Skip to content
Description
By: Lauren Collins
A language barrier is no match for love. Lauren Collins discovered this firsthand when, in her early thirties, she moved to London and fell for a Frenchman named Olivier—a surprising turn of events for someone who didn’t have a passport until she was in college. But what does it mean to love someone in a second language? Collins wonders, as her relationship with Olivier continues to grow entirely in English. Are there things she doesn’t understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his native tongue? Does “I love you” even mean the same thing as “je t’aime”? When the couple, newly married, relocates to Francophone Geneva, Collins—fearful of one day becoming "a Borat of a mother" who doesn’t understand her own kids—decides to answer her questions for herself by learning French.
When in French is a laugh-out-loud funny and surprising memoir about the lengths we go to for love, as well as an exploration across culture and history into how we learn languages—and what they say about who we are. Collins grapples with the complexities of the French language, enduring excruciating role-playing games with her classmates at a Swiss language school and accidently telling her mother-in-law that she’s given birth to a coffee machine. In learning French, Collins must wrestle with the very nature of French identity and society—which, it turns out, is a far cry from life back home in North Carolina. Plumbing the mysterious depths of humanity’s many forms of language, Collins describes with great style and wicked humor the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of learning—and living in—French.
A language barrier is no match for love. Lauren Collins discovered this firsthand when, in her early thirties, she moved to London and fell for a Frenchman named Olivier—a surprising turn of events for someone who didn’t have a passport until she was in college. But what does it mean to love someone in a second language? Collins wonders, as her relationship with Olivier continues to grow entirely in English. Are there things she doesn’t understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his native tongue? Does “I love you” even mean the same thing as “je t’aime”? When the couple, newly married, relocates to Francophone Geneva, Collins—fearful of one day becoming "a Borat of a mother" who doesn’t understand her own kids—decides to answer her questions for herself by learning French.
When in French is a laugh-out-loud funny and surprising memoir about the lengths we go to for love, as well as an exploration across culture and history into how we learn languages—and what they say about who we are. Collins grapples with the complexities of the French language, enduring excruciating role-playing games with her classmates at a Swiss language school and accidently telling her mother-in-law that she’s given birth to a coffee machine. In learning French, Collins must wrestle with the very nature of French identity and society—which, it turns out, is a far cry from life back home in North Carolina. Plumbing the mysterious depths of humanity’s many forms of language, Collins describes with great style and wicked humor the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of learning—and living in—French.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
Kensuke's Kingdom - Egmont Modern Classics (Paperback) (Michael Morpurgo)
Sale priceHK$60.00
Regular priceHK$104.00
In stock
Disney Pixar Inside Out 2 Ultimate Sticker Book
Sale priceFrom HK$44.00
Regular priceHK$65.00
In stock
Diary of a Roblox Pro #1: Monster Escape (Ari Avatar)
Sale priceHK$48.00
Regular priceHK$71.90
In stock
Diary of a Roblox Pro #2: Dragon Pet (Ari Avatar)
Sale priceFrom HK$43.00
Regular priceHK$70.00
In stock
Diary of a Roblox Pro #3: Obby Challenge (Ari Avatar)
Sale priceFrom HK$43.00
Regular priceHK$70.00
In stock
Burt the Beetle #02 Burt the Beetle Lives Here! (Ashley Spires)
Sale priceHK$101.00
Regular priceHK$150.00
In stock
Pearson Longman Level-up! English Test Papers (with Online diagnostic assessment^破解常犯錯誤)
Sale priceHK$63.00
Regular priceHK$73.00
In stock
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods (International paperback edition)
Sale priceHK$89.00
Regular priceHK$140.00
In stock
