Bonjour à tous et à toutes !
Although I will refrain from any political bias on my blog, I have to say that arguments and advertisements for/ against U.S. presidential candidates have just gotten more "ridicules"… How can a candidate be mocked because he does speak a foreign language? Does that make him less "American"?
Most presidents around the world speak one or two foreign languages, at a basic conversational level if not fluent… In the U.S., the last president to be fluent in a second language was Herbert Clark Hoover, who spoke Mandarin fluently, as well as the First Lady, after having worked in China for a couple of years. This is a sad fact for a country in which 1/4 of households speak a second language, other than English, at home…
I am sharing the video of Mitt Romney speaking French, and maybe you can compare your accent in French with his:
Mais revenons au mot du jour:
// se moquer // First group reflexive verb: to mock, to flout, to make fun of, to tease, to laugh at
Usage:
Je me moque de ce qu’il pense de moi! // I don’t care about what he thinks of me!
Les camarades de classe de Pierre se moquent de lui parce-qu’il parle avec un accent français. // Pierre’s classmates are making fun of him because he speaks with a French accent.
Les camarades de classe de Pierre se moquent de son accent français. // Pierre’s classmates are making fun of his French accent.
Jean-Luc se moque de l’opinion publique, il se moque du monde, il se moque de tout. // Jean-Luc has contempt for public opinion, he mocks everyone, he despises everything.
I hope you have a scorn-free, carefree, loving Wednesday! Bon mercredi!
I saw last week an anti Mitt Romney video, criticizing the fact that he spoke French, where the almost subliminal background was accordeon music! It was extremely "devious" I thought, and rather stupid. But then I’m biased, I’m French!
I agree… Even our bias aside, how can speaking a foreign language be held against a presidential candidate? Some people are so narrow-minded, especially those in politics (ce qui est un comble!). So I abstain, withold, draw back to my mountains and hope for the best!