Le Tour de France
This bicycling race, held every year in France, is the world’s longest bicycle race. Click here to be redirected to the official site of the Tour de France. You can also find more general info about the race HERE.
Of course, the most popular sport in France is le football, which we Americans call soccer (and, by the way, we are the only ones who call it that). Le foot is a sport that brings together the diverse population of France. Many of France’s larger cities have their own football team, and then the country as a country team. They are affectionately called, Les Bleus (click here if you wonder why) and at the games when they play against other countries, the French fans will shout, “Allez les Bleus! Allez les Bleus!” In fact, the French fans are super serious about their national team. They even have their own song!
But, don’t take my word for it! See for yourself in the videos below:
Sometimes maybe they are too excited:
Even the little ones are into it!
And for a little comedy:
So, now you are probably wondering what all of this has to do with you. Well, mes amis, Leçon 2 of Chapitre 2 is devotes to les loisirs (free-time activities), so it seems only appropriate that our culture deals with sports.
Our culture for this chapter will have two steps (which will require you to post twice).
Step 1: Comment on the questions below (en anglais).
1. Are sports a unifying element in North America (or your native country) as they are in francophone countries? If so, give an example.
2. Are sport victories a source of national pride? Explain your response.
3. In your opinion, do ethnically diverse teams function as a buffer against intolerance? Why or why not?
Step 2: Choose a francophone athlete from the list HERE that you would like to describe and leave a comment describing him. Using the modèle and guidelines in exercise B of your text (page 99) provide a brief description of your athlete.
You may want to wait until next Monday to do step 2 of the assignment, after we have discussed adjective agreement and placement.
février 28, 2008 à 10:54
Sports in North America are a unifying element just as they are in francophone countries or any other country. In all countries they bring family, friends and teammates together. When two opposing teams in any sport come together to face each other than it unifies even more. For instance in the MLS, two countries are unified together. They may not like each others team but it still brings their differences together and share them because they are all there for the same reason, to enjoy the game.
The sport victories are a national pride; thats why we have the NFL, NBA, MLS and many more. Here each nation proves that they have a stronger, well-trained, better team. In these victories the nation feels strong and proud of having a strong team that just defeated many other countries and/or states and they feel proud of being a part of that nation.
Having ethnically diverse teams does function as a buffer against intolerence. For instance, American football teams have many different ethnic team players. If your team is ethnically diverse than the fans will be and probably are just as diverse.
Brian Joubert is a figure skater. He is young. His birthday is on September the twentieth of 1984. He is a bit tall and brunet. He is very ambitious, skinny and sportive. He is a great champion.
février 28, 2008 à 11:59
Du North American sports est un élément unifier comme du francophone pays. Pour example, de MLS amener beaucoup des gens et pays ensemble.
Les victoire du sport est un orgueil national. Pour example, cest un équipe ce gagner, le gens sentir orgueilleux.
Les sport divers ethnique c’est fans est divers.
Brian Joubert est un figure skater. Il est jeune. Il anniversaire est le vingt de septembre de 1984. Il un pleu grand et brun. Il est très ambitieux, mince et sportif. Il est un grand champion.
février 29, 2008 à 3:09
Step 1:
I come from a country that is also unified by soccer as well as in francophone countries. I lived in Mexico for about 14 years, and I still remember that the professor would stop teaching to watch Mexico play in the World Soccer Cup. Some student or teacher would be in charged of bringing a TV to the classroom so we could all watch the game. This did not only happen at school but in many other work places and of course at home.
I do think that sport victories, in this case soccer, are a source of national pride. For example, Brazil, Argentina, France, England, and other countries are recognized for having an outstanding soccer team and all of these countries feel very proud of their team and nationality.
I think that ethnically diverse teams are a great way for different countries to come together and forget about skin color, language, and all the barriers that have between them.
février 29, 2008 à 4:52
Football is a pretty big deal here in the states. If you did not like someone before, your opinion of them might change completely if you realize that you are both rooting for the same team. But it seems that sports almost serve more as enemy creators than unifiers. So many people are pitted against each other right after meeting each other simply because they like rival teams. For me, highschool sports served as a major unifier. It was neat to see a large group of kids from different social groups that would not normally be friends gather together to play as a team. Sports on that level helped unify people, our grade level and the school as a whole. So, sports can be unifiers here in the states but it depends on the context, on the sport, and on the team. Sports do not play nearly as important of a role as in the francophone countries.
In the United States we don’t really have a team that plays the teams from other countries, other than our olympic teams. Because of this, our sports teams are not really a source of national pride. They are often a source of state pride because our states play against each other. But, rarely are they a source of national pride.
I believe that ethnically diverse teams do function as a buffer for intolerance. The countries of the team members are forced to share something and in that way work together. In the olympics, for example, although the team members all typically come from the same country, the whole world is united for a time in peace and even rival countries cast away all friction between them for the games.
février 29, 2008 à 5:16
Bixente Lizarazu joue au foot. Il est brun et musculaire. Il n’est pas grand mais Il n’est pas petit. Il est de taille moyenne mais Il est tres beau. C’est tres triste parce qu’ Il ne joue pas au foot pour le ensemble de France maintenant.
février 29, 2008 à 6:02
1. I don’t know; it doesn’t seem like it. I don’t see how an activity so adversarial could possibly be a unifying element in any meaningful sense (except insofar as everyone likes competitition). The winners are praised, and the losers forgotten — this doesn’t unify anything.
2. I don’t know. Once every four years during the summer I’d say “yes”, until the games are over. The only sports victories I ever hear about are the ones from national leagues.
3. Certainly not (eh, maybe a little). Players are valued for their ability to play whatever they play. I’ve encountered dozens of people who like players to the extent that they win games, but still detest them for their membership of a particular race. Didn’t really work for Hitler (google Jesse Owens).
février 29, 2008 à 6:41
1.
I do think sports are a unifying element here in the United States. Perhaps ot everyone is as into sports as in francophone countries but I’d say most are. For example, if you are a football fan here in America and you meet someone else who lives in another city who is a fan of the same team the two of you automatically share some common ground. When it comes times for the “big games” like the Superbowl people from all over the nation stop what they’re doing to go to watching parties. Everyone shares in the big moment together.
2.
I wouldn’t really say that sport victories are a source of national pride, but rather that they are more a sense of regional pride. For example, if Dallas won the Superbowl you would really be able to tell a difference in the way people act around town. Ask any sales person and they’d probably say their sales went up. People associate very closely with “their” team. If “their” team loses - watch out!!!
3. In your opinion, do ethnically diverse teams function as a buffer against intolerance? Why or why not?
Yes, I do think so because it shows that people of all ethnic backgrounds can work together. Unfortunately, however, I do not think all sports here in the U.S. are ethnically diverse (ex: hockey, golf…). This creates a gap in both ethnicity and social classes.
février 29, 2008 à 7:17
André René Roussimoff (le géant!) est un lutteur. Il est gros, malade (acromegaly), brun, fort, et trés grand. Il ne joue pas dans le WWF maintenant, parce qu’il est mort.
mars 1, 2008 à 2:10
1. Sure. Why not. I know some of my friends, who are into that kind of thing, will think more kindly towards a person, or find some common ground with an otherwise total stranger over a sports team. Particularly Football, it seems. On the other hand, they can be quite divisive. For example, my friend Ashe is a Dolphins fan. When he roots for the Patriots to lose the Superbowl, and therefore not tarnish his beloved Dolphins perfect record by surpassing it, our friends who actually like the Patriots get mad at him.
2. I don’t think so. I think our only “national” sports team is the…Olympic team? And I don’t know anyone who feels particularly prideful about anything they do. Maybe feel happy for them, “Yay us!” but it’s not any sort of nationally unifying feeling. And as with football, we have state and regional teams in other sports that one might feel pride in their team’s accomplishment’s in.
3. As far as my experience with this goes, and that’s basically, “What happens in the movie ‘Remember the Titans’,” it sure does! The camraderie of working together towards victory makes the players see people of the other race not as something else, but as a fellow teammate, who is just as much of a person as they are. And when the general public sees their friendship and understanding, hopefully it will spread to them. “Hey, [race] is just as good at football as [race]! They must be pretty good people too.”
mars 1, 2008 à 7:30
Thierry Henry est un footballeur. Il est Françoise. Thierry est ambitieux, intelligent, and super sportif. Il est d’un certain âge, brune et forte. J’ admire Thierry Henry parce qu’il est un gran footballeur.
mars 2, 2008 à 10:51
1. Sports in Lebanon are very unifying. It helps people get over political differences and join together for one team. This is because sports teams are not made on political ambitions, but on entertainment and how good players are. So teams usually consist of different religions, and come from different parts of the country with different views on politics.
2. Sport victories not a reason to be proud, but something to be proud of. If somebody has no sense of pride in his country, then he would not care about the victories. But people who are proud, and not necessarily extremely proud, it is another reason to be proud of their country.
3. It can go both ways with diverse teams, and greatly depends on the players way of a handling it. If players don’t speak out on racism, then diverse teams make no difference. But if players, which usually happens, speak out against prejudice, then it will help to create bridges between differences.
mars 2, 2008 à 11:02
Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane est un footballeur. Il est Francoise. Zidane est n’ est pas egoiste, il est tres sportif. J’admire Zinedine Zidane parce qu’il est tres incroyable.
mars 3, 2008 à 1:04
As far as sports being unifying, it really depends on the region and the sport. In Texas, high school football is king, College football the king’s older brother, and the NFL their big bad papa. But in Hawaii, football is just a game, while MMA fighting and surfing are kings.
For the US, olympic games are our main source of international pride, since we tend to kind of suck in the World Cup, and we don’t really play anyone else but canada in other sports (and then, only in Hockey, and sometimes basketball)
Here, because most sports are already so incredibly ethnically diverse, I tend to think it almost fuels bigotry and discrimination, since most young black men in the states are fed this stereotype that unless they are a sports star or hip hop artist, they aren’t really going to succeed.
mars 3, 2008 à 5:11
André the Giant est un catcheur profesional. Il est gros, très grand et brun. Il né 19 de mai 1946. Il no en vie - Il est mort le 27 de janvier 1993. Il est fabuleux.
mars 21, 2008 à 7:19
Michel François Platini est un footballeur. Il est francais. Il est un champion du monde dans un match de football. Michel né de 21 juin 1955. Il est cheveaux est les yeux brun. Il est 57 ans.