The Kitchen Note and the Text
Lucie, 16, is an Australian exchange student in Lyon. She lives with Mme Bertrand (78), the host grandmother, and Chloé (15), the host sister. The host mother is away overnight. Lucie needs to prepare a plate for tomorrow's school excursion and must use the kitchen at 9 pm. She will leave a handwritten note for Mme Bertrand and send a text to Chloé asking to borrow a bike pump for the weekend. Constraints: the note must be no more than 30 words; the text no more than 20 words. Mme Bertrand is warm but traditional and dislikes slang; Chloé uses informal voice messages and abbreviations. Lucie's French is B1 and she has a habit of writing 'je veux' for every request. Assess the register choices and produce the messages.
1. Decide the address form (tu/vous) and two politeness strategies for each message. Justify each choice with reference to the relationship, the medium and the recipient.
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Mme Bertrand: vous.
- Age and generational distance (78), traditional expectations, and the fact that Lucie is a guest asking permission all point to vous.
- The handwritten note is a semi-permanent medium and is more formal than a text; it can be re-read and kept.
- Politeness strategies: (1) use the conditional to soften the request, e.g.
Serait-il possible de...; (2) apologise for disturbing her and thank her in advance, e.g.Je suis désolée de vous déranger+Merci beaucoup. - Avoid slang, abbreviations and direct imperatives.
Chloé: tu.
- Same-age peer and host sister; daily informal contact; the text medium is immediate and personal.
- Politeness strategies: (1) use a friendly informal question frame, e.g.
Ça te dérange de...; (2) keep it brief and direct, which is appropriate between peers. - Using vous with Chloé would create unnecessary distance; using tu with Mme Bertrand would be rude. The key judgement is that age and medium, not just friendliness, determine the choice.
2. Write the note to Mme Bertrand (30 words maximum) and the text to Chloé (20 words maximum) in French.
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Note to Mme Bertrand (26 words):
Bonsoir Madame Bertrand, serait-il possible d'utiliser la cuisine vers 21 h pour préparer mon repas de demain ? Je suis désolée de vous déranger. Merci beaucoup, Lucie.
Text to Chloé (13 words):
Salut Chloé ! Tu peux me prêter ta pompe à vélo ce week-end ? Merci !
Reasoning: The note uses vous, a conditional request and an apology, which fits a semi-formal written request to an older host. The text uses tu, an informal question and an exclamation, which fits a peer and the text medium. Both stay within the word limits by cutting unnecessary framing.
3. Lucie's first draft of the note began 'Je veux utiliser la cuisine'. Explain why this is problematic and rewrite only that request in a more appropriate form.
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Je veux states a desire as a blunt fact and does not ask permission. To an older host in a handwritten note it can sound demanding or childlike, because it ignores the face-threatening nature of asking to use someone else's kitchen. French requests to adults typically use a conditional, a question form, or an explicit permission frame.
Rewrite: Serait-il possible d'utiliser la cuisine vers 21 h ? or Puis-je utiliser la cuisine vers 21 h ?
The rewrite keeps the same content but changes the speech act from a statement of desire to a polite request, which is the judgement the situation requires.