The French Woman is a Femme-enfant

There is the femme fatale.

There is the trophy-wife.

There is the bimbo.

There is the lolita.

And there is the femme-enfant. 

Not long ago, as I was having a conversation on women with male friends, one of them cut short and suddenly told me “you know what, very simply, our type of girls is the femme-enfant one”.

It’s funny coz we all understood what this friend meant by “femme-enfant” so I was wondering if it’s because we were all French. An English translation for “femme-enfant” would be “child-woman”. I asked German friends if there was such a word that could translate “femme-enfant” in German. Funny thing, they actually have “men-children” in Germany! But no femme-enfants. Then I asked a Belgian friend who speaks fluently French and Flemish. Interestingly, the word femme-enfant does not translate into Flemish, which led me to the conclusion that maybe, this concept is proper to the French language and maybe to the French culture.

So let me explain what a femme-enfant is, and if there actually is such a thing as femme-enfants in your language and culture, or any other types of complex gender-related stereotypes, please share!

1. A stereotype of a French woman: the “femme-enfant”

A femme-enfant is a type of women.
It’s a stereotype.

FREE FRENCH AUDIO BOOKS – IMPROVE YOUR FRENCH LISTENING AND PRONUNCIATION

A wonderful find is the website of the French association Des Livres à Lire et à Entendre, an association which aims at enabling blind and partially-sighted people to enjoy audio literature for free. All genres are represented, a great number of writers (not only French) and works are offered for download as MP3 files.

It is a great opportunity for French people to make discoveries, and it’s also great if you are studying French and want to improve your French listening comprehension and pronunciation, as well as your knowledge of French literature.

MUSIC: French band Fauve≠

THE BEST ONLINE FRENCH DICTIONARY

If you are studying French, the best online French dictionary is the TLFi, Trésor de la langue française informatisé. Long title that sounds ridiculously grandiose, particularly when considering their very 1.0/non friendly interface, but true goldmine nonetheless. 

It was recommended by one of my literature teachers, who appearently is something in the literary milieu, so you can really rely on the quality of its content.

One of the main interests of this dictionary is the huge amount of examples that they give to illustrate the meaning of each word in context. But the examples are not random, they are all quotes from masterpieces of French literature. It’s even interesting to use the TLF as a quote dictionary.

May it be of a precious help during your French journey!

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FREE FRENCH AUDIO BOOKS – IMPROVE YOUR FRENCH LISTENING AND PRONUNCIATION

WHY THE FRENCH ONLY SPEAK FRENCH – and that bothers you

One of the criticism that I hear most often about the French is that they refuse to speak another language than French, thus appearing weirdly self-centered and arrogant. Do the French think that everybody speaks or should speak their language? Do they think they are too good to speak English or any other language?

1. Assholes are everywhere… and France is no exception.

As a French born in Paris, I obviously never experienced having the language problems that visitors have when they come here. Nevertheless, I was once invited to the birthday dinner of a Belaruss friend doing an exchange in Paris – I was the only French there, the restaurant was an expensive one, La Closerie des Lilas. Our waiter was a French guy in his 50s, who right away pretended not to understand when someone at the table was speaking English to him. He would ask them in French to repeat, telling them in French, “je ne comprends pas”, driving his own hosts to feel awkard about themselves. I was looking at his little game wondering wtf, is he serious, and ultimately what is his point. Then when he understood I was French, he would always turn to me to translate.

Verdict: this guy was just a huge dush, because I think he could speak and understand enough to do his job. I can only see that he was suffering from an inferiority complex for doing a job that set him at the service of others while he thought he was maybe better than that. It’s not just because I was at that table that I am saying so. Every other French or just anybody would also think this guy is a dick if they were told the story.

My advice if you meet any of those dudes: be better than them, take your stuff, explain them as politely as you can (important to be very polite) that their service is of poor quality and that there are a many a competitor outside you can visit. That is, if you can complain to someone actually understanding your English…

2. The French have poor language skills

Understanding and speaking English… may seem obvious in our era of globalization. It’s not for us. The French are bad at languages.