What the French toast!

Two different types of French so charming!

Boeun Choi

     Bonjour, do you speak French? Not only French people, but also more than 80 million of people over 29 countries speak French. Again, spoken by 12% of the EU population, it is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. I now hope that you are recognizing the importance of French in line with the Chinese which is powerfully emerging in a short period.

If you are native English speaker, You can finish basic French tenses in 4 weeks, and even if you are a Non-English speaker, but familiar with it, You can still ‘travailler’ it much faster than those who cannot read this writing. So, before we start, please keep in mind that there are mainly two types of French. The first is the one used in European countries, and the second is Canadian French. Just like the American English and British English, there are also so many interesting differences between European French and Canadian French. Once you find the common words but conceived differently, you could have a big picture of usage of this language.

(1) Grammar and informal conversations (Between Quebec French and European French)

QF - J'ai trouvé le document que j'ai besoin (I found the document that I need)

EF -J'ai trouvé le document dont j'ai besoin (I found the document of which I need)

Genitive relative pronouns (GRP) are more often used in QF under the strong influence of the English. It is also shown among some prepositions, collocations with certain verbs are taken out together.

QF – j'ai toujours des travails à m'occuper (I still have some works to finish)

EF - j'ai toujours des travails don’t je doit m'occuper (I still have some works of which I have to ~ )

When I was in France, my French teacher emphasized the meaning of each of these types of relative pronouns. It seemed to me that European French abides by a strict grammar structure even when speaking. I could notice these differences and compare them to each other while staying in Montreal as well. They were speaking in French and English at the same time, sometimes mixed together.

Since there is only one word signifying ‘we’ in English, QF uses ‘on (normally ‘we’)’ and ‘Nous’, When you start to learn French, you are automatically directed to code ‘nous’ as ‘we’ first, because this is more formal. The same thing between ‘tu(informal)’ and ‘vous(formal)’ (Both are ‘you’ in English). If you ask someone for directions on the street in France, saying ‘tu sais où se trouve le Palais Royal?’ (Do you know where the Palais Royal is?), even if he looks the same age as you, you just insulted him. The exactly same thing happened to me. As soon as I spit out that word, the man instantly made a perplexed facial expression, then quickly realized that I was a student learning their language. After that time, I always ask for agreement before change the word from ‘vous’ to ‘tu’.

(2) Words and Idioms

- La voiture VS Le Char : The first word I gave was ‘La voiture’ when my French professor in France asked any word. It means a ‘car’. I was quite surprised after realizing that the Québecois calls it ‘Char’, because the ‘car’ has the simplest concept, so it is not expected to have a totally different form. A Char(Chariot) reminds me of a carriage with horses which is so funny. It’s like North Korean call ice-cream ‘alum bosungi’ which literally means ‘Ice paste’ whereas we (as South Korean) call it just Ice-cream.

- La Boisson VS Le Breuvage : When you enter any café in Paris, you can see all the drinks following ‘Le boisson’ on the menu. On the other hand, under the powerful influence of English, ‘le breuvage’ is derived from the English word ‘beverage’. Quebecois use the latter (le breuvage)

- Bonjour-Hi : One of the usages I wish to use in the future. When someone says ‘Bonjour hi’ to you, you can respond in either English or French. This salutation shows that a person can speak freely in both languages so that the other can choose one as she prefers.

 

How charming they are! I still make a numerous mistakes when using English (Sorry for my bad English so far, and here is the potatoes). However, as long as you can create a well-structured sentence, all you have to do is change each word (or phrase) into French. For me, it has been about less than a year since I studied French, and it is definitely possible to interpret the news on Figaro.fr with general level of vocabulary. None of the languages are connected like this. If you have some free time after work, school or even after study, try to be addicted to the French with its adorable accent and culture!