Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Foreign Tongue

At first, Foreign Tongue, the debut novel by French-American author Vanina Marsot, kind of bugged me with its smarty pants insiders' view of Paris. The story of twenty something Anna, the novel begins when she has fled to Paris after a failed relationship in Los Angeles. Paris is a city she knows well from childhood summers spent with her French grandmother and a stint as a college student. But it seemed to me that there was almost too much specificity about Anna's neighborhood, the streets she wanders, the cafes she frequents, and the buses she takes. Yeah, yeah, I was thinking, quit showing off already. We get that you KNOW Paris.

Midway through, I changed my mind when bilingual Anna, who has taken the job of translating an erotic novel into English from French, starts to reflect on the intricacies of the French language and the intertwining of cultural values, expectations, and language itself. The ups and downs of Anna's love life take a back seat to these much more interesting musings on how language defines the self. Marsot takes on the tricky aspects of faux amis (words that sound alike in French and English but have different meanings), riffs on how the differences between Americans and the French play out in their speech, and shares with her readers a whole arsenal of French swear words. Personally I loved the fact that a bilingual person was just as confused by the construction "tu me manques" (literally "to me, you are missing") which translates as "I miss you." Bottom line? Not a must read but still a pleasant twist on the American in Paris theme. I'd call it classic chick lit with a healthy serving of linguistics and cross cultural angst.

9 comments:

Ksam said...

Thanks for the book review. I actually tried to purchase this book from Amazon while in the US at Christmas, but it got lost in the mail and they didn't have any more in stock, so I never actually ended up receiving it!

debbie in toronto said...

I'm a sucker for any book about Paris especially if it has a great picture on the cover....I'll add it to my "subway" reads....

Sasho said...

Hmmm. At almost this very moment I'm trying to decide which class to take in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) certificate program. I already have a 60-hour certificate but you can only cover so much in 60 hours. On Monday night, I visited the first class in the Linguistics for Teachers of ESL. The professor brought up the very subject of language informing thought and self. Tuesday, I'll try methods and materials. Although we covered that, one can always learn more.

Sasho said...

At this moment, I'm trying to decide which class to take in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program. (I have a 60-hour TESL certificate, but there's only so much they can cover in 60-hours.) On Monday, I sat in on a Linguistics for Teachers of ESL class. The professor made the very point: that language determines thought process and the way in which one defines oneself. Tuesday, I'll try the teaching methods and materials class. And in the middle of the semester, I plan to try the class on teaching American pronunciation. Big fun.

Starman said...

Love the shot on the Pont des Arts.

Cécile Qd9 said...

Interesting

Polly-Vous Francais said...

I hadn't heard about this book, so I'll definitely add it to my library (the good, the bad, and the ugly) of Americans' takes on France. Oh, the tottering heaps!

Thanks for the review.

Cactus said...

where can I get this book in Paris??

Anne said...

Cactus: Try these places:

http://postedinparis.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/english-language-books-where-to-buy-them-in-paris/

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