In one of my recent posts, I mentioned some of my favourite French words with no direct English translation. This got me digging and I’ve come up with some more delightfully unique words both in French and other languages. Here’s my little list. French words no English equivalent La douleur exquise: the heart-wrenching pain of…
Étiquette : english language
English Copywriter in Paris: living in limbo
Living in foreign country is a fabulous and enriching experience. As a Brit who’s been living in Paris for the last 5 years, I can safely say that you learn a lot about yourself, another culture and also (more surprisingly) about your own country. As I toppled off the train at Gare du Nord with…
English Copywriter in Paris: accent-uating class difference
In my last post I talked about accents when speaking foreign languages. Now my musings have moved on to accents in English. I keep coming back to the question of how far we judge people by their accents. A memory from my Cambridge uni days suddenly springs to mind. Still dominated by middle class southerners,…
English Copywriter in Paris: English on the Way
I recently spent a lush green week walking along the Camino de Santiago (St. James’ Way) in Northern Spain. We crossed paths with an exciting linguistic and cultural hotpot of walkers from all over the world. No, this isn’t just an excuse to boast about my latest holiday. There is a linguistic point to this…