Recently, there was a small controversy in France as the result of a statement president Emmanuel Macron made in an interview: « Les non-vaccinés, j’ai très envie de les emmerder. Et donc on va continuer de le faire, jusqu’au bout. C’est ça, la stratégie. Quand ma liberté vient menacer celle des autres, je deviens un irresponsable. Un […]
🇺🇸 For the first time, « iel », a non-binary pronoun equivalent to the neutral « they » in English has been added on the renown French dictionary “Le Petit Robert” (online version only at the moment). And many French people are upset! The minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer is outraged and even French first lady Brigitte Macron, who […]
You may have heard about the recent marriage of now former Princess Mako (眞子) with commoner Komuro Kei (小室圭). Mako decided to give up her imperial status, to become a “normal” citizen, and live a new life away from the media, in New York. She declined a 140 million yen payment which the imperial family members normally receive […]
🔹If you are interested in getting my latest linguistic gems, please consider becoming a premium subscriber here: https://www.patreon.com/join/yukikeiser Curious if and how the 2017 #metoo movement impacted other countries outside the US? Today, let’s take a look at the French music scene. In October 2017, the movement and hashtag #BalanceTonPorc (= snitch your pig) was […]
Wonder how Japanese police conduct themselves? In my experience, they are polite and helpful, and although they do some targeted ID checks once in a while, the population is generally not afraid of them. Despite their reputation for being calm, this video shows them in action with a Yakuza group, yelling and talking like…Yakuza! But […]
French author Annie Ernaux is the first female French writer to receive the prize, and the 17th woman to win the Nobel prize in literature. Ernaux’s work is mostly autobiographical and sociological. She is a feminist writer who focuses on the often overlooked working class. She also expressed support for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the […]
🔹If you are interested in getting my latest linguistic gems, please consider becoming a premium subscriber here: https://www.patreon.com/join/yukikeiser Since the pandemic hit last year, many new words have appeared in French — as well as in all languages. One of the difficulties for a new word in French is how to pick its gender. Whether to […]
🇺🇸 It’s always interesting to see how overseas media outlets cover US news. It often shows us new perspectives about our own country, broadening our vision. Lately, the American news covered his recent measures and actions, but how do French people perceive them? Today, I’m sharing “C dans l’air” (= It’s in the air), one of my favorite […]
After more than two years of shutting their borders, Japan finally announced to fully reopen the country. It was about time! It was initially only opened to tourists within a tour and accompanied by a guide, however after many criticism, they announced to open to individual tourists too. Here is a Japanese article on “Yahoo! […]
🇺🇸 There’s a new scandal in Paris! As France is confined for the third time this month since the beginning of the pandemic and restaurants have been closed since last October, clandestine restaurants and parties are being regularly reported on the news. This month new rumors started that luxurious dinners are being illegally held, and that even […]