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Flirting with French
Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart | William Alexander
29 posts | 9 read | 8 to read
A delightful and courageous tale and a romping good read. Voila! Mark Greenside, author of Ill Never Be French (No Matter What I Do) William Alexander is more than a Francophile. He wants to be French. Theres one small obstacle though: he doesnt speak la langue franaise. In Flirting with French, Alexander sets out to conquer the language he loves. But will it love him back? Alexander eats, breathes, and sleeps French (even conjugating in his dreams). He travels to France, where mistranslations send him bicycling off in all sorts of wrong directions, and he nearly drowns in an immersion class in Provence, where, faced with the riddle of masculine breasts, feminine beards, and a turkey cutlet of uncertain gender, he starts to wonder whether he shouldve taken up golf instead of French. While playing hooky from grammar lessons and memory techniques, Alexander reports on the riotous workings of the Acadmie franaise, the four-hundred-year-old institution charged with keeping the language pure; explores the science of human communication, learning why its harder for fifty-year-olds to learn a second language than it is for five-year-olds; and, frustrated with his progress, explores an IBM research lab, where he trades barbs with a futuristic hand-held translator. Does he succeed in becoming fluent? Readers will be as surprised as Alexander is to discover that, in a fascinating twist, studying French may have had a far greater impact on his life than actually learning to speak it ever would. A blend of passion and neuroscience, this literary love affair offers surprise insights into the human brain and the benefits of learning a second language. Reading William Alexanders book is akin to having an MRI of the soul. Laura Shaine Cunningham, author of Sleeping Arrangements Alexander proves that learning a new language is an adventure of its own--with all the unexpected obstacles, surprising breakthroughs and moments of sublime pleasure traveling brings. Julie Barlow, author of Sixty Million Frenchmen Cant Be Wrong
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keithmalek
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keithmalek

The French womans biggest problem in learning English was the strange pronunciation (I imagine she's referring to the r's that don't originate from your rectum).

TheSpineView 😆😆😆 1y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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A French idiom.🤣

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nanuska_153 To be fair, that's what happens with every language. When I speak Italian I feel like I'm trying to be an old man called Giuseppe; English is someone with a monocle and a cup of tea; French is Pepé Le Pew for me 1y
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keithmalek
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I wish that we had this in English.

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Alfoster Loved this show!😝👍 1y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek

Belgian scientists have determined that newborn babies cry in their mother's tongue, meaning, for example, that French babies cry with a characteristically French rising inflection.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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😅

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Bklover Well that‘s interesting! Who knew? I love this stuff. 1y
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keithmalek
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Mont Saint-Michel.

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review
kramreep
Pickpick

A fun and engaging read for language enthusiasts, travelers, and Francophiles. Inspired my trip to France and time on Duolingo!

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Court7
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Pickpick

My mother had been harassing me for years to read this author's other books, I must say after reading this one I am more inclined to do so. It as a very charming portrayal of the extremely a frustrating endeavor. It also inspired me to maybe break out summer of my language books again.

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Lidia
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A little late posting, these are some of my books #SetinFrance 🇫🇷. #JubilantJuly

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Lidia
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Pickpick

#HappyReads . This was really such a fun and interesting book. It's about cultural differences between the French and Americans from the POV of an American trying to learn French. But it's also a look at the evolution of languages and how our brain acquires it from the moment we are born. #Marchintoreading

29 likes3 stack adds
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Lidia
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A little reading on this long #roadtrip cruising Arizona

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Lidia
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Happy #nationalcoffeeday . I just started this book and it's so funny, perfect for reading over lunch.