Avez-vous des passe-temps?

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Chère Katya,

Je m'appelle Kirsty. J'ai quatorze ans. J'habite à North Berwick en Ecosse.

J'ai beaucoup de passe-temps.

J'aime beaucoup la musique. Je joue du violoncelle et du piano. 

Je ne suis pas très sportive. Je ne joue pas au hockey, mais j'adore faire du ski. 

Le weekend, j'aime faire de la voile.

Avez-vous des passe-tamps?

Bisous,
Kirsty x

Translation:

Dear generically-named fictional French pen pal,

My name is Kirsty. I haven't written to you for a decade and a half (sorry) so my French-writing brain still thinks I'm 14. It also thinks I live in North Berwick. Neither of these things is true.

I will now transition awkwardly into talking about my hobbies.

I like music very much. I have a cello. It is very dusty and lives in my parents' spare room. We will not mention the piano.

I do not think I am sporty, because I am scarred by years of being ignored by PE teachers and humiliating myself at team sports. I still hold onto this perception, despite being excellent at skiing and having once run for a whole hour without stopping.

At weekends, I like to watch other people sailing, from the window of a warm, dry and comfortable house.

My real hobby is procrastinating online, but at the age of 14 I had dial-up internet and shared an AOL email address with my brother, so I do not have the French vocabulary to discuss this.

Do you have any hobbies?

Love,
Kirsty x


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Image: Charlotte Trounce for Felicity J Lord Magazine

8 boats moored

  1. This post appeals to me in a way i didn't know it would, you are great.
    xE

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  2. Lol love this, very proud I was able to translate it on my own lol!

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  3. Ha! You are the best kind of ridiculous.

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  4. Oh good Lord this made me properly laugh. Wonder what happened to Sina, my German equivalent...

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  5. Hahaha, this is so funny ! You are the best! Have been enjoying all your posts!

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  6. So I happen to have this textbook from the 80s titled "Neue Freunde" (New Friends), which I used in my school German classes in the early/mid 90s. Not only is it filled to the brim with horrific fashion choices, but the entire book is essentially talking about hobbies. DO YOU LIKE SPORT? YES, I ENJOY SPORT. I ALSO ENJOY COLLECTING STAMPS AND LISTENING TO CASSETTES.

    What I'm getting at is that this rang true for me in a very special way.

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