If I’m not mistaken I’ve posted some of Moody75’s delicious dining pictures in the past. Perhaps we share a common interest in photographing our plates and maybe I am just a little bit hungry when selecting them, but they really do give you a sense of place. Something like this could surely be found in a French restaurant in NY someone, but Moody75 was lucky enough to nosh and photograph the brunch while in Nice, France. All I can say is yum and I think I’ll be heading to my kitchen now.
Word for the Travel Wise (01/05/07)
The first work week of the New Year is over and I don’t know about the rest of you, but isn’t time to start planning a vacation? I think so. I’m exhausted, but not too tired to thumb through some good ole’ guidebooks. How about you? Vacation time?
Today’s word is a French word used in France:
vacances – vacation
French is the third largest Romance language in the world in terms of native speakers according to the Wikipedia and is the official language of 29 countries. There are a number of places to learn French abroad which include Canada and Switzerland in addition to France. Amerispan offers immersion programs in all three of the countries and more info can be found by clicking here. Search other study abroad programs at some of these sites here: Coeur de France, Accord French Language School, and Transitions Abroad to name only a few. Swing over to My Language Exchange where you are sure to find someone willing to exchange their lingo skills for some of your own. Free online sources for learning French include France-Pub, French Assistant, and the BBC Languages.
Past French words: confiture, difficile, frottis, ma reum (mère), pensées, vélo, croire, neige, cafard
Cop the Parisian Attitude
Parisians are well known for their rudeness to tourists and other foreigners.
This has always been very frustrating, however, to the Regional Tourism Committee of Paris whose job it is to attract foreign visitors to the French capital. They’ve discovered over the years, however, that many tourists simply don’t want to go to Paris and be accosted by this legendary rudeness.
To combat this ugly PR nightmare, the Tourism Committee has launched an ad campaign in London to educate potential tourists about blending in with the locals and becoming rude themselves. The campaign, in conjunction with a rather funny website, teaches Francophobes a handful of common hand gestures and other non-verbal expressions that rude Parisians often employ on the streets. “You don’t need to speak French to understand Parisians or to blend into the crowd,” the website claims.
Although the website does not explain the psychology behind the campaign, I assume that the Tourism Committee hopes that enough vacationing Brits will now be able to fight fire with fire and flash back to the French the same rude gestures they’ve been tossing at us for years. With foreigners now in the know and parroting their tormentors, hopefully the French will ease up a bit out of embarrassment and modesty and we’ll all breathe a little easier walking down the Champs-Elysées.
One such example is the Gallic Shrug. According to the website, the Gallic Shrug is used to “deny knowledge, agreement or responsibility.”
To engage in such a reaction simply follow these steps.
1. Stick out your lower lip
2. Raise your eyebrows and shoulders simultaneously
Voilà! You’re French!
Word for the Travel Wise (12/31/06)
As promised I’m taking this one full year of language from across the globe and from the teeny tiny villages found in the Congo out with an explosive big bang! Okay, so you saw right through my attempt to hype it up, but really this is an exciting time. 2007 is only hours away for us and this completes a full year first year for the “Word for the Travel Wise” feature. I hope that the lessons have not only been helpful, but a little memorable. For the last time this year I just want to relay that while I do not have a degree as a linguist or speak fluently the mother tongue of several far more exotic places than my home digs in Florida, I appreciate the feedback and minor corrections that have been given and look forward to building a better world language feature in the new year.
Here is Happy New Year in various languages:
- Yiddish – A git yor
- Portuguese – Feliz ano novo
- French – Bonne année
- Italian – Buon anno
- Persian – sal-e no mobarak
- Japanese – Akemashite omedeto
- Turkish – Mutlu yibasi
- Catalan – Feliç any nou
Happy New Year everyone!
Eurostar Rolls On
For those of you fellow train lovers, here’s a bit of news. The awesome London-to-Paris Chunnel train, the Eurostar, is moving next year from its home at Waterloo station to the St. Pancras station.
This train is nothing to sneeze at: central London to central Paris in under 3 hours, in quiet, smooth high-speed (186 mph max speed!) luxury, through the Chunnel, for as little as 29.50 pounds ($58USD).
Apparently, the tracks to Waterloo aren’t modern enough to handle better speeds, severely slowing the train as it rolls into London, so they’re moving the terminus to another station, northwest of London.
In November next year, renovations to London’s St. Pancras station will be complete, allowing eight trains to sit side-by-side in a modern new station. Trip time will drop by a half hour or more. And the St. Pancras/Kings Cross station is pretty centrally located, and on the Circle Line Tube.
Some folks aren’t too happy, though. After all, Waterloo is placed well for those south of the center, and those working at Parliament.