Accents may at first seem unimportant, even superficial. After all, it’s what you say that matters and not the way you say it. Umm…there may be more to it than that, certainly if Eliza’s experience is anything to go by. For me, one of the refreshing things about speaking another language is escaping the usual…
Blog
English Copywriter in Paris: accent-uating class difference
In my last post I talked about accents when speaking foreign languages. Now my musings have moved on to accents in English. I keep coming back to the question of how far we judge people by their accents. A memory from my Cambridge uni days suddenly springs to mind. Still dominated by middle class southerners,…
English copywriter in Paris: arrondissements apart
A year ago I moved from my beloved 11ème, which I’d adopted when arriving in Paris some four years earlier, and into the deep depths of the 20ème. On a map this may represent a tiny hop of no more than 2km (a 25 minute walk), but physiologically and socially this was a big leap.…
English Copywriter in Paris: one sunny bobo afternoon
The sun is shining. Hooray! With very hardworking intentions, I headed over to the picnicker-lined Canal St Martin in the east of Paris. I wanted to check out the new freelancing haven Café Craft, before setting down to a spot of work al fresco. It was tough, but I finally got pen to paper. Yes,…
English Copywriter in Paris: living in limbo
© Giulia Agostinelli, Flickr Living in foreign country is a fabulous and enriching experience. As a Brit who’s been living in Paris for the last 5 years, I can safely say that you learn a lot about yourself, another culture and also (more surprisingly) about your own country. As I toppled off the train at…
English Copywriter in Paris: how to become a freelance copywriter
There are endless articles and books on “how to become a freelance writer”. The topic has been done, done and done again. In this article, I’m not claiming to provide revolutionary ideas or shed a whole new light on freelancing. I’m not that ambitious. Yet, every now and then I get emails from would-be copywriters…
English Copywriter in Paris: words without translation
In one of my recent posts, I mentioned some of my favourite French words with no direct English translation. This got me digging and I’ve come up with some more delightfully unique words both in French and other languages. Here’s my little list. French words no English equivalent La douleur exquise: the heart-wrenching pain of…
English Copywriter in Paris: obsessions and observations about New Year in France
2015 has well and truly landed. The 1st of January has been and gone under a sprinkling of champagne bubbles and the cold, wet reality of January is here to stay. I could use the first post of 2015 to talk about my many resolutions, my good intentions to write in this blog more regularly…
English Copywriter in Paris: overcoming moments of solitude
I’ve been freelancing for a while now, almost 2 years, so I’m almost a pro. In theory, anyway. I spent the first year working stuff out. What exactly did I want to do? Translation? Copywriting? SEO? Marketing? How could I do what I wanted to do? Creating a website, finding clients and networking. How could…
English Copywriter in Paris: overcoming moments of solitude II
Last week, I started writing about the loneliness of freelancing and my quest for the ultimate solitude-busting solution. The coworking space. On paper, these shared office spaces seem ideal. They bring together freelancers to share their skills, rants about difficult clients and lunchtimes. I did a little research and decided to do a trial day…