France has borrowed words from English and during 'le weekend' let us reciprocate by observing which French words we use every day, or at least in the weekend newspapers. Before lunchtime on Saturday, catching up on yesterday's newspapers, I have noticed or been reminded of several French words.
To test whether they are French, when reading a newspaper or book, look for the signs which help you to pronounce the letters.
(Sorry, in my posts I don't always have the accents, nor cedillas (little s signs under the letter C which tell you to pronounce is as S.) When I wrote my earlier posts I didn't know how to add accents.
Now I know, sometimes I'm sorry. I tend to leave accents off in my draft, hoping to come back later, because it's such hard work and so time wasting trying to hold down the a or e QWERTY keyboard key. You need to hold it down long enough to bring up the alternative Es, half a dozen of them, by the time you have chosen the right accent, you get triple letters. Then I try to delete two, which then deletes all the vowels. So I have to start again.
Now I am looking in an etymological dictionary, COLLINS, which is big and heavy.
Often I test by trying to use the word in a French sentence. If you speak French fluently as I do, or even just a little, try using the word in a French sentence. For example, "C'est bizarre!" That sounds right in French. (No cedilla under that C - I wonder why. Ah - because the e after the c softens it from K to S? )
cul-de-sac - We could translate this as Close in a English street name, but we use the French term to describe it. Sac is sack or bag as in rucksack, haversack - but that leads us on another linguistic trail.
bizarre - oui, tres bizarre
cafetiere - plunger coffee maker
Colleague - co-worker
league -
regime - rule or ruling group
foie gras - gras, literally grease, swollen liver from well-fed, or over-fed duck, creating expensive, luxurious liver paste or pate (pronounced patay)
culture -
royale - royal, as in kir royale, sparkling pink drink. A Kir is made from cassis (sweet black currant juice) mixed with dry white wine, whilst Kir Royale is the upmarket and pricier version made with a bubbly wine. Named after Canon Kir of the region. I visited the Kir factory in the Lyons area driving from the Chamonix ski area in the south of France back to London, England.
dialogue
Au revoir! - Bye-bye! Literally to (until next time) see (you) again.
TIPS for TRAVELLERS
1 Carry a notebook to write down new foreign words. Rule each page into two columns.
2 Use Google translate - and put their icon on your computer's, laptop's, ipad's dock for speed
3 Invest in an etymological dictionary and keep it on your desk to check foreign words
4 Press the vowel key on your computer/laptop keyboard to add accents to French words
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer, author and speaker
To test whether they are French, when reading a newspaper or book, look for the signs which help you to pronounce the letters.
(Sorry, in my posts I don't always have the accents, nor cedillas (little s signs under the letter C which tell you to pronounce is as S.) When I wrote my earlier posts I didn't know how to add accents.
Now I know, sometimes I'm sorry. I tend to leave accents off in my draft, hoping to come back later, because it's such hard work and so time wasting trying to hold down the a or e QWERTY keyboard key. You need to hold it down long enough to bring up the alternative Es, half a dozen of them, by the time you have chosen the right accent, you get triple letters. Then I try to delete two, which then deletes all the vowels. So I have to start again.
Now I am looking in an etymological dictionary, COLLINS, which is big and heavy.
Often I test by trying to use the word in a French sentence. If you speak French fluently as I do, or even just a little, try using the word in a French sentence. For example, "C'est bizarre!" That sounds right in French. (No cedilla under that C - I wonder why. Ah - because the e after the c softens it from K to S? )
cul-de-sac - We could translate this as Close in a English street name, but we use the French term to describe it. Sac is sack or bag as in rucksack, haversack - but that leads us on another linguistic trail.
bizarre - oui, tres bizarre
cafetiere - plunger coffee maker
Colleague - co-worker
league -
regime - rule or ruling group
foie gras - gras, literally grease, swollen liver from well-fed, or over-fed duck, creating expensive, luxurious liver paste or pate (pronounced patay)
culture -
royale - royal, as in kir royale, sparkling pink drink. A Kir is made from cassis (sweet black currant juice) mixed with dry white wine, whilst Kir Royale is the upmarket and pricier version made with a bubbly wine. Named after Canon Kir of the region. I visited the Kir factory in the Lyons area driving from the Chamonix ski area in the south of France back to London, England.
dialogue
Au revoir! - Bye-bye! Literally to (until next time) see (you) again.
TIPS for TRAVELLERS
1 Carry a notebook to write down new foreign words. Rule each page into two columns.
2 Use Google translate - and put their icon on your computer's, laptop's, ipad's dock for speed
3 Invest in an etymological dictionary and keep it on your desk to check foreign words
4 Press the vowel key on your computer/laptop keyboard to add accents to French words
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer, author and speaker
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