Writing in English, and misinterpretations by the French

May 02nd 2007

First off, there hasn’t been much activity here in the past 2 weeks because I’m currently gathering up new material while in the US on vacation. And with my new Everyday France mindset I’m observing things differently in my own country. Partly due to my new look on American & French cultures but also due to discussions I’ve had with my French friends. I find it fascinating to see old things in a new way, and I’m shocked by some of the things I’m seeing here in the US on this trip. But I need some time to reflect before writing (so I don’t sound like “a teenage girl” to quote one unsatisfied customer reader).

I recently replied to a small survey for a friend of mine in the US who is working on his MBA. After hearing about his experience I’m glad I’m staying on the technical ladder. The questions were good ones and I thought some of my responses would be interesting enough to share here. So let’s start with this one:

Question: What cultural blunders do you commonly see Americans make doing business in your country?

I rarely see an American here, especially in a professional context, so I cannot say I’ve witnessed many blunders except my own.

I think the biggest blunders come from the fact that Americans expect the French to be more like them. The French & Americans are of the same skin color (in general, not taking into account minorities), same religion, etc. so we expect them to be the same. But in reality, the French are quite different than the Americans. And oddly enough, the longer I live in France, and the longer I’m married to a French, the more I realize just how different we are.

A lot of blunders result from the language. There are a lot of faux-amis (”false friends”) which means words that appear to be the same in both languages but that have different meanings in each language. I often write in English to avoid these faux-amis. However, that can get you into trouble.

When writing in English there is problem of the interpretation by the French. This reminds me of the scene in Kill Bill Volume 1 when O-Ren Ishii says, and I’ll paraphrase, “So that this is perfectly clear, allow me to say it in English”. And then her assistant translates what she says to Japanese. O-Ren speaks Japanese so she could have said it in Japanese. The question is: Which would be more clear? I face this same question every day when I decide whether I’ll write a document, report, email, etc. in English or French. If I write (or speak) in French, I can be sure they will not misunderstand. Or can I? My French isn’t perfect. And if I write in English, I can be sure that I’m saying exactly what I want to say. Except that I cannot be sure they will take it exactly as I meant it.

To give an example, I did an informal audit of an internal software development project at my company. I interviewed one of the technical leaders who put in place the coding rules and methodology at the beginning of the project. But when I looked at the code and the design, I saw no evidence that it was used. So I wrote something like “it is a shame that the coding rules and verifications put in place were not followed”. I didn’t know it but one of the team leaders was furious. When I happened to discuss the audit with the team leaders, just a discussion in the hallway as I happened to pass by, I sensed some tension and apprehension. What I found out was that the French translated “shame” to “honteux” which really means “disgraceful”. When I explained what I meant, which was more like “it’s too bad” (c’est dommage) then they understood, but I think they still were not happy with me and my report. In hindsight, I should have used a less ambiguous phrase but I had no idea it would be misinterpreted like that. And although it was indeed, quite frankly, “disgraceful”, I wouldn’t write that about my coworkers in a written report. In hindsight, I should have been more factual and just said “the coding rules and verifications put in place were not followed”. That’s what I’ll do next time.

So now you can see the implications of writing in English vs. writing in French. My strategy is all documents for the client are written in the client’s language, which is usually French but several international companies require English. For internal documents I try to write in English just because it’s easier and quicker for me, and most of my coworkers actually enjoy practicing their English. But writing in English doesn’t mean one can write for an American audience. One has to pay careful attention, as shown in the story above.

I’ve got another one, I’ll save that for a future entry. Just follow the tags.

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