When in French: Love in a Second Language

By Lauren Collins

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 014311073X
• ISBN13: 9780143110736
• Release Date: November 2017
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A perfect example of bicultural marriage and family life

This is a great read for anyone who desires to travel, learn about cultures, or is in a relationship outside of their culture. Even if it's just Kansas born and raised versus New York, that's still a cultural difference in a way. I think the author perfectly captures the beauty and challenges of learning a language and culture, and trying to bridge two very different families via Google Translate. I laughed, I cried, I loved it!

Awful!

I wish I could give this book zero stars....it has nothing to do with love in a second language. The author mainly complains about having to learn another language while living abroad with her husband and how hard it is for her. She makes living abroad seem like a sad, disappointing and daunting task and not worth doing. Do not recommend!