Definition Rentrée, Nom féminin : Reprise des activités après des vacances This can be loosely translated as the ‘going back’ after the summer holidays. Yet the concept doesn’t exist in the same way in Anglo-Saxon countries. The equivalent of ‘back to school’ is far more limited. La rentrée encompasses a way of life and a…
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English Copywriter in Paris: making Rentrée resolutions
The rentrée is well and truly with us. There’s no escape. It’s back to school, work and routine. Gone are the long lazy summer days of July and August. Yet, as well as being all about ‘returning’, the rentrée is also a new start or beginning. Aside from holidays, the French love nothing better than…
English Copywriter in Paris: English on the Way
I recently spent a lush green week walking along the Camino de Santiago (St. James’ Way) in Northern Spain. We crossed paths with an exciting linguistic and cultural hotpot of walkers from all over the world. No, this isn’t just an excuse to boast about my latest holiday. There is a linguistic point to this…
English Copywriter in Paris: freelancing in France
As promised (a little while ago now!), I’m dedicating a whole shiny post to writing about freelancing in France. Or, more precisely, what the French think about freelancers. I’ve officially been a freelancer for about six months now. Not yet a veteran, no longer a newbie. And, since starting out, I’ve encountered a whole range…
English copywriter in Paris: Paris freelancing hotspots
Having recently analysed French attitudes to freelancing (shock, horror and downright envy!), now it’s time to get down to details and sift out the best places for freelancing the days away. Cafés and websites dedicated to freelancing are springing up all over Paris. I haven’t tested all of them. I’m kind of slow off the…
English Copywriter in Paris: becoming a star
So, it’s been a long time since I’ve written here. I could come up with a whole host of plausible (and implausible) excuses including a bunch of new projects, Christmas festivities and having my laptop stolen by a passing computer-hacking badger! Yet, the absence of articles remains very, well, absent. As I’m waiting for the…
English Copywriter in Paris: the write way to run
The Paris marathon is looming. For non-runners who may not be in the know, it’s this Sunday 6 April. I’m officially taking part – my name is firmly on the list of competitors and there’s no going back. It’s the first time I’ve set my sights on the big 42 despite being a seasoned runner…
English Copywriter in Paris: getting the right accent
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…
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.…