French people have got a funny relationship with their language. They give t almost a godlike status. There are laws regulating it. If you make a slight mistake people will usually let you know, which can be very discouraging for learners. Yet, the latest reality TV show has got an English title: the Voice. Why didn’t they choose: “la voix”?
Category: French Society
Living in France: a survival kit
I found this in the book “[amazon_link id=”2228898368″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Les Français aussi ont un accent[/amazon_link]” by Jean-Benoît Nadeau. It’s a very funny book relating the experiences of the author while he was living in France from 1999 to  the end of 2000. An acute observer, he has very good points to make on French society and the French people and it is well worth a read if you are interested in this country. The book is in French, but the same author has also written: “[amazon_link id=”1861057156″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sixty Million Frenchmen can’t be wrong: why we love France but not the French[/amazon_link]”, which is in English. I haven’t read it yet, but I am sure it is just as good.
Here are 4 points that have helped him survive his two years in France:
- Only smile if someone asks you to. — In France, someone who smiles without obvious reasons is either a prostitute, an idiot, a door to door salesman or an American, which is not much better.
- Apologize before asking for information, and explain the nature of your problem. — French people like to help.
- When visiting a shop, always say “Bonjour” on the way in, and “au revoir” on the way out. — In North America, any shop is an extension of the public place, while in France it is an extension of the home of the shop owner, hence the need to introduce oneself. This explains also why one gets such a bad service in big retail stores: there is no way to make yourself heard by everyone when you say hello on the way in. They could put loudspeakers.
- Converse quietly. — The French have an acute sense of privacy and they hate feeling invaded.
These are helpful and I’d say that if you want your next French holiday or short term mission to go well you should try to put them into practice.
Remembrance day, 11/11/11
To my shame, it was the first time in my life I went to see the remembrance day ceremonies. It has never been a habit when I grew up, but I wanted to be there and take the children with me. It was also an opportunity to give Esther a break.
It was interesting to be there. There were a lot of people, 100 maybe, or a bit less. French being a secular state, there were no mention of God, or any reference to religion (but there had been a mass prior to the ceremony). Yet, the ceremony itself seemed very religious. People were silent, listening to the different interventions. We were all facing the war memorial (there is one in every French village). We sang la Marseillaise (an hymn to the French nation really).
Someone read an adress that president Sarkozy had written. One sentence struck me:
La pérennité du culte qui est rendu quotidiennement sur la place de l’Étoile au souvenir du Soldat inconnu, incarnation même du sacrifice du combattant, permet d’établir une filiation directe entre les différentes générations du feu.
I won’t translate it, but what struck me was the use of the French word “culte”. It would be translated as worship in English. So in essence, the president was saying that we daily celebrate “un culte” (in essence: a service of worship), on the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. French society is not a religionless society. Its main religion is the state, the institutions of the Republic. It worships reason. It worships France (whatever they mean by it).
La rentrée
This week was “la rentrée”. Children went back to school and everything started again after the August Break. “La rentrée” is always a big thing in France. Supermarket revamp their isles for the occasion. A big part of the shop floor is dedicated to school supplies from mid July to September. There are hundreds of pens, rulers, files, millions of sheet of paper…
The medias also make a lot of it. Ten days to a week before children go back to school, you’ll have the traditional media reports that the prices have gone up (they seem to go up every year). They follow some families in their shopping for supplies. They speak about the staffing problems (there will never be enough teachers). Usually, they mention a possible strike in the coming weeks…
Education is big business. It is also very important in the French people’s collective consciousness. Lot of people say they didn’t like school, but everyone takes school very seriously. You wouldn’t dare criticize the French school system. Education has almost become a god. It is the solution to all our problems.
Anyway. Our children went back to school on Monday, both Maxime and Jean-Baptiste. Jean-Baptiste is in primary school. He will learn to read and write and count. Maxime starts nursery. He will go in the mornings until we decide to put him in the afternoon (although the teacher would like him to go in the afternoons as soon as possible).
On the first day, Maxime was happy to go until we reached the classroom door and the teacher spoke to him. He then freaked out and started panicking. I pushed him back into the classroom and we quickly made an escape. The teacher said he cried on the floor for about half an hour, until they had a bite to eat. After that, he was fine. If you give Maxime food, he will always be happy. He was happy to go the next day, although I think he was a bit apprehensive. Wednesday is off, so he is going back this morning.
I was surprised by the number of parents who were there for this first day. But again, I suppose it is because people here make so much of school. Even at lunch time there were more than usual. I suspect some people take the day off.
The French Wars of Religion: Christian History Interview – A New War of Religion? | Christian History
An interesting interview with a French sociologist who knows the French evangelical scene quite well. It gives a helpful insight into French mentality.
The tour de France going through Guingamp (1)
