French swear words

What has the Belgian celebrity Chef in Black in common with The Swedish Cook? Well, both are famous chefs and both make fun about the language they speak, although I am not sure which one is doing it on purpose…

"The Swedish Cook" was a funny character on the old but great Muppet Show who did everything but cooking.

Therefore they chose Sweden to be his home-country because just admit: what else do you know about Swedish cooking than what you eat in Ikea?

"The Belgian Cook"… is a chef on the AFC or Asian Food Channel. He not only knows about French food, but has  his own TV show and restaurants in Singapore. His real name is Emmanuel Stroobant but he prefers to call himself Chef in Black. Look at his picture and you will understand why

Now for the odd part: Chef in Black is a Belgian yet pronouncing "iz vordz az iv he is a real French…" .

On the show I saw yesterday he really went overboard by saying: you the Chinese and we the French are the only 2 people eating frogs…

We the French … Hello Mr. Emmanuel Stroobant: you are a Belgian you know!

What do we learn from this? That it pays off to learn French accents if you want to become a French chef…

Emmanuel Stroobant is not only a good chef, but he knows how to brand himself very well.

I mean: who will look up if you say you are a Belgian Chef? Yet you get everybody’s attention when you say you are a French Chef loving French food … especially with that peculiar English-French pronunciation of his…

Especially in Singapore: nobody can see if you look French or Belgian, so use a funny accent and pretend you are French to become a celebrity chef in black.

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Why learn how to speak French when “everybody” speaks English?

French (le français, la langue française-the French language-) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered only by Spanish language and Portuguese language. In 1999 the French language was the 11th most spoken language in the world being spoken by about 77 million people (called Francophones-speak French) as a mother tongue, and by 128 million altogether including second French language speakers. It is an official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the European Union, IOC, United Nations and Universal Postal Union).

Why learn French spelling during a French Course?

French spelling is by no means phonetic. Terminal consonants have often become silent in most French dialects, unless followed by a vowel sound (liaison) or silent altogether (e.g., “et” is never pronounced with the ending “t”). In many words, the “n” and “m” become silent and cause the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e. pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to cause the air to leave through the nostrils instead of through the mouth). Furthermore, in the French language French words tend to run together when spoken, with ending consonants often being chained to the start of the next word.

Where to learn how to speak French in France?

You can find some schools in France giving French Courses following the links on my page. Since Europe is not that cheap for us Malaysians, I will add some more websites that teach French worldwide.

How to speak French from the comfort of your own home!

Study French at home and let a native French teacher visit you online! Of course this is best done at Learn French or you can join the Asian French friends finder (which will be replaced soon by our new Asian Online Dating site) : both sites have lots of French friends you can talk to in the French language, helping you to learn French.

Technorati Tags: administrative language, consonants, french course, french courses, french dialects, french friends, french language, french spelling, french teacher, french words, friends finder, language speakers, mother tongue, portuguese language, romance languages, schools in france, soft palate, teacher visit, universal postal union, vowel sound