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How the French Use and Misuse English
Halston on 01/21/2009 |
I love the French. I enjoy teaching them English and getting them to appreciate the language. Nevertheless, when English-speaking people use a French expression, it is because they want the meaning it has in French, the "nuance" of a "rendez-vous" or the perfect phrasing of "noblesse oblige". No such thing with the French. When they use an English or an American expression, they transform it into something else, something it doesn't mean, something they could have said just as well in French anyway - or some other way of distorting it. Cute? Maybe. Annoying? Possibly. Surprising: if you've never been to France or tried to speak with French people, this quiz might be a bit difficult because many of the answers are rather unexpected. But if you have spoken with the French, you'll recognize these uses and misuses right away. The picture here is of British actress Jane Birkin and French song writer Serge Gainsbourg (who wrote songs that very often had English words in them for Jane to sing with her English accent in French which everyone considered super sexy).
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(6.91/9)
Very Difficult
Quiz Leaderboard
| Player: | Level: | % Correct: | Time to Complete: | |
1 | Didb72 | 35 | 70.00% | 291.49 seconds |
2 | Misschocolat26 | 33 | 70.00% | 665.50 seconds |
3 | Stumbles | 22 | 60.00% | 151.11 seconds |
4 | 21hearts | 90 | 60.00% | 175.03 seconds |
5 | Lola67 | 22 | 60.00% | 199.81 seconds |
6 | Andydandy | 13 | 60.00% | 251.72 seconds |
7 | Diolica | 28 | 60.00% | 258.77 seconds |
8 | Jeeves | 5 | 50.00% | 179.62 seconds |
9 | Klukblazen | 76 | 50.00% | 181.90 seconds |
10 | Moneyhound | 39 | 50.00% | 206.72 seconds |
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Comments (5)
Newyorkgoomba (Level: 73.1)
Wed, 21st Jan '09 5:28 PM
Ah, mais certainnment...tu es tres betes, n'est-ce pa? Rire out loud!
If my French teacher had been less interested in art and concentrated more on grammar and meaning of words, I might have scored better on this quiz. Oh well, it was fun anyway.
Very interesting quiz. Seven years here now, and I only got 50%.
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