I have really felt less French

[NormanH]

than when reading this list of nonentities who apparently are the favourite personalities amongst French people.

actors,  comedians, a sports person, but no one who has done any good for anyone else.

What a world dominated by entertainment we live in [:@]

http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2017/12/24/01002-20171224ARTFIG00032-top-50-des-personnalites-preferees-les-francais-n-elisent-pas-les-hommes-politiques.php

[alittlebitfrench]

It always used to be Yannick Noah.

Why is Johnny Hallyday not in that list ?

Anyway, ask any kid and it will be probably some French rap star that no one has ever heard of.

[Alan Zoff]

No different in UK. With the possible exception of University Challenge, contestants on TV quizzes know all the answers to questions about celebrities but none on history or global affairs.

As someone commented when Robbie Williams was holding a concert by the Thames some years back, one word from him and the crowd would have stormed Parliament.

[DraytonBoy]

Question for Norman, why do you want to feel French?

Although I've been living and working here for years I consider myself to be English and always will.

[alittlebitfrench]

[quote user="DraytonBoy"]Question for Norman, why do you want to feel French?

Although I've been living and working here for years I consider myself to be English and always will.[/quote]

Me to. I like being British in France.

My wife would never had married me if I was French.

In fact, if i became all French she would divorce me. LOL. She would.

Question for DB, do your kids consider themselves French or English ? I am guessing they were not born here but grew up here.

[DraytonBoy]

I think they're now a mix of the two, they all work and have French partners so rarely speak English unless they're at home. Crunch time will be when they get married and have kids, that will be when they'll have to lose what's left of their Englishness.

[alittlebitfrench]

[quote user="DraytonBoy"]I think they're now a mix of the two, they all work and have French partners so rarely speak English unless they're at home. Crunch time will be when they get married and have kids, that will be when they'll have to lose what's left of their Englishness.[/quote]

Hmmm I'm not so sure. I think you can inherit 'Britishness' or a culture.

My kids are born and bred in France but my little girl is definitely more British than French. Her humour, social awareness. Everything she does and the way that she speaks is very British. She could slot into UK culture no problem. You would think that she has lived most of her life in the UK.

On the other hand, my little boy is most definitely French. A complete opposite to his sister.

The funny thing is,my boy watches endless youtube videos in English, and watches UK/American films with passion.

Yet my girl, is passionate about France, French language and history.

I'm lost.

I would love to put them in an English school as an experiment just to see how they would cope.

[NormanH]

Obviously I will never be French. Even if I took double nationality I would always have my English roots, and the French would never regard me as being fully French.

On the other hand to use a current fashionable  phrase I "identify with" quite a lot of aspects of French life, such as the fact of it being  a republic, and some of the cultural and social attitudes.

[BritinBretagne]

[quote user="DraytonBoy"]I think they're now a mix of the two, they all work and have French partners so rarely speak English unless they're at home. Crunch time will be when they get married and have kids, that will be when they'll have to lose what's left of their Englishness.[/quote]

I have an aunt who married a Frenchman in 1963 and has lived in France ever since. She is in her late 80s and he 90 next year. She remains the one of the most ‘English’ people I’ve ever known despite being fully integrated in France for so long. I think that has more to do with her upbringing as the daughter of a British army officer than her adult life experiences.

[alittlebitfrench]

Being 'British' is all about sense of humour and not taking yourself or life to seriously.

I don't think there is any country in the world that can do humour as well as the British. Well may be Australiens.

From my experience, the French love the British humour. They hate the British mind you, but they love the humour.

Love hate relationship.

[Cendrillon]

Question from my no. 2 daughter to her 6 year old who has French lessons at school in England

"Is your French teacher actually French or is she English?"

Reply

"She's like granny ( that's me) she's a mix!"

I.e. someone who uses both languages.?

[Chancer]

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"] I would love to put them in an English school as an experiment just to see how they would cope.[/quote]

 

Your children or their classmates and teachers?

 

Did you kids put you on French forums to see how the members would quote? If so then they will have been greatly rewarded [:D]

 

Happy Xmas to the ALBOF family!

[alittlebitfrench]

Merry Xmas to you to Chanceux (LOL)

Do you know what (I think you may agree with me here) that teachers in France have a lot harder time in class than their English counterparts.

When I listen to the stories of what kids get up to, it seems to me that there is a complete breakdown in the social structure/life in France. Broken families, no discipline at home ect ect ect. French teachers really do have a hard time at school/college with pîss poor pay. I could tell you some stories.

Then again I guess it comes back to role models which is the title of the thread. I would hope my kids when asked the question would say me.

[DraytonBoy]

Not sure about the teacher comment ALBF, wife taught in a secondary school before coming here and the abuse and threats she received was shocking with a total lack of support from the school who told her 'it's just the way it is'.

[alittlebitfrench]

I think it is the same in France DB.....probably worse.

But what amazes me, is the number of kids at school that come from single parent families/broken families. It like half/three quarters of the class. That was more the point I was trying to make. Of course, all the problem kids come from these backgrounds.

Is it like that in the Uk now ? It can't be that bad.

[BritinBretagne]

There are some huge generalisations being thrown around here. I spent my whole life in education and know British education inside out, I also have good friends who are teachers in French schools. In my opinion the two jobs are like chalk and cheese. In my experience the French teachers have the more straightforward job, they are there to deliver the curriculum, the British teachers have a much greater social and moral role. The makeup of the families within different catchment areas will vary as much within individual countries as any comparison between neighbouring countries would throw up. I have friends in the UK who teach in schools where the the majority of the children come from one parent families or where any parents have been in long time unemployment and others where the exact opposite is true. Some friends work in schools where over 90% of the families are middle class, white, CoE and another where one class of 32 pre-school children share over 20 languages. It will be the same in France.

Which system would I rather work in? For the hours involved France without a doubt, for everything else, England and Wales.

[YCCMB]

OK, Norman, so I looked.

Painful and long though it would be to do this for every single person mentioned, I thought I'd start from the top.

I found the following regarding Jean Jacques Goldman, which seems to fly a little in the face of your blanket statement that the list contains people who have done nothing good for anybody else:

Jean-Jacques Goldman a depuis longtemps mis son talent au profit d'œuvres humanitaires, notamment :

sa participation au collectif Chanteurs sans frontière (sous la direction de Renaud) dans la chanson SOS Éthiopie pour laquelle il imposera à Renaud une modification du texte ;

sa participation aux Restos du Cœur, pour lequel il compose la célèbre chanson des Restos,

sa participation à « Dernier matin d'Asie » (collectif Sampan) en faveur des boat people

ses participations au Sidaction, Solidarité Asie, Solidarité inondation, etc.

En 1993, il chante Petite Marie avec Patrick Fiori et Jay dans l'album Les enfants de la Terre.

En 1995, en compagnie des vignerons d’Ouveillan, un petit village audois, il crée « les Vendanges du Cœur »[34] ; associant deux divinités mythiques, Apollon et Bacchus, ce geste de solidarité organisé chaque été au profit des « Restos du Cœur » débuta par un concert béni de Zeus. Goldman fait d'ailleurs partie des personnes importantes participant aux actions annuelles des « Restos du Cœur », en tant qu'initiateur et comme l'un des organisateurs de la soirée des Restos du Cœur, Les Enfoirés, qui rencontre chaque année un succès colossal et qui constitue 20 % (vente CD/DVD incluse) des recettes annuelles de l'association[35]. De 1986 à 1992, il est le parrain de l'association, avant de passer le flambeau à Muriel Robin.

Le 9 janvier 2012, sort le single des Enfoirés : Encore un autre hiver, coécrit par Goldman en collaboration avec Grégoire et composé par ce dernier. À l'été 2012, sort le premier single du groupe Circus, Sur un fil ; le groupe se compose des chanteurs Calogero, Stanislas et Philippe Uminski, ainsi que d'Elsa Fourlon et Karen Brunon. Le titre est composé par Calogero et Stanislas, et le texte est signé Jean-Jacques Goldman.

Le 9 janvier 2015, sort Toute la vie, nouveau single que Goldman a écrit pour les Enfoirés. La chanson provoque un début de polémique en France au début du mois de mars 2015[36]. Selon certaines critiques, le clip vidéo et les paroles de la chanson opposent les générations et donnent une image fausse de la jeunesse, ce qui conférerait à la chanson un côté « réactionnaire »[37]. Goldman, surpris par les réactions négatives, répond à la polémique de manière décalée[38].

En 2016, après trente ans passé comme « chef d’orchestre » du spectacle des Enfoirés, Jean-Jacques Goldman quitte la troupe « pour vivre d’autres aventures ». Il se juge désormais « trop âgé pour continuer à représenter l’esprit des Enfoirés[39] », indiquant à ce propos : « On prépare la relève depuis quelques éditions aux Enfoirés. (…) Une équipe rajeunie prend de plus en plus les choses en main et de jeunes artistes s’impliquent. (…) À 65 ans et après trente ans d’Enfoirés, je crois qu’il est temps de passer la main. Je n’ai plus la créativité, les idées, la modernité que nécessite une telle émission[39]. »

Omar Sy, No.2 on the list, started the charity CéKéduBonheur. His wife is president. I won't bore you with the details, you can google as well as I.

Teddy Riner, No.3: Depuis juillet 2012, Teddy Riner est le parrain de l'Institut des maladies génétiques Imagine, un institut qui développe les liens entre la recherche et les soins dans le but de trouver de nouvelles solutions thérapeutiques pour les maladies génétiques. En tant que parrain, il se mobilise pour lever des fonds et apporter des moyens supplémentaires à la recherche et aux soins. Il soutient également les enfants dans leur combat contre la maladie, notamment lors de rencontres[109].

I won't trouble you with the other 47 apart from to say that your sweeping generalisation due to the fact that they're not all ..er...to your taste, does not make these people devoid of all altruism. Nonentities? Pah!

[Chancer]

I'm still struggling with the title of the thread, I see that the posting is a continuation of it but it still makes no sense to me.

Having read the list or even one with completely different names of well known altruists I feel no more or no less French, just as I would feel no more or no less donkey/table salt/shoehorn.

 

Perhaps I am not integrated enough.

[YCCMB]

I think it should have said "rarely", but also possibly have substituted "in touch with popular culture" for "French".

I wouldn't want to misjudge anyone, though.

[NormanH]

The connection between the title and the list is my simple disappointment to find that the French public have become as equally obsessed with entertainment and trivia as the UK public has been for a long time.

Much  of the so-called 'work' done by these' personalities ' for charitable organisations is simply  marketing but their own mediocre talents.

It certainly doesn't it certainly doesn't involve virtual practical things that take time effort and money.

[YCCMB]

Really can't bring yourself to admit you're wrong, can you, Norman. I bet they've done and made more for charity through their talents, mediocre (in your opinion) or otherwise than you could lay claim to. Not forgetting that this is a far from recent phenomenon , given that old Jean Jacques wossisname (of whom, by the way, I'd never heard until your outburst prompted me to google him, any more than I'd heard of any of the others) has topped the poll almost consistently since 2013! I encourage you to read a little about Omar Sy, of whom I very much doubt you've heard, and ask yourself whether or not he could be viewed as a role model by some of his fellow young, black Muslim French contemporaries in the various banlieues around France.

And let's not forget that mediocre Coluche, maybe, who set up Restos Du Coeur in the first place?

Or maybe we should look at some of the "mediocre" ( I assume, by your standards) popular icons in the UK like George Michael (late of Wham! And late in all senses for the past 12 months) whose demise brought to light a litany of stories about how much money, time and personal effort he gave to various charities and needy causes without receiving any publicity or recognition whatsoever. I urge you to look it up. It might even melt your heart. Although I'm doubtful...

But hey, you did say "no one who has done any good for anyone else" -and I've given you evidence that these people have. Maybe if you'd like to try setting up a charity or staging a concert to raise money for a charitable cause you'd be in a position to decry the efforts of these people rather than rubbish them because they aren't Nobel Laureates or ultra left wing politicians. I suggest, however, that all of the above take considerable time, effort and money (and real, not virtual).

[woolybanana]

Norman, my dear old bucket of shyte stirrer, you who so often compare with the Youkay, that sad benighted country, have you ever seen who the Brits regard as important. Just look at the garbage on the various channels available of Freesat, quite shameful.

[NormanH]

Exactly my point WB.

France is becoming more and more infected with American cultural imperialism via the UK

And non of these people are popular because of the 'good works' done on their behalf by their marketing people as a useful tax-dodge

They are simply there because of the exposure those companies get them on the TV

Omar Sy I saw in a third-rate film which managed to condescend to handicapped people and at the same time pander to inverted snobbery about those of African descent.

[DraytonBoy]

The French are obsessed with anything American but it's got nothing to do with the UK.

[Chancer]

And non of these people are popular because of the 'good works' done on their behalf by their marketing people as a useful tax-dodge

How does that work then Norman?

 

Now that I feel rich compared to previous years then I feel that I must do the same as the others, slight problem being that I have yet to pay impôts [:D] I did actually earn enough but they applied a décote thus denying all the charities [:(]

 

But hey, I'm sure the celebs you scorn dont actually pay any money out, they just get their marketing people to do good works on their behalf to dodge their taxes for them.

 

I dont like marketing people so how about I give my time to charities, become an ambassador for them, let them use my famous name, set up and champion a new good cause like restos du cœur, how can I dodge taxes by doing that and how can your celebs dodge taxes by getting others to do it for them?