In this assignment, you will review and respond to French-American related interest stories which have been posted on the course Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FYSFreedomFries.
In addition to providing the link to the article and its title, include a brief summary of the story as well as a few sentences describing its relevancy to issues discussed in class. Please look closely at posts which have already been contributed to the Issues of Interest #2 blog; you may not post a response to an article already used by a classmate. Each response should be different and unique! As always, adhere to the standards for formal, academic writing at the college level.
Your grade will be determined by the following criteria:
2) Relevancy to course material/discussion (5 pts)
3) Summary of the article (5 pts)
4) Critical reflection on the source (4 pts)
4) Critical reflection on the source (4 pts)
There will be 5 posts required over the course of the semester, so be on the lookout for additional articles!
Jack Pendexter
ReplyDeleteIssues of Interest Blog #2
Article Title- France Proposes Tough Anti-smoking Measures
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/business/international/france-proposes-tough-antismoking-measures.html?_r=0
This article was posted on September 25, 2014 by the New York Times. It discusses the wide-range of anti-smoking measures the French Government plans to implement. Some of the new bans include plain packaging for cigarettes, a ban on smoking at playgrounds, and stricter regulations on the use of electronic cigarettes in public places. The main goal of these measures is to reduce smoking rates in France by 10% over the next five years. As we previously discussed in class, the French are notorious for being heavy smokers. The article states that around one third of adults are regular smokers. These new regulations deal with the issue of the French tendency to smoke wherever they wish, including in nonsmoking areas, and the hope is that smoking in public areas will sharply decline over the next couple years. Tobacco companies and sellers have responded angrily to the recent announcement, claiming that plain packaging will do nothing to deter teenagers from smoking. They also have taken the newly announced regulations as a personal attack on the thousands of small businesses that sell tobacco products. Despite all of the negative attention cigarettes have received over the last decade, smoking rates have gone up in France by 2% since 2005. This relates to our textbook readings, which explain how some of the French tend to be stubborn and reluctant to change. It also relates to how the French tend to follow their own model, without feeling the need to follow other country's customs and lifestyles. This article epitomizes the French attitude towards others around them, and I feel that it is a perfect example of what makes the French so unique. I predict that these new anti-smoking measures will do little to deter the French from continuing one of their most famous pastimes, and based on what I've learned this far about French culture, it would not surprise me to see smoking rates continue to increase.
Jack Pendexter
ReplyDeleteIssues of Interest Blog #2
Article Title- France Proposes Tough Anti-smoking Measures
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/business/international/france-proposes-tough-antismoking-measures.html?_r=0
This article was posted on September 25, 2014 by the New York Times. It discusses the wide-range of anti-smoking measures the French Government plans to implement. Some of the new bans include plain packaging for cigarettes, a ban on smoking at playgrounds, and stricter regulations on the use of electronic cigarettes in public places. The main goal of these measures is to reduce smoking rates in France by 10% over the next five years. As we previously discussed in class, the French are notorious for being heavy smokers. The article states that around one third of adults are regular smokers. These new regulations deal with the issue of the French tendency to smoke wherever they wish, including in nonsmoking areas, and the hope is that smoking in public areas will sharply decline over the next couple years. Tobacco companies and sellers have responded angrily to the recent announcement, claiming that plain packaging will do nothing to deter teenagers from smoking. They also have taken the newly announced regulations as a personal attack on the thousands of small businesses that sell tobacco products. Despite all of the negative attention cigarettes have received over the last decade, smoking rates have gone up in France by 2% since 2005. This relates to our textbook readings, which explain how some of the French tend to be stubborn and reluctant to change. It also relates to how the French tend to follow their own model, without feeling the need to follow other country's customs and lifestyles. This article epitomizes the French attitude towards others around them, and I feel that it is a perfect example of what makes the French so unique. I predict that these new anti-smoking measures will do little to deter the French from continuing one of their most famous pastimes, and based on what I've learned this far about French culture, it would not surprise me to see smoking rates continue to increase.
Alyssa Crile
ReplyDeleteIssues of Interest #2
12 Lessons About Eating We Can Learn From The French
http://www.naturalblaze.com/2014/02/12-lessons-about-eating-we-can-learn.html?m=1
This article is about some things that the French do at meals and with food that American’s don’t do. They eat meals together and enjoy them, don’t snack or diet, stop eating when they are full, don’t baby children, eat lighter at night, don’t eat when they’re sad, restrict portion sizes and therefore don’t gain much weight, prefer water, eat slowly, and eat mostly ‘real’ food, as in unprocessed foods.
This article is relevant to what we have discussed in class because we recently discussed family life in France. The very first lesson is that “the French eat family meals together”, which we discussed. In France, family time is extremely important. They try to spend as much time as possible together and like to stay close to each other. The article also makes a lesson about lunch being important, which we discussed in class about Sunday lunches with family. One of the other lessons is “Parents are in charge of food education, not schools” which discusses parents teaching their children how to eat and what to eat. This lesson is relevant our discussions of child rearing, and talks about how children eat what adults eat and just not liking a food is unacceptable. If a child says they don’t like a food, the parent will not give them special treatment and let them not eat it. Another lesson mentions something similar, reading “Even [if] children don't like a specific food, the French are more neutral and will just shrug and say, ‘Oh well, you just haven't tried it enough times’”.
This source is somewhat credible, but not extremely. While it does contain a few things we have discussed in class that prove to be true, it also contains many stereotypes. I did not realize the incorrect things about this article until I looked down and read some of the comments. These comments are full of French people exclaiming that while some of the article was accurate, such as the comments about family time and big lunches, they also said that they do snack, they don’t eat particularly slowly, they do eat junk food and do gain weight etc. Many French people were very angry and offended by this article, saying that it was false and full of stereotypes. Therefore, I would say that this source isn’t very credible.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://webdoc.france24.com/baseball-in-france/
ReplyDelete“A Brand New Ballgame: Is French baseball finally coming of age?"
Jim Scales
My article title “A Brand New Ballgame: Is French baseball finally coming of age?”written by France 24 and posted on the page on September 25th talks about the growth of a new sport in France: Baseball. Baseball has been in France since 1924 but recently it has begun to take off in ways never imagined before. Around 12,000 men women and children across the country play baseball and they even have a French Federation of Baseball and Softball (FFBS). The FFBS acknowledges the wonderful momentum that baseball has had in France over the past few years and has come up with a plan to continue this momentum: hosting an international tournament in Sénart. France has put together a national team ranging from natural born French citizens, to French Caribbean players, and even an American born to French parents the team is just as diverse as the country it represents. Never before has French baseball looked so good both on the field and throughout the country as a whole. The future looks bright for French baseball.
This topic goes along with the discussions we have had about the interweaving and evolution the relationship between French and American culture. The idea of being able to get a Big Mac then head over in France just shows how America and France are so connected in many ways. Both cultures as a whole learn from each other and become more diverse because of it and that goes along with the entire premise of this class as a whole.
Baseball growing in France seems like an odd idea but on the other hand so does McDonalds and Disneyland. We have seen the success experienced by both of those clearly. Both of those American companies had initial snags when they moved in which baseball in France appears to be starting to get past and now is ready to thrive. The sport as a whole has done very well internationally, for example Japan has very well established and supported leagues. So why can’t France be the home of the next Derek Jeter? Only time will tell if this American part of culture can do as well as its counterparts have before.
https://tv.yahoo.com/news/netflix-commissions-first-french-series-115600718.html
ReplyDeleteArticle Title: Netflix commissions first French series
This article, published by Yahoo!, a reputable source for entertainment and celebrity news, discusses the launch of Netflix in France and Europe overall, and in particular the first series Netflix has confirmed, a French series titled “Marseille.” While Netflix has been extremely successful in the United States and the United Kingdom, its success is largely due to the American value of doing something and being entertained at all times, as we have discussed in class; Netflix may not be so successful in France and Europe, because they value intellectualism and being rather than doing—things that television is not known for promoting. It is also relevant to think about time with family; in the U.S., many families spend time around the television, viewing that time as together time, while the French would view it as solidarity without truly being together. Netflix in France may be able to take a different approach than in the United States, such as focusing on documentaries, mysteries, and other genres that make viewers think, rather than reality television and slapstick comedy as are popular in the U.S. Netflix will most likely be cautious in Europe, because of the differences in our cultures.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/french-school-lunches-show-how-to-teach-kids-healthy-eating-habits/story-fneuz8zj-1227046226100
ReplyDeleteThe title is: French school lunches show how to teach kids healthy eating habits.
This article is relevant to the course material and the past class discussions we have had because in the beginning of the year we spent time discussing the difference in meals between the two countries. The articles tells how school lunches in France are much healthier than school lunches in America and Australia. In France, the lunches are small and balanced portions served with water, which is very different compared to American lunches. It states that through these healthy meals, children learn early on how to eat healthily and because of this they will have good nutrition and not gain excess weight. The French government takes the health of the children very seriously. The schools have nutritionists that very carefully plan the meals. The source that this article comes from seems to be reliable. The author is telling of her own experiences and the experiences of her daughter.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/31/ozy-french-language/9781569/
ReplyDeleteArticle Title: Is French the Language of the Future?
This article was published in May of 2014 by USA Today and discussed how according to a study done by Natixis, an investment bank, French will become the world’s most spoken language by the year 2050. It currently sits in sixth place among the world languages but is acquiring new speakers at a rapid rate compared to the languages who are ahead in the rankings. For example, Mandarin has been said to be the language of the future however, populations in which people are speaking French are increasing more than those of Mandarin or even English, primarily in Africa. French is even the “official schooling language” in countries with some of the highest fertility rates, prompting the assumption that it would simply continue to grow throughout the next generations in these areas. Nevertheless, there are skeptics who are saying that the numbers in the study are dramatically overstated and the author of the article concludes by acknowledging how French is on the rise but it may be quite some time before it surpasses the top world languages of English and Mandarin. Reading this article reminded me of the reading where the Academié was discussed and their role in society of preserving the French language. To the French, their tongue is a great source of pride and they believe it should not only be spoken, but spoken well. This can be looked at as a surface similarity with an underlying difference. Americans, much like the French, tend to also have a lot of national pride, however, English is not nearly as strict or proper of a language as French is and the United States does not have anything that can be equally compared to the Academié.
Issues of Interest
ReplyDeletehttp://webdoc.france24.com/baseball-in-france/#slide1
This article explains how Baseball is becoming a more popular sport in France, but still does not have mainstream recognition. Only 12,000 people participate in this sport in the entire country of France. Even though their baseball league started back in 1924, it has failed to make any sort of mainstream airing or playing in France. However, I believe that is due to because American sports aren’t too popular in Europe and the favorites are spread out between the countries. The games has not change from when it started, but no big names from America have ever play on the French national team. However, Éric Gagné, a former Los Angeles Dodger who won the coveted Cy Young Trophy in 2003 as a reliever, and a World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox in 2007 is going to prepare the team for the World Baseball Classic for 2017. He believes that with his logic of the game from the American point of view he will make this team successful in the Classic.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14845/what-french-kids-eat-for-school-lunch-it-puts-americans-to-shame.html
ReplyDeleteTitle: What French Kids Eat For School Lunch(It Puts Americans to Shame)
American’s are often stereotyped on the assumption that we all are fat and have an obesity problem, as we have talked about in class. In various places in the US we can see these stereotypes to be held to be true, a prime example is in our schools. Many American children are currently suffering from obesity, and we have to ask ourselves, is it our school system to blame. In France, they have much healthier food programs for their children. On top of that, they give children daily exercise three times a day during recess, and also most students walk or bike to school. In the US we are lucky if children get one to two recesses a day, and most children either ride the bus or are driven to school by their parents. So what can we learn from the French? To start off, they have a much healthier and more nutritious food plan that they serve their students that they really take a lot of thought into. They often set up the menus two months in advance, and then send them to a dietitian who will check and modify the menus by adding more or fewer carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, or proteins. Also, in the US a vast majority of food served to students is either pre made or frozen. This often contains a lot more salt and fat that is unneeded. In France, all of the food is prepared right in the kitchen daily. I think that after reading this article, we need to seriously focus more on our childrens food system. If we take some of the ideas that the French use and cooperate them into our system, we can possibly make some huge changes.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140911
ReplyDeleteWhy The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most Of The World Doesn't
This article was posted on the npr.org website on the eleventh of September of two thousand and fourteen. I believe this article connects with class because pretty much since our class started, we’ve been comparing France to mainly the United States but also to other countries. The article focuses on why other countries don’t refrigerate their eggs. One of the main reasons why they don’t is because its simply too costly. According to the article, Americans, the Japanese, Australians and Scandinavians tend to be “squeamish” with eggs and wash them until they are squeaky clean and then refrigerate them. We’re viewed as the oddballs in the world because most other countries do not mind their eggs dirty with poop on them next to bread or onions because once they take them home, they believe the eggs just need to be washed off by hand. The main concern with eggs not being washed is the bad spate of salmonella in the 1990s. The coating of the egg is like a vest, it keeps the water and oxygen in and the bad bacteria out. I think people around the world should always refrigerate eggs only for health precautions. I understand some countries aren’t able to keep them cool but I think their government wherever they are should look into mandatory egg refrigeration to keep their country safe.
Erik Hark
ReplyDeleteSeptember 30, 2014
Issues of Interest
Antismoking
I read an article from the New York Times that was titled “ France Proposes
Tough Antismoking Measures” and it can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/business/international/france-proposes-tough-antismoking-measures.html?_r=0.
This article is relevant to what we have been talking about throughout class because we recently talked about how the French smoke way more than the Americans do. It also shows the difference between both lifestyles and how both countries compare. This article showed me that the French really do smoke a lot but something is being done to eliminate it as much as possible.
The French are undergoing a goal to cut the amount of people smoking by ten percent over the next five years. This being said France has the highest rate of smoking right now in all of Europe. The French are going to be doing many things to help this cause by banning smoking on playgrounds and making it harder to use electronic cigarettes in certain public settings. The Government also decided to make the packaging plainer and have health labels on them that explain why smoking is bad. Many people use a different type of smoking called a vaporizer and that is now being banned in schools, on public transportation and in closed workplaces. I found this on the New York Times website which has many interesting articles and is a credible source for this kind of information.
Matthew Maldonado
ReplyDelete12/11/2014
Issues of Interest
http://www.france24.com/en/20141128-new-york-french-public-school-free-bilingual-education/
The article I choose to talk about is called New York, where French school is free and fought over. In this article they talk about how in New York there are ten different schools that parents can send there kids where they speak fluent French for no coast. The article talks about how learning one language can increase your changes of getting a higher paying job, help one multitask better, solve internal problems, and delay the onset of Alzheimer.People are actually taking advantage of this opportunity to have there child go to school fo no cost at all .In our class we have talked about how Americans are used to taking English for granted, seeing that many people around the world speak it today. With this article it shows that now we are adopting the traits of other countries. Learning a second language only benefits the one who learns it with not just what is listed above but being able to understand a culture better. This article is from a believable source and I think it is interesting to learn just what language can help one achieve throughout there live.