English and Spanish have some common roots with the French language. Jenny and I have the privilege of knowing Spanish and it has been a big help to us in being able to understand French more quickly than we might otherwise have been able to. We do have to watch out for what are called false friends. We see the word, we think we know what it means but it is not what we think it means. We thought it might be interesting for you to see some of the False Friends we have found during our language study.
Chair – hmmm wonder what that word means. Looks an awful lot like the word for something you can take a rest in if you are tired, or sit in at the table. The word for that in French is Chaise. The word chair in French means flesh or meat.
Seance – well I am sure you know what that is…but in French in means session or showing, like the second showing of a movie would be the second seance.
Pays – sounds like something involving the transfer of money between people for goods or services. Not in this case. It means country or nation
Crayon – something your children use in coloring books. In French it means pencil.
It can be quite confusing when you read one word that your mind has attached to a certain object or idea but it really means something completely different.
kendra says
Love this! Pays is kind of like pais…doesn’t that mean country in Spanish? Anyways, we are finding more Spanish here in Tagalog than we expected, but many differences too. Kind of fun and sometimes frustrating. 🙂
David says
Dude, you crack me up.