English words reinvented by French

French are known for their possessiveness towards their mother-tongue. They don’t pay attention to other languages particularly English. Even though French vocabulary has many words extracted from the English language but when we learn their meanings they don’t seem to be interpreting the same meanings as in English. Here I have listed some words which sound like the Shakespearean language but have very little to do with English. Even though these words have been minted by French, they either have changed meaning or stripped.

·         Un dressing : This word is particularly confusing as in English it means a dressing room or a dressing  gown while in French language it just means a closet.

·         Black: In French language when you say that you are working in black it just implies that your salary is not declared by the government or is off the records. While in English language it would just mean that you are working in pitch darkness.

·        Le pressing: If you have ever walked along the cities of France, you must have noticed this word. So what is it exactly? Le pressing in France means dry cleaner’s place and not pressing something!

·          Le footing: Le footing is a French adopted version of jogging and running.

·         Un lifting: You must be thinking that this word has something to do with lifting something but it is    not so! In French ‘Un lifting’ simply means a minor plastic surgery or just a face-lift.

Likewise there are more than thousands of such words and phrases in English originated French words which when transited give entirely different meanings. 

Some French is in everything which we do!

French is all about sophistication. French is in everything which we do. The way we dress, present ourselves, the way we eat, the food and the way we express our feelings. French culture is a part of our day to day life unconsciously. Whenever we think of something, say about love, something will come up sounding like French. 

The ideas and ethics of French culture have become universal truths which we simply cannot ignore.

Language of literature, poetry, fashion, design

French is the language of literature, philosophy and poetry. French philosophy provoked the desire to free several Latin American nations.

The write-up will be incomplete without writing about French fashion and design. Creators like Louis Vuitton have cast a spell in the house of luxury and built so much fame globally. Then there is wine and flavours which make France famous. Even though it is a small country, France produces lots of things for the world.

France is the third biggest country after US and Great Britain which witnesses a huge inflow of foreign students from across the world. Germany is the 4th country in the world which accepts foreign nations from around the world. 

French government has taken all the initiatives to expose students to the French language and culture. It is encouraging students from across different nations to come and study here. It grants huge subsidies for the students. Moreover many organizations offer language classes, exhibitions and other activities to promote French culture.

Considering French language offers many opportunities in France, people are more inclined to learn French as a second language. They can work for French organizations and companies and they can immigrate to Canada. 

Quality translation services for entering French market

Global business opportunities are gripping companies to expand their network in nations like France, Russia, US and UK. Many reputed companies have already made an impression in the global market.

Business expansion in other markets requires strong strategic planning right from market research to launching of your service or products.One of the most important considerations which should be kept in mind while planning your business globally is the linguistic and cultural aspects of your target audience or customer. Linguistic and cultural aspects can be a barrier in the ways of communicating with your consumers in an effective way.
If you are planning to expand your business in France, you will have to plan your business strategy towards appealing French speaking consumers. In order to target them, you will have to add French language option to your website as internet is one of the largest used platform for modern business marketing.Neglecting the language of your website’s language would be to miss an important opportunity to connect with your French speaking customers.

Moreover, French law has made certain regulations which make the usage of French language mandatory in some contexts. Under the law, all the advertisements, commercial announcements must be conversed in French language. This does not mean that foreign languages cannot be used in France, but the advertisements should have French translation along with them. Hence any business which wants to advertise or market his products or services in France will have to use French translation services.

France is a country with strong patriotic feelings about preserving its language. Hence it makes a sense to develop your marketing strategies by incorporating French language as an option. 

Blunders in French translation costs millions to French tourism sector

According to a latest study, about 65% of the French travel websites contain translation errors or blunders. These errors cost French economy about 120 million Euros every year. You can find common errors like, “Our top Stay”,“Speedy rental”,“Challenger Destination”, “Well-being expert for you” and “Some useful informations” on the French to English translation pages of the travel sites. 

Online tourism is on high demand in France and is worth 18.5 billion euros.

It is estimated that e-tourism sector suffers from more than 120 million annually with bad French translations. Multilingualism is an important criterion for reaching international tourists. However, sometimes translations become the cause of failure to reach global audience because of the poor quality and inaccuracy. You will notice that many of these travel websites even fail to translate phrases and texts. For example some phrases in French language will be visible in English version and English phrases will be visible on French language travel sites. The study also revealed that 33% of the French travel sites have no English language translations at all.

E-tourism enables travelers to get reliable and correct information related to travel and make reservations with the convenience of cost and time. E-tourism has improved the quality of services in tourism sector and has contributed to greater tourist satisfaction. Along with the growth of e-tourism, tourists are now very demanding in terms of quality of services and value for their money. Hence, tourism websites should identify potential consumer’s needs and give them personalized services with advanced communication media to meet their demands. Sites should use innovative methods to communicate with their prospective customers in order to sustain and increase their effectiveness. 

French publishers fail to tap international market

Not many of us know that there are six thousand languages spoken across the world. But only few languages have a potential market for books. French is one of the largest spoken languages after Chinese, English, Spanish and Hindi. There exist a great potential in international book market owing to the large language pool.

The market for English language books is one of the largest. This huge market is driven by dynamic marketing by the publishers.Spanish market is driven by the rise in the living standards of the Latin American population and the government initiatives to promote literature and reading. Both of these book markets are huge and comprise of big and small companies.These are driven by the eager of the middle class to read books and appreciate literature.In addition to this these markets have expert professionals, subsidiaries and the permit to operate freely with their own policies.

The French language book market on the other hand seems to be largely concentrating in Paris. Forecasts say that French language pool is going to rise further due to its 700 million native French speakers. However, it appears that the supply side of French book market is not able to catch up with the rising numbers.

It seems that publishers in this market have assumed that French speaking population is only limited and is never going to rise and therefore they have not explored the opportunities in international market.They are still sticking to the old practices of marketing unlike other book markets. This picture seems to be worse for writers. A writer whose book is published by a company in Paris cannot publish for anyone else. They face challenges to sell the rights of book published in French language inside French speaking countries.

In nutshell, the market for books in French has huge potential but they need to throw away their old-fashioned attitudes. 

Why you should learn a Second Language

Second Language-French,Russian,German,Italian

In this globally connected and diverse world, the importance of learning a second language cannot be bypassed. Learning a new language gives an opportunity to immerse you amongst various multi-lingual and multi-cultural people. In the US alone, 43 states have people who speak different languages- French, Russian, German, Italian, Vietnamese and Tagalog. However, most of the states have Spanish as predominant second language. So, if you are not familiar with the Spanish language, might end up getting embarrassed by a bunch of Hispanics giggling at jokes they told in Spanish. Many times, you might be walking alongside two Asians talking in their native language and you might not even know which language they are speaking!
Benefits of learning a second language 

Let us look at some of the benefits of learning a second language:

• Learning a second language not only help you to communicate but helps you to develop cognitive skills such as creativity, flexibility and lateral thinking. 

• Learning a second language can give an edge in your job opportunity and pay you higher than someone who does not have this skill. For example, expertise in French can land you in a job as a French translator and pay you high salary.

• It opens new doors towards potential business opportunities in foreign markets. Familiarity with the language and culture of your target customers/clients helps you to understand in a better way. 

It is never too late to learn a new language so you should not be demotivated with the feeling of having missed the opportunity to learn a new language. Enroll in language programs offered by universities if it matches with your schedules. If you don’t want to join a regular course, you can opt for French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian courses online as well. 

French language crucial for curriculum

In the wake of budget crisis, government has been making proposals for abolishing or reducing French language from the school curriculum in some of the school districts of New York. Lots of intellectuals are dubious about the impact of these proposals as French language has been a part of the New York school curriculum for more than 100 years now. French language has been a relevant subject for study in the communities living in North Country where more than 30% population speaks French as native language. Abolishing French will be huge blow to their cultural lineage which they have been carrying since 200 years. Most of the people were of the view that French programs should be continued in areas where schools are close to cities like Montreal which predominantly French dominated Canadian city.

Studying French is relevant and applicable for many purposes. It is essential for pursuing higher studies in international trade relations, medical tourism, travel, transportation, technology and other business studies. Cities like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have large number of French speaking people and more than 500 companies are present in these cities, so familiarity with French is very important for making investments in these cities. There are more than 1500 French companies in the US which have nearly half a million US professionals. Many people are not aware about the importance of trade between Quebec (one of the largest French populated cities in Canada) and New York. Quebec is one of the leading trade partners with New York and more than 100 companies from Quebec operate in New York. All these stats demonstrate and emphasize the importance of French study in the state, so the proposals of eliminating French language should be given a second thought!

French translation services: A brief overview

French translation services are in high demand by global businesses owing to the rising number of French clients in the world. French is recognized as an official language in 29 countries and it belongs to the Indo-European family. It is an official language of all the agencies in United Nations, WHO, NATO, UNESCO, WTO, European Union and several other international organizations. According to a report by Bloomberg Business week, French is one of the top widely used businesses languages after English and Chinese, far ahead of Spanish and other languages spoken in Europe. 

As an entrepreneur, if your prospective client is French, you can take help from French translator who can provide translation service for your business. Professional translation services can provide document translations, legal translations, website translations for various business sectors. They can give you accurate and quality translations specific to your business needs. These companies employ native French translators who are well-versed and acquainted in French language. Professional translators are trained in identifying the differences between variants of French language which includes African French, European French and Canadian French and doing translations according to the requirement of the business specific. 

If you are looking for a French translation company for your business, you should choose certified agencies who can offer affordable services for your business needs. You should not make your choices based on the huge cost of the services a particular agency charges, because there is no point in paying huge amount of money when you can find quality services at an affordable price. 

Anglicism invading French language

Anglicism is the term used for words which are taken from English language to be used in other languages. Of late, business communication in French language has been found to be invaded by Anglicism. Lot of words like “ASAP”,“brainstorm”, “brainstorming”, “workshop”, “deadline”, “burnout”, “bullet points” are being used liberally in business communication at French offices. According to some of the “Dictionary of new French” (Dictionnaire du Nouveau Français) about 400 new-words from English language have been included in the French language. However, these words have not been entered in the official dictionaries of French language.

Commonly used English jargons like “to-do-list” are being used at workplace liberally which has annoyed the French purists who think that it is utterly useless. They think that poorly stuffed French language with English jargons does not communicate clear thoughts. They think that offices should employ the use of French translators who can provide them with correct French to English translations. Analysts on the other hand have made predictions about this change in French language. According to them, Anglicism is going to grow further in French language and this trend is going to increase steadily in future years.They are of the view that companies often imitate one another and pick up English jargons from conferences and magazines which ultimately increases their efficiency. Many times,companies often use English words because it is more efficient and simple to use than French language.Lot of theorists think that this change will help French companies to work in the way world works! 

French languages gaining popularity in translation industry

French translation industry is gaining momentum rapidly. People are looking for a professional and human approach towards translation and so machine translation is becoming obsolete in the serious sectors.Professional French translators are native speakers of French language who are trained to produce quality translations.Growing trade relations of individuals, businesses and industries with the French speaking population is gaining global attention and professional French translation agencies are benefiting from this opportunity. French is one of the widely learned foreign languages and people are accepting it as a window to job opportunities abroad. Now-a-days schools have included French as one of the language options for children from the primary levels.

It is always good to make an impact into your customers mind by communicating in their native languages. French is spoken as an official language in 29 countries so if you want to establish your business in these countries, you might require French translation services to communicate with your clients and end-users.  Professional French translators can provide authentic translation which meets your requirements such as marketing materials translations, business card translations in French language,website translation in French language, document and legal documents in French language.However, before you make your choice for French translator/French translation agency,do an extensive research and check their legitimacy.Check if they are qualified to do French translations of all types or not. Moreover, if your document involves any security issues, make sure you get a confidentiality agreement signed by your translator/translation agency. You can also hire translators who are specialized in your business sector as they can provide correct translations meeting your requirements.