Book notes: The Story of French by Jean Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow

Quite a while ago I read The Story of Spanish by the same husband/wife author duo, and it was one of the best popular linguistic books I’ve ever read.  It was great to get a history of Spanish and all of its origins.  These books go very deep into the history, cultures, personalities, and events that influence the development of language.   I need to read The Story of Spanish again and write a review, but for now here are some notes from another one of their works, The Story of French.  

French, a Romantic language just like Spanish, seems so different.  I learned Spanish prior to starting to study French, and found Spanish, for lack of a better word, was easier.  It was much easier to learn.  Spanish was phonetic, French is not.  Spanish pronunciation is pretty straightforward, French has tricky nasal and guttural sounds.  Spanish sounds like other Latin based languages, such as Portuguese and Italian, French much less so.  So what’s going on?  Why is French so different from Spanish and all of the other Romance languages for that matter?

The answers to these questions start to become clear in the early chapters of this book.  The authors claim “while English is the most Latin of the Germanic languages, French is the most Germanic of the Romance Languages”.  Gaul, or what is modern day France was part of the Roman empire, and many languages in this region came from Latin there were significant influences from other languages, both from within the territory and from Germanic invaders from the east.  “French” as we know it today is really one of the hundreds of local dialects that used to exist in France/Gaul.  French would also end up significantly impacting one particular Germanic language, the one in which your humble author is currently writing.  The Norman invasion and occupation of England made quite an impression in English, and is responsible for many of the English words of Latin origin today.

The French language and its development is chronicled through time; from the dark ages and into the enlightenment.  French philosophers prospered during the enlightenment, and gave French an international appeal in fields where Latin had been dominant before.  French salons where influential philosophers like Voltaire  and Rousseau gathered made French a language of noble minds and artists.       

Nadeau and Barlow have a great knack for including great trivial knowledge.  An example of this is the origin of the word restaurant, which originally meant “restore-ant”, named after a beef broth that was thought to have tonic qualities.  Restaurants started in France.  Prior to the French revolution, chefs worked in Chateaus for the nobility.  During the revolution, many of these elite either went to the guillotine or sought refuge outside of France.  With their traditional income gone these food professionals needed to find another outlet to utilize their talent, and the restaurant was born.    

The authors do an excellent job of describing the whole francophone world, visiting old colonies and enclaves of French speakers throughout the world.  Nadeau and Barlow, being French Canadian, pay special tribute to Quebecois, the Acadians, and the history of French speaking people in all of Canada’s provinces.  History is given from Colonial times of New France all the way through Quebec's independence movement.  They also visit Louisiana and document a disappearing Cajun French culture, which gives us one of my favorite quotes of the book: “Every time we’ve tried to close the coffin on the Cajuns, the body’s sprung up and called for beer”.  I feel like I’ve walked away from this book with a much more complete knowledge of both the francophonie (countries with large number of French speakers) and the Francophonie (political union of voluntary member-states where French is an influential language).  It is great to see that French remains an important international language, and even in countries where English is gaining traction, these gains are not at the expense of French (the authors cite Egypt and Algeria as prominent examples).      

This title touches on many topics and closes strong with what the future holds for French.  Although this book is about a language and includes lots of linguistic information, it reads like a popular biography.  The authors do an excellent job of bringing the history of French alive with vivid history, thorough research, and personal interactions that they had with French experts from all around the world.  If you’ve read and enjoyed The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson, you’ll love this book.   

Book notes: The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close

Like many other Spanish learners, one of my greatest weaknesses is using, or failing to use, the subjunctive.  As part of an ongoing effort to improve upon this I have read and done all of the exercises in the book The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close by Eric Vogt.  These are some notes and observations from the book.    

One thing that Mr. Vogt makes clear at the beginning of the book is that the subjunctive is not a tense, but a mood that includes 4 tenses (present, imperfect, present perfect, and pluperfect).  What determines the use of the subjunctive is the relationship between dependent and independent clauses, not the time when an action happens.  The time when the action happens in relation to the verb in the main clause determines which tense of the subjunctive should be used.    

One type of clause in which the subjunctive may be called for are subordinated noun clauses.  The author provides an easy formula for determining when the subjunctive is needed for subordinated noun clauses (the second, or dependent clause).  

S1+V1 que S2+V2  where S1≠S2

Subject 1 & Verb 1 + Subject 2 & Verb 2 where subject 2 is not equal to subject 1, and verb 1 is a W.E.I.R.D.O. verb.  W.E.I.R.D.O. is a handy acronym for verbs of Wishing (or wanting, willing, desiring, etc.), Emotion (alegrarse, enojarse, etc.), Indirect statements/commands (que traiga, etc.), Doubt/Denial (dudar), and Ojalá.  The importance of the change in subject with W.E.I.R.D.O. cannot be overstated, if the subject does not change the subjunctive is not used.   

Subordinated noun clauses are not the only types of clause that require the subjunctive to follow; some adjective and adverbial clauses also require the subjunctive to follow.  The subjunctive is used in adjective phrases when the antecedent, or noun of the first clause, is vague, non-existent, or indefinite.  The example provided by the book is “necesitamos una computadora que funcione”.  The “computadora que funcione” describes a computer that is vague, may or may not exist, and indefinite (just a computer that works, not the computer that works).  For adverbial clauses, there is one group of these clauses that always requires the subjunctive and another group that sometimes requires the subjunctive, depending on the certainty of the speaker about an event.  The group of clauses that always requires the subjunctive includes:  

a menos que/a no ser que  (unless)

antes de que  (before)

como si  (as if)

con tal de que, siempre y cuando  (provided that/as long as)

el hecho de que (the fact that)

en caso de que (in case that)

para que, a fin de que  (in order that)

sin que (without)

(pg. 48)

The other group sometimes requires the subjunctive.  To determine whether or not the subjunctive is required we need to look at the speaker’s attitude about the dependent clause, the adverbial phrase is describing, such as uncertainty or doubt about the clause.   

a pesar de que  (despite, in spite of)

acaso, tal vez, quizá  (perhaps)

así que, así como (such that)

aunque  (although)

cuando (when)

de modo que, de manera que  (in such a way that)

después de que, luego que (after)

hasta que  (until)

mientras  (while)

por más que, por mucho que (no matter how much)

siempre que (as long as)

tan pronto como, en cuanto  (as soon as)

una vez que  (once you have)

(pg. 49)

The exercises in the book are plentiful and extensive.  Some are as simple as matching exercises.  Other more difficult exercises involve translating sentences that may or may not involve the subjunctive.  Each chapter has 5 or 6 sets of exercises, so one can feel comfortable with the content before moving on (or review the chapter more).   The entire last chapter is comprehensive exercises on material learned in all of the chapters.  I feel I personally gained the most from the exercises, though the explanations were good as well.

The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close has been a useful tool that has helped me become more confident with the subjunctive.  I would highly recommend it as a resource for anyone interested in improving their use of the subjunctive.

¡Que lo lean!  

              

Book: Alpha Teach Yourself Spanish in 24 Hours

Although I don’t think books are the best way for a beginner to start learning a language, Alpha Teach Yourself Spanish in 24 Hours is an easy to use guide to the basic concepts of Spanish grammar, pronunciation, usage, and overall language. Author Clark Zlotchew puts together a lot of information in his hour long lessons, complete with practice exercises in clear and easy to understand language with a lot of examples.

Zlotchew starts out, as one might expect, with the alphabet and Spanish pronunciation. He does a great job of explaining the sounds of Spanish vowels and consonants and the rules of accents and stress. He breaks down stress into 3 rules: If a words ends with a vowel, an s or a n then the stress is on the penultimate syllable (next to last). If a word ends with any consonant other than s or n the stress is on the last syllable. The last rule is that exceptions will carry a written accent mark. The language he uses to describe these rules is clear and simple and plenty of examples are provided.

The author spends a few chapters mixing indicative verbs with other topics, all the while intertwining vocabulary. I like his approach to mixing the vocabulary instruction with the grammar. Every indicative tense is covered ( preterite, imperfect, progressive, present, future, conditional). The next section does a fantastic job of covering the complicated Spanish subjunctive. Once again I must commend this book for taking a complex subject and breaking it down into simple language. This book helped me with my personal understanding of the subjunctive. Different units include cultural tips to help you betterunderstand the language and communicate. He also explains some vocabulary differences between Spain and Latin America, such as regional words for foods (ex. gambas in Spain and camarones in Latin America for shrimp).

While I’m not a fan of books for the beginning language learners, this book could certainly help someone who has basic pronunciation down. There is much to be gained, especially from the simple to understand grammar explanations.