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michaelnlibrarian's review
5.0
I have something like a hobbyist interest in France for the last few years. I have been lucky enough to visit Paris a few times, although not for long, and find it interesting to read certain kinds of books about the country and the city of Paris.
The co-authors, a married couple, bring a good background as Canadians living in Montreal who then try to explain France, the French, and the French language to other North Americans.
The title, The Bonjour Effect," is referring to the importance in France of saying "bonjour" in certain common circumstances in a way that is unusual for most North Americans, as a kind of exemplar of how French speech reveals aspects of French culture and life, French norms if you will. I don't think the sub-title, "The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed" says what the book tries to do very well - perhaps the publisher thought "secret codes" was going to be an attractive phrase. What they meant is more like, "what French conversational style reveals about the French people."
At least for me, I assumed that there would be more French language in the book, but there isn't. It is not necessary to know French to read the book and enjoy it, although if you do speak French it is probably more interesting. (I know just a very very little.)
The authors' include more about themselves in this book than I was expecting - there is quite a bit of "this is what our life with our two daughters was like when we lived in Paris to research this book" and those aspects are enjoyable and interesting. They present their thoughts clearly and it is a fun as well as educational read.
The co-authors, a married couple, bring a good background as Canadians living in Montreal who then try to explain France, the French, and the French language to other North Americans.
The title, The Bonjour Effect," is referring to the importance in France of saying "bonjour" in certain common circumstances in a way that is unusual for most North Americans, as a kind of exemplar of how French speech reveals aspects of French culture and life, French norms if you will. I don't think the sub-title, "The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed" says what the book tries to do very well - perhaps the publisher thought "secret codes" was going to be an attractive phrase. What they meant is more like, "what French conversational style reveals about the French people."
At least for me, I assumed that there would be more French language in the book, but there isn't. It is not necessary to know French to read the book and enjoy it, although if you do speak French it is probably more interesting. (I know just a very very little.)
The authors' include more about themselves in this book than I was expecting - there is quite a bit of "this is what our life with our two daughters was like when we lived in Paris to research this book" and those aspects are enjoyable and interesting. They present their thoughts clearly and it is a fun as well as educational read.
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