portrait chinois

[pseudo ingot]

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portrait chinois

[finite wadi]

I'm wondering if this pattern is common in French, or if it's just a weird excuse for class exercises.

Interestingly that article also precedes conditionnel présent like my class slides.

[mint orbit]

well tbf I had to do it at least a couple times in school (I'm french) so ig it is a thing really 🤣

[barren urchin]

Never heard of it before now, but it doesnt seem out of place as an "ice-breaker" type exercise

[finite wadi]

@mint orbit how old were you when they made you do it? Just curious when native French people would be doing this at school mdr

[mint orbit]

elementary and middleschool

[spark gust]

why the hell would someone call that a chinese portrait lol
like... this is just an exercise in introducing yourself

feels oddly racialized for no apparent reason…

Briefly introducing yourself in the context of meeting someone new, say, when a new coworker joins your team and going around the table and having everyone say who they are/what they do is quite common in France… but I'd dare say that short introductions are a cultural universal
Perhaps there's some uncontacted tribe that have a taboo against introductions? Otherwise folks do this everywhere

[barren urchin]

I'm guessing that's the origin of the term. Associating the word "Chinese" has been a thing in some fixed phrases to evoke mystery, intrigue, riddles, obliqueness ... Like introducing yourself in a roundabout way by poetically comparing yourself to stuff, instead of giving out ersonnal info directly.

Not an excuse, of course. An explanation

[unkempt linden]

I had to do it as an exercice in elementary school as well

Never really questioned why it was called "chinese" though

[finite wadi]

Merci beaucoup

[winter summit]

Also called le questionnaire de Proust in French but I heard “portrait chinois” before, not sure why it’s called that

I used it this week in class to practice conditional

“Si j’étais un animal, je serais un cheval” and so on

[mint orbit]

le chinois est compliqué à apprendre pour les français donc c'est ici une référence à la difficulté apparemment