According to Natalie Schorr, author of Tune up your French [McGraw-Hill, 2004], the gap rests in a basic understanding of the French culture. In her book, geared primarily towards Americans who may have studied a few years of French to meet liberal arts requirements, Schorr provides ten chapters’ worth of suggestions.
- Body Language, Interjections and Nonverbal cues - How do you bark like a dog in French? Does it matter? Perhaps not, but it is fun to learn how to say “Hop-Là” instead of “Whoopsie-Daisy” as well as other modes of getting your point across the language barrier.
- Manners - “Don’t expect your American manners to have the same results in France as they do in the United States.” Schorr warns. She differentiates the formal consideration and standards of privacy that the French expect from the rituals of courtesy that Americans might be more familiar with.
- Idioms - A primer to idiomatic expressions organized by length: common one- two- and three word idioms are listed, as well as dichotomous pairs of phrases such as the “hinges of the French language”: tant mieux, and tant pis.
- Practical French - This chapter includes lists of expressions that are useful in day-to-day life and travel in France: on the metro, in the office, and at the market.
- Table Talk - Schorr dedicates an entire chapter on the words and phrases one might require for the gustatory delight of eating a French meal a la francaise.
- Conversation Starters - What better way to learn to speak a language than to ask questions? From small-talk to political opinions and pick-up lines, Schorr includes a smattering of common questions.
- Slang and Localization - Slang or argot is tricky, but using it judiciously can also help you fit in a little better, especially if you are in France on business long enough to feel the routine of métro, boulot, dodo. More challenging than slang are the localized dialects - Quebecois is vastly different from the Parisian French!
- Attitude - In search of le mot juste? A fascinating look at the literal translations and cultural understandings behind common idiomatic expressions in French. Often, English speakers are reminded of the je ne sais quoi possessed by the French of creating a turn of phrase that is distinctly and only, French.
- Wit - “Expressing your sense of humor in another language is an important milestone. You don’t need a repertoire of French jokes, but you do need playfulness, understatement, exaggeration and always lots of irony.” While not technically irony, per se, Schorr spends a great deal of time with negative phrases such as stating “He’s not stupid” instead of saying a person is intelligent.
- Improvisation - Useful quotations from daily life, advertising, philosophy and literature provide an easy way to improvise with flair. C‘est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron.
Positive Notes on Tune Up your French
This book is clearly intended for the lifelong student of French. It is great for brushing up, and adding confidence with dealing with native French speakers.
Schorr is personable and readable throughout the book, with clear and humorous examples and concise introductions to each section.
Tune Up your French is not a quick-reference book. Like a textbook, it is meant to be read from cover-to-cover, using the study questions and practice sessions at the beginning and end of each chapter, along with the CD.
Schorr expects her reader to study and memorize her suggested phrases, and the book is not arranged for a quick study or an at-a-glance brush-up. If you are in search of a handy phrase, unless you’ve flagged every page, it could take a while to locate your desired section.
The 60-minute French-language CD helps listeners to become accustomed to the sounds of the French language as the pair of speakers repeat almost every suggested phrase in the book. However useful it may be, this repetition becomes tedious to the attentive listener.
While Schorr's textbook may seem too rigorous for some, her intention is well met within the confines of the book. She compellingly and clearly explains how and why careful application of certain turns of phrase and adherance to manners and customs can help one to blend in among the French, and speak with greater confidence and authority in their midst. The "top 10" ways to improve your spoken French are clearly more about interpersonal skills than they are about vocabulary.
Alicia King - Alicia King has been writing for Suite 101 since June of 2007. For over a year, she was the Featured Writer for the Suite section about ...
