HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life: Coffee Talk with International Mommies - French

Segment 7 - Coffee Talk with International Mommies - Picking French Bones

One thing I’ve learned living here in the expat community in Madrid, is that everyone has a bone to pick about the “proper” way to speak a language.  In Madrid, English is an interesting concept, as discussed in my earlier post. Children are taught British English in school, but American pop culture seems to prevail...

My British African mommy friend was in the process of evaluating English Teacher certification programs, so that she could get on board with the “learn English from a native teacher” craze here, when our Spanish friend told her to go to the The Vaughan System teacher certification program. 

Her response – “You want me, a British person, to go learn how to teach English from an American?”  

He said, “Yes, the Vaughn System is great and very popular here in Spain.”

She responds, “Amigo, with all due respect, that’s like telling a Spaniard to go learn how to teach Spanish from an Argentinean!”

He nodded, and said, “Oh no, I understand…”

For those of you who are not familiar with the cultural bit here, Spanish in Spain is different from Spanish outside of Spain, just like British English is different than American English…and people in the expat community like to make sure that the general population is aware of that.  But it doesn’t stop there, French from France is also different from Canadian French.  I don’t run into too many French Canadians here in Madrid, compared to Belgium or French African speakers, but again, there are differences.  I just struggle to communicate – in basic French!

So what is the difference – French is French to my ears…but one day, I was watching the News on TV 5 Monde (the International French channel here), and while I normally can follow the news, I struggled to understand.  While the words seemed French, the tone was a little different. I really couldn’t follow the stories, and there was a distinct accent, sort of sounded American, but clearly not American English…it was the Canadian French News.

The next day, I asked my French mommy friends what they thought the differences between the two languages were.  To my surprise, a lot...for instance:

• The expression for going shopping in European French is “faire des courses”, whereas a French Canadian might say "magasiner”.  “Magasin” means a shop or store in French…so the “magasiner” is used like “shopping” by the French Canadians.

• A “dépanneur” in France is a repair­man. “Dépanner” used as a verb implies fixing something. But in Québec, a “dépanneur” is actually a convenience store, maybe because one can get things fixed by the friendly 7-Eleven folks?

• And the term “blonde”, to me it would describe the color or one’s hair, in Canadian French, it is actually a term used for girlfriend, regardless of the hair color.

• If you want to say to "take a walk" in European French, you would say “faire une promenade”, but in Canadian French it would be “prendre une marche”.

• But in some cases, the same word might be confusing.  For example, if you get invited to “dîner” by a French Canadian, it means lunch, but to a European French, it means dinner.  “Déjeuner” is lunch for the latter, and “souper” is dinner for the former.

Okay, so there is more than one way to skin a cat, for the most part, a French person will understand a French Canadian, and vice-versa.  So is there “controversy”?  Does one group think their version of the language is more “proper”?  Is that same friendly “jabbing in the ribs” also prevalent, as with the Brits and the Americans or the Spanish and the Argentineans? 

I’m not sure; the answer may be too controversial for me to attempt to dissect here. However, I can tell you that based on my informal, unscientific poll, if you speak or market to a European French person in Canadian French, you may risk putting off that audience or risk them looking at you funny. And if you try messaging to a French Canadian in European French, they will surely know that you aren’t really talking to them, you might even offend them despite their friendly Canadian disposition. 

But here’s a good trivia question: Which French does Celine Dion speak?  

Answer: Celine Dion is a smart business woman, who knows how to be successful to a global audience.  When in performing in France, she can speak to her fans using European French (even with her Canadian French accent), but when in Quebec, she speaks her mother tongue – French Canadian.  Her localization skills have allowed her to enjoy her international pop superstar status. She won’t alienate her fans; rather she embraces them in the language and manner in which they want to hear…music to my ears and to millions of others.

… Stay tuned for the next Segment of HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life Series, where we’ll take a look at… Localization of Colors Around the World. 

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This article was written by Rachanee Thevenet, Co-Founder of HT Localization.  Rachanee is an Asian-American expat living in Spain with her family.  She loves all things international including food, art, literature, culture, languages and people. Interestingly, Rachanee learned European French from a Canadian French teacher in high school.

HT Localization, LLC. is a worldwide translation & localization agency providing a full range of professional language translation services, including social media localization, marketing translations, website translations, software localization, eLearning materials, documentation translations, etc.    With locations in the US, Spain, Zambia & Thailand, and coverage across all languages and most industries, HT Localization is well positioned to provide around the globe services for all translation needs.  

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