she backed off slowly, desperately fumbling for her phone.

The other day I was reading an article in a French newspaper about how we regularly mishear words, particularly in foreign languages, and how that completely changes our comprehension of the conversation.

The writer spoke of a British acquaintance of his who was struck when he arrived in France by how much the French seemed to talk about Johnny Marr, the Smiths' guitarist.

Until the writer realised what his friend was actually hearing was "J'en ai marre (I'm sick of it)".

He went on in his article to inform his readers that the English even had a phrase for such a misunderstanding. It was called, he said confidently, a "slip of the ear*".

Source: BBC News

Idioms:



The idiom is normally a "slip of the tongue". This means that you say something that you didn't intend to say; a mistake in speaking.

A Freudian slip is also something that you say by accident which is different from what you intended to say but seems to show your true thoughts.

Many slips of the tongue / Freudian slips can be heard on you tube; most of them a bit rude. Here is one from Gordon Brown when he was PM and he claims to have "saved the world".

I also made the same mistake as a child with the song "Frere Jacques" Another school favourite was "Alouette". Here is a clip from "Tom and Jerry" in French. I love when the little mouse says "Bonjour Monsieur Pussy Cat".

English language domination

New lingua franca upsets French

That the French resent the global supremacy of the English language is nothing new, but as Hugh Schofield finds out, a newly evolved business-speak version is taking over.

They were giving out the annual Prix de la Carpette Anglaise the other day. Literally it means the English Rug Prize, but doormat would be the better translation.

As the citation explains, the award goes to the French person or institution who has given the best display of "fawning servility" to further the insinuation into France of the accursed English language.

Among the runners-up this year: the supermarket company Carrefour ­which changed the name of its Champion chain of stores to Carrefour Market, not using the French word "marche".

Also the provocatively-named Paris band Nelson (it is the Admiral, not Mr Mandela, that they have in mind) whose frontman J.B. sings in English because, he says, French does not have the right cadences for true rock.

Worst offender

But topping the poll for grave disservices to the mother tongue is France's higher education minister, Valerie Pecresse.

Her crime: proclaiming to the press that she had no intention of speaking French when attending European meetings in Brussels, because, she said, it was quite obvious that English was now the easiest mode of communication.

The rise and rise of the English language is a sensitive subject for many here in France, who believe that French has every bit as much right to be considered a global tongue.

Even conceding to English victory in the war for linguistic supremacy, the French believe that the least they can do is defend their own territory and keep the ghastly invader at a decent remove.

The same group that sponsors the Prix de la Carpette also brings legal actions against companies that, it says, breach the law, for example, by not issuing French language versions of instructions to staff.

Personally, I sympathise greatly with defenders of the French language. I think it is true that culturally the world will be diminished if one monolithic form of discourse squashes the rest. But then I am also a realist.

Recently I have spent a lot of time in French multinational companies, and what is inescapable is the stranglehold that English already has on the world of business here.

French executives draft reports, send e-mails, converse with their international colleagues - and increasingly even amongst themselves - in English.

It is of course a kind of bastardised, runty form of business-speak full of words like "drivers" and "deliverables" and "outcomes" to be "valorised", but is nonetheless quite definitely not French.

New language

This brings me to Jean-Paul Nerriere.

Monsieur Nerriere is a retired French businessman who one day in the course of his work made a fascinating observation.

In a meeting with colleagues from around the world, including an Englishman, a Korean and a Brazilian, he noticed that he and the other non-native English speakers were communicating in a form of English that was completely comprehensible to them, but which left the Englishman nonplussed.

He, Jean-Paul Nerriere, could talk to the Korean and the Brazilian in this neo-language, and they could understand each other perfectly.

But the Englishman was left out because his language was too subtle, too full of meaning that could not be grasped by the others.

In other words, Monsieur Nerriere concluded, a new form of English is developing around the world, used by people for whom it is their second language.

It may not be the most beautiful of tongues, but in this day and age he says it is indispensible. He calls the language Globish and urges everyone - above all the French - to learn it tout de suite.

In his book Don't Speak English, Parlez Globish, Monsieur Nerriere sets out the rules.

Globish has only 1,500 words and users must avoid humour, metaphor, abbreviation and anything else that can cause cross-cultural confusion.

They must speak slowly and in short sentences. Funnily enough, he holds up the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as an excellent exponent.

Many in France consider Monsieur Nerriere a traitor for promoting the dreaded Anglais, but he insists he is not.

He says the French have to recognise that the language war is lost.

"We're just urinating on the ashes of the fire," he says. We should look on Globish not as a triumphant cultural vehicle for les Anglo-Saxons, but as a tool, he says: essential but purely utilitarian.

For lovers of English there is another consideration, only half-serious I admit. But what if this were all a devious Gallic plot?

After all, if Globish really does take over the planet with its stunted business-speak, its bland insignificance, its cultureless access-for-all availability, then where does that leave the real English?

Will the language of Shakespeare suffer by association, leaving the field open one day for the resurgence of the other great tongues of the world ? Like French?

Source: BBC News

Footie for the next month

Like it or not, for the next month or so, football is upon us. How well do you think Spain will do? Do you think the drought will end and they will finally lift the European Championship cup once more?

Unfortunately Scotland isn't being represented at the Championship; the only consolation is that England isn't there either!

Scotland were unlucky not to qualify - we had the World Champions Italy and runners-up France in our qualifying group.

We beat France, one - nil, at both the home and away games.

We just needed to draw against Italy in the last, all-important match. We were holding them to a one - all draw into injury time, when Italy were awarded a free-kick that they should never have got.

An Italian player clearly fouled a Scots one, but the ref gave the free-kick to the Italian side. I wouldn't be surprised if the Italians had bribed him.

The Italian player involved in the tackle dived. The Italians are noted for their unfair play and unsportsmanship like conduct. What a bunch of cheats!

You can only imagine how Scots hearts sunk when the Italians scored the winning goal from the free-kick. Once again, so near but yet so far.

Had the ref not made the wrong decision, Scotland too would be in these Championships alongside Spain.


Would you like to learn some more football-related vocabulary? Then have a read of this BBC Learning English page and then try the fun quizzes and games.


Can you remember any important matches involving Spain or the team that you support? What happened? Were there any controversial decisions?

Maybe you can't stand all this football but you can have an opinion on some related topic such as:

Do you think football players are paid too much?

Should we expect players to behave on and off the pitch?

Isn't the cost of football strips outrageous?

Which player do you admire most?

What do you think of the current Spanish coach?

Who are the best looking players in these Championships?




We didn't deserve to lose. Italians are also the World Champions at cheating. We were robbed!




Our first victory over France in France in 50 years; with an incredible goal!

Have a listen to the commentary. Do you understand any of it?

Statesmen and women

Photo: AFP
This is especially for one of you, who for some bizarre reason is an avid fan of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He has been making the headlines a lot recently and not just because of his political decisions!

Sarkozy 'serious' about ex-model

Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni holidayed in Egypt in DecemberFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his relationship with former supermodel Carla Bruni is "serious" but refused to reveal any wedding plans.

He told reporters there was a "strong chance" the media would only learn about the wedding after the event.

The whirlwind romance between the two has been making headlines in France and Ms Bruni's native Italy for weeks.

Mr Sarkozy, 52, and his wife Cecilia announced their divorce in October, after being married for 11 years.

His popularity has fallen by several points according to several opinion polls since the New Year, a decline attributed by many to the over-exposure of his private life.

Many French people increasingly see his romance with Ms Bruni as impulsive, flashy, vulgar and, most importantly, distracting from his work as president, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

But at a press conference in Paris, Mr Sarkozy also defended his political record since becoming president in May, commenting on everything from the need for French economic reform to his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Jagger and Clapton

The French leader said he and his girlfriend wished to "break with a hateful tradition of hypocrisy" by making their relationship public.

"Carla and I have decided not to lie," he said, in what the French news agency AFP reports was a clear allusion to the late President Francois Mitterrand's concealment of an illegitimate daughter for years.

Mr Sarkozy has three children, two from his first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, and the third by Cecilia.

Ms Bruni, 39, has a young son from a previous relationship with philosopher Raphael Enthoven.

At various times, she was also linked to men including Mick Jagger, Donald Trump and Eric Clapton.

She has made a successful career as a singer since her modelling days.

Record in office


France was in need of change, Mr Sarkozy said, after "decades of reforms being put off, of failed reforms".

Two Nobel economists, Amartya Sen of India and Joseph Stiglitz of the US, would be working on changes in the way French economic growth is calculated to include quality-of-life factors, he announced.

People, he added, "can no longer accept the growing gap between statistics that show continuing progress [in growth] and the increasing difficulties they are having in their daily lives".

Accepting that "the international situation is less good than you could have hoped for", Mr Sarkozy insisted France's own economic strategy would not change.

On employment and education, he called for greater use of positive discrimination, saying there was "not enough diversity" in France, and called for creating universities "where people want to study".

Advertising on public television should be scrapped, he argued, and the shortfall funded by a levy on private TV channels.

On international affairs, the French president defended sending congratulations to his Russian counterpart after the parliamentary election in December, saying it did not affect his ability to criticise him on such things as human rights and Chechnya.

"I prefer to congratulate Putin, while asking him: 'Why did you do that? But bravo all the same for being elected'," he said.

Source: BBC News

Which statesman or woman; from the present or past do you most admire and why? What was among their achievements?

And which one do you despise?