Faux Pas

HAVEN'T WRITTEN ABOUT any faux pas lately.* Not for lack of examples, I assure you. But tonight's was a fun one.

It's conseils de classe time again (I've expalined these before) which means I have to enter student grades on a web-based program -- and include a brief end-of-the-year comment. The comments are usually short and to the point ('good progress this year', 'keep up the good work', 'good level', etc.). For about 7 of my students I chose to write the phrase 'good year' or 'bonne année'. The only problem is that I forgot that année is feminine and I wrote 'bon année'. The difference between the two is subtle on paper, but a little less subtle when put to use. The way I understand it, bon année is an informal (not technically correct, but often used) way of writing 'Happy New Year!' It was with great delight that my French colleagues pointed out these mistakes during the conseils de classe -- in a typically french (semi) good-natured way.

So tonight, as parents log-on to the internet to read their children's year-end results, they will notice that most teachers have included a brief word of encouragement in the comment box. And for 7 of them, one particular teacher has wished them a Happy New Year.

* what's the plural of 'faux pas'?
CJS