As part of my decades long struggle to master the French language, I do enjoy reading old fashioned textbooks from time to time. Here is one I really like.
It was first printed in 1930, when life was much simpler than it is now. Well, they didn’t have coronavirus or climate change or Trump, but instead they had The Great War, which ended only 12 years before, and would soon be followed by the Second World War (oops). The blitz would devastate London only ten years after this was written. In addition, they were right smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression – when 25% of the worlds workforce were unemployed. You’d never guess any of that from the tone of this book, which is decidedly chipper. It follows the adventures of an ordinary middle class English couple, Mr and Mrs Dupont, who live in London with their maid.
In chapter one we find them bored at home. Mrs Dupont needs a change of air and has a fabulous idea. “Let’s go to Paris!” Mr Dupont agrees, and they plan to leave the following morning. Mrs Dupont is going to pack their suitcases, presumably with the help of the tweenie, and Mr Dupont heads off to buy the tickets for the ferry to cross the channel (no Chunnel for another 64 years).
it’s incomprehensible to me that they could just decide to leave the country on the spur of the moment like this. And it’s not just for a weekend – they plan to be away for several months. Clearly neither of them has a job. The maid doesn’t go with them, but I presume she still keeps her job. How will she fill the next few months? To be continued!
(Yes, I realise the irony of posting this during Maori language week. Learning Te Reo is also on my To Do list.)