The French empire & colonial exhibition of 1931

The French Empire & colonial exhibition of 1931 from melissacannons

Language for professional communication 1 - Semaine 3 - Entreprise : Orange.

L'entreprise : Orange from melissacannons

French empire & the colonial exhibition of 1931

Composed  & uploaded by Melissa Cannons

Books consulted:

Kedward: La Vie en Bleu
Evans&Godin: France 1815-2003

Nation, language & Identity - Lecture 1 - SEPTEMBER 23rd 2013

What is a nation?

• Language
• Culture
• Ethnicity
• Religion
• Values
• Shared history

Above all, a nation has something that is in common / shared with all of its inhabitants.


What is a nation state?

When a nation is ruled by a state - State (neutral / secular) --> institution --> territory.

** Both of these are contested concepts. ^^


Conflicts:

Southern Sudan vs. Nothern Sudan : Sudan - Africa's 54th Nation State.

In 2011, Sudan held a referendum in which they voted for / against independance - 99% were in favour - Sudan split into a north / south divide --> Could not stay together as a result of religious / ethnic conflicts (Islam vs Christianity).

Fights originate from the idea of political importance of each of the things that define a nation --> When one tries to impose any of these on the other (who doesn't share the same lang / values etc) it causes tensions / conflicts.

Questions can be answered differently depending on how you define a nation i.e. Which of the sub-categories mentioned above is the most dominant in your view?

• Ethnic / cultural nationalism vs. civic / political nationalism:

Ethnic / cultural nationalism is exclusive - only allows people of certain race / values belong to the nation.

Civic/ political nationalism is inclusive - allows members of differing races / values.

When splitting a country, the position of a border is not only based on the idea of religious / ethnic conflict (or any other type of conflict) but also on political / economic factors --> It is important that each section of newly independent land has equal resources / revenue.

Civic nationalism is normally concerned with: individual rights & freedom - The state needs to act in the interests of the people.

Questions:

Is the nation invented? - Is it just something that has been imagined and created in order to unite 'the people of 'a nation'?

**The idea that you have to speak the same language within a nation is becoming more and more important --> need to have a mutual language in order to share / communicate common values.

Which of your identities are most important? Your national or civic identity? Idea of US vs. THEM --> We can only have an 'us' if we have something to compare it with.

REMEMBER: The way in which we define nationalism is constantly changing.

University - 1st year - results.

                                    I GOT A 2:1 OVERALL FOR FIRST YEAR. :D

               This is a picture of my cockatiel Charley to show you how happy I am! 
                                                  (because she looks so chuffed) :)

Les Revenants (the returned) had its first airing on channel 4 tonight....

Photo credit: http://www.acrossthedays.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Les-revenants-serie-canal+.jpg

Us Brits tend not to like subtitles, maybe it's because we're too lazy to read or feel that having to divert our attention to the subtitles at the bottom of the screen takes away from the overall viewing experience, whatever the case may be, I think it has been overlooked for this brilliant French thriller. 

(Yes, I'm putting this on my blog because it is French ;) )

This subtitle phobia is even common among my own family, who were unwilling to watch this very programme tonight until I convinced them otherwise. Most of the time, they refuse to watch anything French with me because they say that they don't understand it and don't like subtitles. Luckily les revenants has managed to change their minds. 

Its gritty cinematography and surreal narrative, I feel, is typically French. Even the colour scheme seems similar to that of Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain), with a green hue  being the overwhelming colour throughout.

The fact that a French programme has managed to get onto British television, and has been received really well is brilliant, and I hope that it's something that will continue to emerge in time to come. 

In terms of the narrative, I think that it's really captivating and the mystery behind it is something that the French seem to master. As the first episode, it has introduced us to an extremely complex narrative, with many unanswered questions for us viewers. 

A general synopsis of the first episode:

A group of school children were on their school bus driving along the mountains (on a school trip) when a young female pupil runs to the front of the bus and wants to be let out (presumably sensing the danger ahead), the bus proceeds to go off the edge of the mountain, with the vehicle and all of the passengers falling thousands of feet towards the ground. 

The victims have begun to reappear in their relatives homes (often their family home) and the people around them can see them (despite the fact that presumably, they are ghosts). Their reappearance has left their families in despair with nobody knowing how to deal with the situation. 

The consensus is that the victims do not know that they have died and have returned home to live their lives as they would if they were alive, with no recollection of the accident which killed them all. 

Here is a link to the channel 4 website for more information & links to watch the episode online: 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-returned 

First year of university.

     Picture credit: http://www.port.ac.uk/media/Media,89042,en.jpg

This beautiful building, above, is Park building. Where all but one of my lessons were held this year. I love that the main vicinity where my lessons are taught is the building closest to the train station (as I get the train to and from Portsmouth every day), it could not have been more convenient. 

When I first started uni, or just before I started, I was so worried, as you would be as a newbie, that I wouldn't fit in, wouldn't make friends, and wouldn't do well. All of those things have faded into insignificance. I fit in, I've made friends and I've done well this year. RESULT.

The work load since September, I'm not going to lie, has been a little bit hectic. Mainly because I did every task that was set, even the ones that weren't marked. I suppose, on reflection, I should have tried a little less, as it's first year and all that, it doesn't count towards your final grade, which is a shame really, seeing as I've got a 2:1 in all of my units. 

The unit that I found the most challenging this year was 'making of modern Europe', it was so heavy-duty. So much to remember, so much reading, so little time. I didn't like speaking up in lessons because I didn't feel that my answers would be correct, or even relevant (despite doing all of the suggested weekly reading before the seminar on a given subject.) I literally spent days revising for the MME exam, it was ridiculous. It was like reading pages and pages of history and nothing was going in, or so I thought. When the exam actually came around, I spent a little time, maybe a few minutes planning my response to the essay question and I actually ended up with quite a lot of content. I wouldn't really want to study history again but I'm really pleased with my results to be honest! :)

Quite a few of my friends have said that they found 'introduction to French studies' really difficult, and undeniably, it is. The sheer amount of knowledge that you are expected to have is quite insane but I can honestly say that after studying this unit for the past year, (well, since September), that my knowledge of France has immensely increased and I actually enjoyed the unit. :)

I'm still waiting for my grade to come through for my French language exam. I think I did well, but you know when you think you've actually done quite well at something and then you get your results back and they're really not what you expected. Yeah, I'm thinking that's going to happen now! It's even worse that the exam is worth 50% of the unit. Oh dear! 

The university of Portsmouth really is a nice, friendly place and French studies is a great degree. I'd recommend it. ;)

Gordon & Meunier state "France are loudly resisting globalisation whilst quietly adapting to it at the same time", to what extent is this statement valid in 2013? - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH STUDIES EXAM WRITE UP

Well first of all, I thought the question choices for this exam were absolutely awful. 

One of the lecturers said *just before the exam started*, "Oh don't worry, there's nothing we haven't covered in class, I haven't got a good imagination." I thought to myself, "Oh good, I've attended all the lectures and seminars this year, I'll be fine. 

But no. I turned the sheet over, looked at the questions and thought to myself "brilliant, I don't feel confident with any of these". 

None of them looked good, interesting or were based on anything I had revised..

The only question I could have chosen (which I eventually did after about 10 minutes of trying to choose which one would be best grades wise.) was the one on globalisation. 
*which is in the title of this post*

The only reason I even chose that question was because I had previously written my Introduction to French studies essay on globalisation in France, which I suppose was lucky. 

So, in this exam (which I sat on 16th May 2013) was essentially a regurgitation of what I could remember from my essay. 

_____________________________________________________________________

Here is a bullet pointed version of what I wrote: 

• To first analyse whether or not Gordon & Meunier's statement remains to be true in 2013, it is first necessary to look at the reasons for which France is resisting globalisation and to see if these reasons are still prevalent in contemporary French society.
• Reason 1 : Power to control their own economic affairs - France's anxieties towards globalisation are based on a conflict between the french exceptionalist model (which is based on a state-controlled economy) and the Anglo-American universalist model (which is based on a more liberal market) - it is increasingly important for Francois Hollande, and France itself, to maintain control over its own economy especially since it had been announced that France had just hit a double-dip recession (16/05/13).
• Reason 2: France's need to be an international power - Globalisation, of course, poses a threat to France's role in the world. Especially since globalisation is most often equated with Americanisation (with a transfer of American dominated ideas & culture).
• Reason 3: France's need to maintain their l'exception culturelle. - José Bové's outburst in 2001 when he dismantled a McDonalds in a small French village - against American malbouffle - He saw, as many people in France do, America, and thus globalisation a threat to French culture and their many other exceptions which set them apart from the rest of Europe.

• I think that the above points were the essence of my essay and I concluded  (something along the lines of..) Gordon & Meunier's statement that France are loudly resisting globalisation whilst quietly adapting to it at the same time remains to be true in 2013 because France have / are actually adopting elements of the universal model e.g. the liberal market, whilst retaining an element of state control, in order to create 'mondialisation maitrise' -  & as long as the above reasons remain a worry for France, they will continue to resist globalisation.

To what extent was Imperial Germany to blame for the outbreak of the 1914-1918 conflict? <-- Making of Modern Europe exam write up.

I took this exam on the 13/04/2013 so I'll just write a few bullet point notes from what I remember writing. :)

• Ongoing Russian/Austria-Hungary tensions over Bosnia (Bosnian crises).
  
• Final spark - Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria by a Serb nationalist.
  
• Blank cheque - Germany gave Austria-Hungary the 'blank cheque' meaning that they would support Austria-Hungary in event of conflict against Russia.
  
• Scramble for Africa- All countries had imperialist aims - but Germany was keen to build an empire- Britain and France had already acquired successful empires at this point - Germany's imperialistic aims were also fuelled by French revisionism whereby France wanted to claim back Alsace & Lorraine  (their two richest regions) from Germany which they had lost after the Franco-Prussian war.
  
• Germany's military rivalry with Britain - arms race - right to have the best / most advanced military.
  
• Entangled alliances system meant that all main powers would be brought in (in the event of conflict between two opposing powers.)
  
• Shlieffen plan - Germany had a plan in place to attack France before Russia could mobilise their troops so that they would not have to fight a war on two fronts (from Russia and France)
  
• Nationalism of the great powers.

__________________________________________________________________

My overall conclusion was something along the lines of :

Although Germany may not have been directly involved with the main sparks which caused the outbreak of World War I, they had heavily anticipated it and even encouraged it - it is undeniable that Germany were prepared for war, with the Shlieffen plan and military expansion. 

So, I've finally finished my 1st year of uni.... as I had my final exam today! FRENCH LANGUAGE GRADE 3

I always thought that out of the exams that I had to do this year that my language exam would be the easiest, and I wasn't wrong.   Heureusement.

I definitely don't mean to sound big-headed, and my French is far from perfect, but with a making of modern Europe exam and an introduction to French studies exam to contend with, the language exam is / was just so much nicer. 

I mean, with the language exam, it's all about knowing grammar rules & vocab  - and I have revised loads of different tenses over the last few days, most of which didn't even come up e.g. passé simple. It isn't wasted time though, because as with all language learning, everything you learn contributes to your overall knowledge. :)

***** I do not have my exam paper with me - I am simply recalling what I have written during my exam, I have most of it written down as I made a point of doing it whilst I was on the train on the way home to So'ton :)


The exam itself.

Section A : 
The first component was a summary of the 'reve algerien' video which I made notes on in my previous post.. I can't remember exactly what I wrote but it went something like this :

Il s'agit de l'immigration inversée où des milliers qui ont migré en Algérie recémment. Les enfants des immigrés algérien sont partis la France pour s'installer en Algérie. Beaucoup des jeunes ont grandi en France, et ont eu une expèrience francaise. En fait, après avoir acquiert les competences en France,   Il y a un avis fréquent qu'on doit partir la France pour réussir et c'est pour lequel que les jeunes sont partis. Les immigrés pense que, selon le vidéo, "la France nous jette" et ils vont en Algérie pour trouver les oppourtunités qu'il n'y a en France. En fait, les jeunes qui sont partis en Algérie pour y travailler ont réussi. Par exemple, Madame Boudoudou qui ont ouverte un club de loisirs pour les femmes fortunés, un de ses loisirs : les sorties culturelles. En Algérie, elle gagne 4 fois plus que son ancien salaire en France ; (en gagnant 10,000 euros par mois). Les jeunes franco-algérien partent la France pour 2 raisons, soit un choix carrière ou par dépit. Un autre exemple, un homme qui est parti la France pour ouvrir un centre d'appel en Algérie, il explique que son parents sont partis Algérie dans les années 70s, et comme Madame Boudoudou, il a eu une expèrience francais, professionel et scolaire. L'idée principale de la vidéo est le fait que l'algérie acceuille les diplômés et les jeunes avec les competences grace à l'immigration selective. Pendant le temps que la France est en crise et l'Algérie est en pleine croissance. Pour conclure, le vidéo explique le fait que environ 15-20 mille jeunes sont partis la France pour s'installer en Algérie pour trouver les opportunités et mieux niveau de vie. 

^I actually wrote more than this, but in some places not so well :p After reflecting on this part of the exam, I have already noticed that I've made one grammatical mistake - where I say 'soit un choix carrière ou par dépit', I wrote 'sois' in my exam - wrong person - it's so easy to forget that most things are written in 3rd person neutral...........

Section B:

1. Comment a été recu le livre de Hugues Lagrange intitulé "Déni des cultures" ?
Mauvaisement <(this is what I wrote in the exam, probably isn't even a word :p), pas bien du tout. Cela est incité par "Devenu sulfureux malgré lui avec la parution du "Déni des cultures" en 2010.."


2, Pourquoi, selon Lagrange, les immigrés originaires du Sahel ont-ils des difficultés pour s'integrér dans la société francaise?

Il y a beaucoup de raisons pour laquel Lagrange pense que les immigrés originaires du Sahel ont des difficultés pour s'intégrer dans la société francaise.. y compris - le faible emprise des femmes sur leurs enfants, la taille des fratrise et le passage brusque d'un environnement rural pour citer quelques exemples. 

3. Pour quelles raisons les propos de Lagrange ont-ils suscité des débats?

Parce qu'il est interdit de faire des statistiques ethnies et beaucoup de la recherche par Lagrange vont a l'encontre les autres travaux sur le banlieue. 

4. Vocabulaire :

a.  repli sur soi = l'arret d'essayer par les immigrés s'intégrer.
b.  poids = effet / influence
c.  décrochage = les gens qui ne participent plus à la société francaise. 
d.  emprise = influence
e.  A l'encontre de = ne pas etre en accord.

Traduisez le mot 'entraveraient' en anglais. Quel est le sens du conditionnel ici? 

Entraveraient = would impede / effect.  I think that in this context, it is more certain than conditional and it would have the same connotations if it was written in the present or future tense. 


Section C: 

1. Traduisez les phrases: 

a: Most French schools are secular = La plupart des écoles francaise sont laique. 

b: He would have come back if a storm had not broken out = Il reviendrait si l'orage n'avait pas commencé.

c: The pupils were shivering because of the cold = Les étudiants étaient (  ? ) parce qu'il faisait froid.


2. Mettre les verbs au temps indiqué : 

a: Elle (prendre - conditionnel) ses repas à l'heure si elle (arriver - imparfait) à s'organiser. 
     Elle prendrait ses repas à l'heure si elle arrivait à s'organiser.

b: Paul (faire - conditionnel passé) ses devoirs s'il (pouvoir - plus-que-parfait) comprendre l'exercice = Paul aurait fait ses devoirs s'il avait pu comprendre l'exercice. 

3. Remplacez les mots en italiques par le pronom personnel approprié et faites les autres changements nécessaires.

a: Elle ira à Marseille avec Julie et Jean - Elle y ira avec eux.

b: Nous donnerons les cadeaux aux enfants - Nous les leur donnerons.

c: Tu pourras faire ton travail avec ton ami. - Tu pourras le faire avec lui.

d: Elle a vu la voiture de ses parents passer devant elle en sortant du supermarché - 
     Elle l'a vue passer devant elle en sortant du supermarché.

4. Completez les phrases en utilisant un pronom relatif (+ preposition si nécessaire)

a: Voici les livres ____ j'ai achété = Voici les livres que j'ai achété

b:  Quelle est la table ___ vous avez laissé mes livres? = Quelle est la table sur laquelle vous avez laissé mes livres?

c: La fille __ je t'ai parlé va te rencontrer ce soir = La fille dont je t'ai parlé va te recontrer ce soir.


______________________________________________________________


Well well well.. that's the lowdown of that exam, I think I did quite well, hopefully anyway :)

I may well write up stuff about my other 2 exams, probably will.

It's a shame that this year is over already really because I was going to write ALL of my notes on here and unfortunately, they have remained in my notebook - if I get REALLY bored, I may write them up on here.. maybe maybe. 

Melissa Cannons - 22nd May 2013 - 21:55

French language exam tomorrow :( Notes for Reve Algérien.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHqpgky6L0

Notes:

• Immigration inversée
• Jeunes algériens nés en France reviennent en Algérie pour y travailler.
• 2e génération.
• Traversent la méditeranée
• Des milliers
• Souvent diplômés
• Ils veulent trouver les réussites / oppourtunités qu'il n'y a en France.

_________________________________________________________________

Une femme qui a migré en Algérie - 

1. Elle a organisé un club de loisirs pour les femmes fortunés  - e.g. les sorties culturelles.
2. Elle gagne 10,000 euros par mois, 4 fois plus que son ancien salaire en France.

____________________________________________________________________

IDEES PRINCIPALES:

Partir pour réussir!

France : Elle nous jette.

_______________________________________________________________________

Pourquoi les gens reviennent en Algérie..

1. Choix carrière

2. Partir en dépit. 

3. France est en crise, Algérie est en pleine croissance économique.

_____________________________________________________________________

Une autre homme a dit: 

"Mes parents sont partis Algérie pour aider la France en les 70s -> Il a eu une expérience francaise."

_______________________________________________________________________________

• L'algérie accueille les diplômés à les bras ouvertes
• Immigration selective - les gens avec les diplômés & competences.
• Entre 15 -20 mille jeunes ont pris le choix de l'immigration inversée.

Commenter et discuter cette citation: « Si l’on fixe une langue, elle devient une langue morte. »

Alain Rey, une linguiste française et David Crystal, une linguiste anglaise s'accordent qu'on doit utiliser une langue pour éviter la mort de cette langue ; c'est un fait qu'il est vrai pour toutes les langues internationales, non seulement le français, ou l'anglais. On ne doit pas utiliser seulement la langue officielle, on doit utiliser l'argot aussi, pour encourager, promouvoir et enrichir le vocabulaire. La variation d'une langue est essentielle.

Parler, écrire et faire signe sont les trois façons une langue vit et respire. Ces façons sont les trois moyens une langue reste vivante et les moyens dont les langues sont transmises entre les générations. Si une langue est saine, elles sont parlées, écrites et fait signe tout le temps et sont utilisés par les millions autour du monde. Souvent, les langues meurent parce qu'il n'y a pas assez de gens qui les parlent, ce qui nous montre qu'il est si important de transmettre les langues entre les générations et assurer qu'elles ne meurent pas. Beaucoup de langues régionales en France sont parlés par très peu de gens et en conséquence, elles sont en voie de disparition. David Crystal estime qu'une langue meurt toutes les deux semaines ; dans cet esprit, on constate que la mort d'une langue est un processus si plus vite que le passé.

Pourquoi est-ce que le processus de la mort d'une langue est plus rapide aujourd'hui ? La variation linguistique. Dans la société actuelle, il est fréquent pour quelqu'un s'arrête d'utiliser leur langue maternelle et utiliser un autre. Pourquoi ? Souvent parce que c'est en mode, la variation linguistique est cool, elle marque la jeunesse, c'est emballant et elle fait une grande partie de l'identité. L'identité est la raison pour laquelle 'lexik des cités' existe ; le verlan est utilisé par les banlieusards pour distinguer eux-mêmes, ils se sentent exclus du centre et ils veulent exercer leur différence. Il y a des gens en France qui ne veulent pas utiliser le français, qui pensent qu'il vaut mieux utiliser une variation du français, une langue qui est originale ; cette idée est populaire dans les cités en France, surtout dans les banlieues et les quartiers les plus pauvres.

Le lexik des cités est devenu une langue qui est égale de cela du français, en ce qui concerne son popularité et usage en France. Ce qui est inquiétant pour la France qui veut qu'il y ait seulement une langue officielle, le français, pas de l'argot. L'académie française souligne que la variation linguistique est indésirable et elle n'accepte pas les erreurs linguistiques, parce que selon lui, le français doit être précis et pur. Alain Rey n'est pas d'accord avec ce point de vue ; il a dit que « si on n'accepte pas la possibilité de la faute, on fixe une langue et si on fixe une langue, elle devient une langue morte. »

Cela amène à s'interroger, comment préserver une langue ? Permettre la variation linguistique, permettre les erreurs, permettre ceux qui veulent utiliser l'argot de le faire. La variation linguistique est la reviviscence. Il est vrai qu'il y a certaines qui n'aiment pas le changement, mais en ce qui concerne les langues, c'est essentiel.

Halal food controversy.

What was the controversy :

• Marine Le Pen said that all people in France were eating Halal meat (whether they knew it or not.
• Sarkozy immediately said that she had her facts wrong.
• There is a huge debate in France over whether or not what you are getting is halal.
• Muslims felt insulted that halal could cause such an issue as it resulted in tensions in society.
• This reinforced the feeling of exclusion of Muslims within France.
• Muslims generally live in the banlieues, and continue to feel marginalised.

France's point of view:

• Muslims segregate themselves from society and have created a 2nd sort of French identity - the French Muslim.
• Marine Le Pen argues that by the whole of Paris eating halal meat, a minority are imposing their way of living on the majority.

What is halal meat?

• Meat where an animal is killed by the slitting of the throat, and the blood is drained from the animal.
• You cannot stun the animal - the blood pressure goes too high & it becomes hard to expell blood.
• Muslims: no concern for animal rights. (From the French POV.)

What was surprising:

• The extreme right put forward an animal rights arguement. (Used to be a political left issue).
• Political right issue of being 'green' has moved toward political left.
• In reality, halal meat is in demand in France.
• But a few years ago, its existence was unknown, on a large scale.

Viewpoints for the spread of halal in France: (Note, they are not ALL political.)

1. Religious stance in France is growing.
2. It may be more desireable to have bloodless meat. (general preferences).
3. Muslims may eat it (not for religious reasons) but because consuming halal meat is a part of their sub-identity.
4. Relate the explosion of halal in France to the rise of organic foods in England - Search for purer, healthier products.
5. Financial investment - the halal market is producing billions of euros each year.