After more than a decade of travelling throughout France one important lesson eluded married couple Julie and Jean-Benoit: how to communicate comfortably with the French, even when you speak their language?

In The Bonjour Effect, they chronicle the lessons they learned after returning to France to live, for a year, with their twin daughters. They offer up all the lessons they learned and explain, in a book as fizzy as a bottle of the finest champagne, the most important aspect of all: the French don't communicate, they converse.

To converse in French, one must understand that conversation runs on a set of rules that go to the heart of French culture. Why do the French like talking about "the decline of France"? Why does broaching a subject like money end all discussion? Why do the French become so aroused debating the merits and qualities of their own language? Through encounters with school principals, city hall civil servants, old friends and business acquaintances, Julie and Jean-Benoit explain why, culturally and historically, conversation with the French is not about communicating or being nice. It's about being interesting.

After reading The Bonjour Effect, even someone with a basic understanding of French will be able to hold their own the next time they step into a bistro on the Left Bank.

After reading The Bonjour Effect, even someone with a basic understanding of French will be able to hold their own the next time they step into a bistro on the Left Bank

About the Author

Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau are the award-winning authors of The Story of French, The Story of Spanish, and the bestselling Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong. They live in Canada.

Reviews

'This book confirms what the English have suspected for many years, that French is not so much a language as a dance, a ritual, a code to be cracked. The Bonjour Effect cracks it' David Boyle, author of How to be English

'An indispensable linguistic roadmap. A highly enjoyable romp through French culture and its language, written with wit and aplomb' Debra Ollivier, author Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl

'Whether you're an expat in France, or simply dream of living there one day, The Bonjour Effect is a helpful resource to cracking the arcane cultural code. Engaging and often funny, filled with examples drawn from the authors' experiences, this is a guide to the most essential of French arts: conversation' Ann Mah, author of Mastering the Art of French Eating

'Whether 'bonjour' is the beginning or the end of your French vocabulary, you'll find something fascinating, surprising, or just plain fou on nearly every page. Before reading this invaluable codebook to French language and culture, I feared that I'd somehow insulted every French waiter, shopkeeper, and clerk between Paris and Nice. Now I know I did, but at least I know why!' William Alexander, author of Flirting with French

'The ability to speak French doesn't mean you know how to have a conversation in French in France. Journalists Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau break down the 'rules' of French conversation in their new book The Bonjour Effect' CBC

'A lively and informative description of the country's cultural habits...' Lysiane Gagnon, The Globe and Mail

'Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau unravel the mysteries of French conversation. They take readers beyond what the French are actually saying to explain what it is they really mean' Shannon Broderick, Gonomad.com

'Very funny' Rudy Maxa's World with the Careys

'Packed with fascinating insights' 49th Shelf

Book Information
ISBN 9780715652190
Author Jean-Benoit Nadeau
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Duckworth
Publisher Duckworth Books