Why don’t French people use the definite article when they mention the Internet?

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Jun 222008
 

(asked by Arthur Goldhammer from Cambridge, Massachusetts) In other words, why do French speakers say “Internet” (as if it was a proper noun) and not “L’Internet” as a direct translation of “The Internet”? As mentioned in a previous answer, I’ll try to answer as few questions about language as possible but I find this one quite interesting (and by the way, it was not directly asked to me, but I “stole” it from a blog -after approval of the author). [Read the rest]

What are some MAJOR differences between the French and the American cultures?

 3 Responses »
Jun 222008
 

(asked by Leesa from Antony, France (and originally from San Diego, California)) Wow, this is a hard one… Well, it’s not hard to answer this question; it’s hard to answer it in just a few lines… Let’s start with the fact that France and the US belong to the same civilization -let’s call it the Western civilization- and for that reason the biggest mistake both French and American people do when dealing with the other culture is to assume that [Read the rest]