Discover Your Inner Frenchman

by Iva Skoch on

Let’s go though this exercise again: An average worker in France gets 36 days of vacation. An average American gets 14 and uses only 11, Expedia.com 2007 Vacation Deprivation Survey shows. Why?

A topic for another Michael Moore movie?

A non-profit organization called Take Back Your Time, run by Cornell researchers, has been proposing a bill to Congress that would require companies to give employees at least 3 weeks of paid time off. If that sounds good to you, you can go to timeday.org and sign a petition.

Joie de vivre!

Word for the Travel Wise (02/04/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’m busy watching the Superbowl now, but decided to pop in just for all of you.

Today’s word is a French word used in France:

jeu – game

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, vacances

Stereotypes of Tourists, from a British Perspective

by Iva Skoch on

Travel stereotypes always make good writing topics. On one hand, we hate stereotyping because we are told that “cultured people don’t use stereotypes”. On the other hand, there is no question that observations become stereotypes because they are based on accurate reality. And isn’t travel supposed to be about observing reality?

I came across a funny piece, entitled “The Worst Tourists in the World” by Rolf Potts talking about the British obsession with stereotypes of national character, roughly outlined below:

  1. Americans: Ignorant. Loud. Oblivious to surroundings. Insincere.
  2. French: Rude. Bigoted. A trifle out of touch with reality.
  3. Germans: Humorless. Rule-obsessed. Unfriendly. Stubborn.
  4. Israelis: Rude. Cheap. Arrogant. Cliquish.
  5. Canadians: Exactly like Americans, but more soft-spoken, more polite, less ignorant, and twenty times more boring.

Well, there you have it. Of course, you are all different!

I think stereotypes are actually really helpful, if used wisely. For example, if every American/French/German…could look above and try to NOT be all those things, the world would be a better place. Although, arguably, not as funny.

Word for the Travel Wise (12/31/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

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!

Word for the Travel Wise (11/28/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

No real rhyme or reason for picking today’s word other than I stumbled upon it over at the BBC in their cool French section. It was part of a longer phrase, but I think this one word is enough for now.

Today’s word is a French word used in France:

cafard – cockroach

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