by Madeleine KandoThere are words and then there are WORDS. My favorite words are actually not English but French. The way the French language describes life can be so endearing that it gives me goose pimples just listening to it. Take the words of one of Edith Piaf’s more famous songs: ‘Milord’. When she sings it she pronounces it ‘meelor’ as if it were someone’s name like Frank or Joe. None of the British snobbishness of the words “My Lord”. Because it is in French, in a few sentences Piaf pulls us into the world of a harbor prostitute and her love for a gentleman who does not know she exists. In her song she tells him to come in and make himself comfortable. To ‘put his feet up on a chair and his sorrows on her heart.’ ( ‘vos peines sur mon coeur et vos pieds sur une chaise.’)
What is it that makes French so good at describing matters of the heart? Why is it so poetic? French has the ability to describe reality in such rich details that you could stay in bed for a year reading French novels and not feel like you are missing out on the world outside. You want to experience the feel of a soft breeze on your cheeks? Say it in French: ‘Le vent me caresse les joux avec ses ailes de soie’. (the wind strokes my cheeks with its wings of satin).
American English, on the other hand, has the incredible vitality of a language that uses action words in many of its expressions. Even talking about something as dry as the stockmarket, by saying it in English it becomes exciting: ‘ the stockmarket crashed today and investors ran for cover.’ A French person might say: ‘the stockmarket lost shares today and investors withdrew their money.’ What’s fun about that?
In America you don’t study, you hit the books. You don’t make small talk, you shoot the breeze. You don’t get suspicious: you smell a rat. Americans have elevated many nouns to the status of verbs: ‘to interface, to impact.’ This is to make sure that your listener gets the importance of your statements.
What is interesting about the use of words in different languages is not the language itself of course. A language can not really BE poetic, dynamic or imaginative. A language is a reflection of the people who speak it. And Americans ARE different from the French. As are the Chinese, the Japanese, the Russians, The Mexicans.. I only wish I would have enough time to learn all those other languages.
But who wouldn’t be totally blown away by my latest experience in the heart of Paris. As I was passing a construction site, a young construction worker looked at me and said: ‘Mademoiselle, vous avez perdu quelque-chose’. (Miss, you dropped something). I looked down and said: ‘what?’. With a beaming expression he said: ‘votre sourire’. (your smile). That is how a Frenchman makes a pass at a female passerby. Vive la difference!! leave comment here
3 comments:
I remember decades ago during the height of the French separatism movement in Canada, a French Canadian pilot was asked whether French should be spoken by the Montreal air traffic controllers; his response: “I would no more want to speak French in the cockpit than English in the bedroom”.
Dear Madeleine,
Edith Piaf just happens to be one of my favorite characters in history. I have to admit that I was one of those young, American, pilgrims who was swept off his feet by her singing when she visited American back in the days of black and white TV.
You describe her rendition of "Me Lord" as if she wrote it, which she did not. It was written by a male which makes it, to me, an even more sensitive piece of poetry than if a female had written it -- when the gulf of experience is taken into account.
Furthermore, what you see as differences in language, I see as differences in perspective. But both of those things are part of culture -- so what the heck. An intelligent, charming article that aroused in me old memories and feelings that were good. My appreciation.
Steve Gregorich, SilverLink Sitemaster
CSUS Emeritus Association
Hello Steve. No, I didn't know that. But Piaf had an unusual knack for attracting talented lovers. Some of them became big stars like Yves Montand. She must have been mother, lover and mentor to many men, I am sure.
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