My French Essay by Blair Mcpherson aged 12 3/4
The French teacher was absent so the teacher covering told the class to write an essay on France in French. New to the school and new to written French I wrote mine in English. I have never been to France neither has anyone else in my class. But like a lot of British people I know quite a lot about the country. Mostly from the t.v. Paris is the capital city, it has the Eiffel Tower a tall structure made out of iron girders bolted to gather like a Meccano set. Rather ugly. French is the official language although they learn English in schools and from what I am told by people who have been on holiday to France most people can speak good English, but don’t always chose to do so. I think this might have something to do with pop music since all the pop songs on the radio are in English. If a French group wants to have a world wide hit they have to sing in English. The French people like you to speak to them in French but then correct your pronouceenation .Which is rather rude.
The French people are very proud of their food and wine. Most people think it is pretty good which is why I suppose there are so many French restaurants in this country.
Often when a French person appears on our t.v. it is to talk about art or philosophy and this gives the impression they are very serious and civilised. But the French people are are also a rather bolshie lot and frequently take to the streets on mass to protest against their government. We see pictures of students throwing stones at riot police who respond with tear gas and water cannons. It is very violent and the police respond aggressively ,very different to our local beat bobbies . It not just students who protest farmers in France are unhappy with the government to. This is shown on the tele as they drive their tractors through the centre of Paris causing major traffic jams whilst spraying the roads and pavements with manure, which is disgusting!
The French justice system is different to ours we have an adverse trial system where the prosecution and defence must argue their case in court. In France the judges role is to establish the truth so they take an investigative approach. However the out come seems much the same, there is no less crime and their prison are also full.
The other strange thing about the French is they seemed to prefer the sport of cycling more than football!
Whilst France is very close to us geographically the French are certainly different.
Blair Mcpherson www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
