Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me & Nearly Broke My Heart by William Alexander (review)

Reviews 277 (1657). Francine Wild argues that allegorical representation is still alive by the middle of the seventeenth century, but, at least in the case of this particular epic poem, imitates the tragi-comédie and the novel, in terms of tone and length, in order to compete successfully against these popular genres. As a study in the evolution of allegorical representation through five centuries of French literature, reflecting a surprising diversity of genres,subtexts,and authorial intentions,this volume represents an important contribution. University of North Carolina, Greensboro David A. Fein Society and Culture edited by Zakaria Fatih Alexander, William. Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me & Nearly Broke My Heart. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2014. ISBN 978-1-61620020 -6. Pp. 266. $15.95. This memoir was authored by a passionate 57-year-old American with a good sense of humor who embarks on a quest to learn French. This fun read starts with a declaration of love to the French language and culture and then traces the author’s tribulations as he sets out to accomplish the unrealistic goal of mastering French in just one year. The first half of the book deals with his exasperating attempts at selfinstruction using approaches ranging from computer programs like Rosetta Stone to pen pal and Skype exchanges. The second half describes his victorious struggle to master the fundamentals of French thanks to intensive language classes in the United States and France. The account is peppered with an entertaining wealth of observations about the language. For better or worse, it often resembles a collection of greatest hits, like typical misunderstandings experienced while traveling in France, or trying (and providing) a Julia Child recipe. The author’s limited cross-cultural understanding yields a somewhat superficial analysis.At times he exoticizes perceived oddities, like the mysterious gendering of nouns or France’s obsession with language regulation. As a result, the readers’ ability to enjoy this book will largely depend on their own level of familiarity with the French language and culture. Regardless, it is often easy to laugh with the author, as he points out astute observations of linguistic peculiarities, like a jeune fille being actually older than a fille. One of the most intriguing features of the book is the author’s distinct interest in brain science as it applies to language acquisition , which eventually leads him to an unexpected conclusion; although he has not reached fluency after one year of fairly intensive study, his cognitive abilities have dramatically improved, making the experience all the more worthwhile. Yet, in the end he is disappointed in his level of French, which explains the Nearly Broke My Heart of the subtitle. Unfortunately, this attitude reflects and encourages the widespread misconception that one or two years of study will be enough to speak a language, if not fluently, with ease. The author would be surprised to know that it takes anyone two years of non-intensive French language classes just to reach the Intermediate-Mid to Intermediate-High level on the ACTFL scale. In fact, when using this realistic gauge to assess the author’s language development, he seems appropriately close to the Intermediate-High level, as defined by ACTFL; he can handle uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations, ask questions to obtain simple information, and express personal meaning by combining known elements and conversational input. That last section of the subtitle also turns out to be a bit of a misnomer as the author writes at length about his distressing cardiac condition whereas it is unrelated to learning French. Finally, it seems a bit offbeat that a self-proclaimed lover of the French language who publishes a commercial book that cashes in on Francophile sentiments would advise young people to study Chinese. Southwestern University (TX) Francis Mathieu Amer, Sahar. What is Veiling? Chapel Hill: UP of North Carolina. 2014. ISBN 978-14696 -1775-6. Pp. 256. $28. Amer proposes a compelling discussion of “the veil” in European and American contexts as well as Islamic. The author begins her overview of the often contentious debate over the Muslim headscarf by explaining that the very translation of the word “hijab” (the most widely...