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Local France

14 hours ago

• Local France

'The neighbours laugh at me' - should foreigners try swearing in French?

We asked readers of The Local about their experiences of swearing in French - and more than half of respondents said they never or rarely swear in French. But this wasn't about the ethics or aesthetics of swearing itself. We wanted to know if people's language changed depending on whether they were speaking French or were using their mother tongue, which for most survey respondents was English. And it seems that it does. Only a couple of people said that they swear more in French - overall around one third of people said they swore at about the same rate in English and French, and two thirds said that they swear less or never in French. Listen to the team at The Local discuss their own experiences of French swearing, and whether they think it's better to keep it clean, in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast. Listen here or on the link below And the most common reaction from French friends, neighbours or colleagues when they swore? Laughter. Which probably isn't precisely the effect they were going for. Advertisement Patricia, who lives in Quimper, Brittany, and describes herself as 'retired and look more prim than I am' says: "I swear under my breath - putain or merde - but sometimes get a small smile if I am heard." READ ALSO : 'Putain de bordel de merde': How to use the F-word in French✎ Gerry Buckland, 77, who lives in Charente, said the response to him swearing is "usually laughter". Meanwhile Marie in Dordogne said her French friends are "mostly amused" if she swears while Joanna, 50, who lives in the Paris suburbs said that "chuckles" are the most common reaction. Tony, 66, who lives in Charente, said: "They think it funny if I swear, it sounds wrong to them - they think all English people are very polite." It was rare for people to get a truly negative reaction, however, and Chris Downes, who lines in Haute-Savoie, said: "I think they find it quite endearing that a non-native speaker can use such words." Some people, however, said they had been advised against trying to swear in French. Paula Cameron who lived in Bordeaux for several years, said she once said ' con ' in front of her French host family and 'learned her lesson' - so now never swears in French. Davis, who lives in a small village in the Burgundy region, said: 'The first time I tried to use a harsh swear phrase a French neighbour told me that it didn't sound good at all coming from me and I shouldn't swear. I think specifically because I'm foreign.' We asked French language expert Camille Chevalier-Karfis for her advice and she said: "Slang or swearing stands out in the mouth of a foreigner, and it's easy for it to seem forced or contrived. Advertisement "If you have to use it, be sure you really understand it first, as it will stand out twice as strongly as when a French person says it." In general her advice is that it's good to learn these words so you understand what is being said and how strong certain French swear words are, but it might be better to refrain from using them. 'Know it, don't show it,' she said. Thanks to everyone who took part in our survey - feel free to share your experiences and views on French swearing in the comments section below.

Le Figaro

16 hours ago

• Le Figaro

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France 24

20 hours ago

• France 24

Chad hopes 'green charcoal' can save vanishing forests

But the charcoal they were making is known as "green", and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. "Green charcoal" aims to protect what forest is left. Made from discarded plant waste such as millet and sesame stalks or palm fronds, it is meant to save trees from being chopped down for cooking. The product "releases less emissions than traditional charcoal, it doesn't blacken your pots, it has high energy content and lasts up to three times longer than ordinary charcoal," said Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socioeconomic Development (Adser). "Using one kilogramme of green charcoal saves six kilogrammes of wood." The group has installed a production facility in Pont Belile, just north of the capital, N'Djamena. There, workers grind up burnt plant waste, then mix it with gum arabic, which helps it ignite, and clay, which makes it burn more slowly. The resulting black nuggets look like ordinary charcoal. Like the traditional kind, it emits CO2 when it burns -- but less, said Souleymane Adam Adey, an ecologist at the University of N'Djamena. And "it contributes to fighting deforestation, by ensuring the trees that aren't cut down continue to capture and store carbon," he said. Refugee pressure The conflict in neighbouring Sudan, which is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, is adding to pressure on Chad, which has become home to more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees since 2023 -- double the 400,000 it already hosted. "Desertification has progressed in the regions that have been hosting Sudanese refugees for the past two years," said Adser's director, 45-year-old businessman Ismael Hamid. Adser invested 200 million CFA francs (about $350,000) to launch the project, then won backing from the World Bank, which buys the charcoal for 750 CFA francs per kilogramme. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, distributes the charcoal in refugee camps in eastern Chad. But Hamid said he hoped to expand production and slash prices to 350 to 500 CFA francs per kilo to make "green charcoal" available and affordable nationwide. The plant currently produces seven to nine tonnes per day. "If we want to meet the country's needs, we have to increase our output by at least a factor of 10," said Hamid, calling for subsidies to support the budding sector. Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous told AFP the government was working on a policy to promote such projects. "We need to bet on green charcoal as an energy source for the future of our country," he said.