Year Abroad in France (LingoMap)
Bonjour à toutes et à tous.
In this very first LingoMap blog, I was assigned the theme “Being a young person in French speaking society.” I will use both English and French in this post and I hope you’ll gain useful vocabulary from the French I’ll use. Let me start by introducing myself and telling what I’m doing. My name is Yaren, I’m twenty years old (soon to be twenty-one) and I am from Cyprus. French is my third language, after Turkish and English. I started learning French at middle school. I study French and English (TESOL) in Swansea University. Thanks to my degree, I had the chance to explore various subjects such as linguistics, translation, teaching, and cultural studies. I’m spending this year in Lyon studying at Université de Jean Moulin Lyon 3. I like Lyon very much, and I think that the city itself is suitable to the theme I was assigned, as I think Lyon has a young spirit.
Les avantages d’être étudiant(e) à Lyon
My university gave us the chance to buy a pass culture for €18, which allows access to four different spectacles at partner institutions. I thought it would be a good investment, concerning that a single show would cost au moins €10. I’ve used three of my passes so far. I went to the cinema, an opera and a French stand-up show. The pass culture is only for students, but there are other deals for young people in general. For example, people under a certain age can buy discounted tickets (tarif jeune). The age for the tarif jeune varies from company to company. For SNCF, the railway company, it is for people under 26, and for Opera de Lyon, it is for people aged under 29. I can say that the cultural activities are very accessible for young people in France and this is amazing as it encourages people to participate in different activities.
La vie française en dehors de Lyon
Let’s talk about the French city we all know of: Lyon’s big sister, the one and only Paris. In my opinion, Lyon is as pretty as Paris. It just seems like Lyon is the more humble and more introverted sibling whereas Paris is the outgoing one everyone has heard of. If I had to describe Paris in one word, I’d probably choose cosmopolite. During my visit to Paris, we went out to a bar and I thought that the place was very multicultural in terms of the music it played. There was a lot of American pop, as well as songs in French (mostly pop and rap), Spanish, Arabic and in a language I wasn’t able to distinguish. I thought it was great because everyone was enjoying themselves regardless the language of the song that was playing. It was the most multicultural playlist ever!
Ce que pensent les autres
J’ai posé trois questions à propos des jeunes français et de la vie en France et aux amis qui vivent/qui ont vécu à Lyon.
Mes Questions:
- A ton avis, quel genre de musique est le plus populaire en France parmi les jeunes ? (Chansons internationales ou françaises?)
- Selon toi, est-ce que les jeunes français connaissent bien l’anglais?
- Peux-tu me dire une chose que tu aimes à propos de la vie en France?
Leurs Réponses:
Etienne, 27 ans, français
1. Etienne thinks that French people listen to both American and French hit songs.
2. According to him, French people are good at English, but he thinks some other European countries, such as Germany or Sweden, are way better at English than France.
3. Il aime que les choses soient organisées en France.
Delphine, 18 ans, française
1. Similarly, Delphine also thinks that the most popular songs are American and French hit songs, but she says that French rap is also extremely popular.
2. Elle n’a pas l’impression qu’ils connaissent bien l’anglais.
3. She thinks that France is very rich in terms of culture, and she likes it that some of the museums are free, such as The Louvre Museum in Paris.
Angel, 20 ans, canadienne
1. Angel thinks that French rap is the most popular music in France. She adds that she’s heard a lot of American songs play as well.
2. Even though most people don’t speak English very well, there are some people who are really good at it.
3. Elle adore la culture française. Par exemple, elle aime que les gens prennent leurs temps de vivre (manger, aller au théâtre…)
Each person has two English sentences and one French sentence. Among the French sentences, can you identify the subjunctive and the reason why it’s used?
