The French language: More than meets the eye...or the ear!

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The French language More than meets the eye...or
the ear!

• For some, its the world of French culture that
  acts like a magnet, whether thats the paintings
  of Monet or Cezanne, the novels of Balzac or
  Proust, or perhaps the music of Jacques Brel or
  Serge Gainsbourg. Meanwhile, others simply cant
  get enough of la cuisine française and lets
  face it, who can resist a mouth-watering pain au
  chocolat straight from the oven with their
  morning café au lait or a generous wedge of
  camembert spread onto fresh baguette? Whatever
  France means for you, its sure to be special
  and made all the more so if you have a grasp of
  the rich language that accompanies this beautiful
  heritage!
• While many of us have a basic understanding of
  some simple French phrases (who can forget their
  high school days repeating phrases like comme ci,
  comme ça or zut alors!?), you dont really get
  to grips with the French language unless you
  practise and use it regularly.
• Lets start with the pronunciation. Some might
  say its as complex as their wine selection or
  as fancy as their pâtisseries, and its true
  there are certainly plenty of exceptions to those
  hard-learned rules. Think silent letters (but
  only sometimes!), nasal tones or guttural sounds,
  and then throw in a few accents that change
  everything, and theres little wonder plenty of
  us are put off by speaking French. Part of the
  problem lies in the fact that the French love
  to be playful with sounds. The French have plenty
  of words (or onomatopoeic expressions) used
  purely to delight children, whether its the
  sound of a fire truck (pin pon), the noise made
  when you guzzle down a drink (glou glou) or a
  knock on a door (toc toc toc), French often
  appears to infuse a delightful sense of enjoyment
  into its language.
• Whats more, its a source of rich and often
  amusing expressions that can leave the
  uninitiated scratching their heads. Lets take a
  look at some of the most bizarre
• Ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère!
• Literally Dont go there with the back of the
  spoon!
• Meaning This one refers to being direct and
  straight to the point.
• Peigner la girafe.
• Literally Comb the giraffe.
• Meaning An expression used to describe something
  futile.

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French is not just the language of love or food
and yes, English has indeed pinched many of
its cooking terms from French its also a
source of amusing and playful phrases,
delightful pronunciation and sometimes
mind-boggling idioms, too. Thats why Capital
Linguists offers a range of French translation
services all of which are carried out by
professional, academically trained linguists who
are au fait with all the ins and outs of the
French language and how best to render them in
English (or vice versa). Whether you need
interpreters for a conference or meeting
translators for French-to-English or
English-to-French document translation or
linguists for your subtitling or voiceover work,
Capital Linguists French experts are ready to
help. A bientôt!