LMPT: Ces américaines! Elles sont folles!

Salut, tous ceux qui lit ce blog!
I'm back to tell you about my entry for Round 2 of LMPT. The theme of this round was "Contrast".
It was hard settling on an idea as there are many things I could have done that would have involved some kind of contrast. I could have used a pink polka dotted sheet as a backdrop and stood by the pink Eiffel Tower. To break up the pink, I would have worn all black. I could have taken a photo showcasing the differences between Sabine and me. We may be identical twins, but the similarities stop at the DNA, red hair, brown eyes, and love of new clothes. Crois-moi. That would have been an interesting photo, but I may have wanted to hurt Sabine if I had to actually cooperate with her on something. I could have also taken a photo showcasing the differences between real dancers (Chrissa, Malorie, et moi) and people who lack basic technique/proper training, take jazz classes only, and live for the school dance team. Those people, sadly, call themselves "dancers" when they are far from it. Ew. I could have also done a photo showcasing stylish fashion and fashion that isn't so stylish...as in clothes that don't match, contrasting prints, etc (basically, a fashion disaster).

To sum up a long story, I decided on something that drives me crazy. That would be Americans who do not care that there is a world out there. Instead of breaking down my idea first, I'll show the photo I entered before anything else:

Not ALL Americans think like this, mind you, but a good majority do. Many believe that everybody should speak English, and they do not care to know a foreign language because like I said...they want the world to revolve around the fact that everybody should speak English. A lot also aren't educated on cultural differences and other countries, and they tend to believe stereotypes. French stereotypes are perhaps the most annoying, especially when Americans believe Paris is the only city in France and that the French wear berets 24/7. There are other stereotypes I hate, but I won't go there. Yet.

The point I was trying to get across in my photo is that some Americans tend to be ignorant while I am cultured and have traveled to many fascinating places. The ironic thing about this photo is that Micki wanted to be in it, and she is anything but ignorant and uncultured. Although she is American, she lived in Belgium for ten years and is fluent in Flemish and French as well as her native English. She just wanted to be in the photo because of her leotard. Liz and Ava like to pick on the French, so they were dying to be in the photo as well.

To try and establish my point, here's what I did. I spread out luggage, postcards, and my French flag to try to indicate that I was well-rounded and open-minded.

Liz held a sign that said, "Ignorance is bliss." Sadly, many people think that way. Liz isn't actually truly ignorant, though. Her mom is from England, so she somewhat knows what another culture is like. She just likes to embrace her inner American.

Ava held a sign that bashes the learning of foreign languages. Ava actually DOES think this way; she hates having to take a foreign language class to graduate.

And Micki? She just wore her favorite leotard, thinking that would showcase the look of a patriotic, overzealous American.

Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for my entry for Round 3!

Bisous,
Sandrine

2 comments

Penelope Mae said...

I love your picture! I think having a second language is important because it increases your knowledge of the first language!

Love Nellie :)

Blakeney Green said...

Hi, Sandrine. This is Summer.

I really liked that your interpretation of the challenge was so creative! Your picture was so different from the others - which is a really good thing, because so much of this contest depends on standing out. Great job!

It's really different here in Canada. Our country is officially bilingual (English and French) and that is protected by law. We also have eight other legally recognized regional languages. So an insistence on being monolingual isn't really a big thing here.

Best of luck in the voting! :-)

Love,
Summer