# French speakers (readers, really): could I learn French well enough to read and appreciate Simenon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370 "2014-04-04T20:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370/1 "2014-04-04T20:51:55Z")
Some connoisseurs are of the opinion that the English translations of Simenon’s books do not capture the clean, spare style of his French prose (as they describe it). I’ve been reading English for 60 years but I’m sure there are some stylistic nuances in prose that still go over my head. Would I, with any amount of study, ever be able to appreciate Simenon’s style in French (compared to other French writers)? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370/2 "2014-04-04T20:59:34Z")
My French is awful but I read a lot of Maigret in French. Just make sure you know the passè simple, since it is used a lot. (“Je fût” means “I was” for example.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370/3 "2014-04-04T23:31:44Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Would I, with any amount of study, ever be able to appreciate Simenon’s style in French (compared to other French writers)? Why would you think that you couldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370/4 "2014-04-04T23:46:35Z")
Why not ? Hang tight, it’s a rough ride, but it can’t be harder than Japanese. I never read Siménon myself, however as a “série noire” detective stories writer of the early 20th it’s possible that he makes use of _argot_, an old slang the words of which are not always clear or intelligible even to a modern French speaker (though they’re often clear in context). ``` Quote: Originally Posted by **Hari Seldon** ("Je fût" means "I was" for example.) ``` Fus. “Fut” is the third-person singular, not the first. Oh and no ^ except on “nous fûmes” et “vous fûtes”. Because. I \*did \*say it was a rough ride :). [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/buttons/edit.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=17259459) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speakers-readers-really-could-i-learn-french-well-enough-to-read-and-appreciate-simenon/685370/5 "2014-04-05T03:14:00Z")
I’m somewhere around “intermediate” by my reckoning, French people tell me my French is fine, and one of the things I did to improve my vocabulary was get several books in French including Simenon’s _Le Train_ (a story about civilians in WWII). I wasn’t trying to run any kind of analytical comparison, but I did find it easy to follow. ETA: must be a copyright issue or something, I see Kindle editions in amazon.es and [amazon.fr](http://amazon.fr) but not in the .com version.