Dear the people of France,
I’d like to begin by saying I’m a big fan of your country – your people, your films, your food, and your language.
I like your language so much, in fact, I’m actually trying to learn in. And I have just one small niggle – what on earth is going on with your numbers?
It all makes sense up until about 69 (from un to soixante-neuf). And then all logic goes flying straight out the window.
Or, as my teacher so delicately put it, “the person who came up with this, I think he was [intoxicated].”
Whoever this guy was, he kept a hold on things at first. Un, deux, trois – sure (1, 2, 3).
Onze, douze, treize – gotcha (11, 12, 13).
Vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante and soixante, (30, 40, 50 and 60) all present and accounted for.
But then at 70, this guy (or femme?) ran out of steam. Why think up a new word? We'll just do some sums... 60 + 10 = 70.... so let's call it it "sixty-ten" – soixante-dix.
Okay. But what next? 71? "I've got it!," he slurred "sixty-and-eleven". Soixante-et-onze. Then soixante-douze soixante-treize, et cetra...
Unconventional, but it kind of works.
But then he got to 80. The muddied mind really starts to settle here. Soixante-vingt, ("sixty-twenty") perhaps?
No. Because that would be far to simple. To make sure only university educated foreigners can avoid being swindled at the local supermarché, let’s shake things up here, and move from basic addition to the realms of multiplication.
Let's call 80 quatre-vingt – "four-twenty" – because 4 x 20 = 80.
Hmmmm. Couldn’t he have just come up with a new word?
From here, things get increasingly oblique. 81? Qautre-vingt-une, "four-twenty-one". (Surely that should that be 84? Nevermind. Got it. I think).
And 90? "Four-twenty-ten" he slurred. Quatre-vingt-dix. Then quatre-vingt-onze, quatre-vongt-douze... ("four-twenty-eleven, four-twenty-twelve").
By 97 the sums get absurd – quatre-vingt-dix-sept. Mathematically, by this stage you actually need brackets to make these sums make any sense – (4 x 20) + 10 + 7 = 97.
And just to make things even more confusing, the rule where you say "somethhing-and-one" (but only for one, mind, so it's vingt-et-un, but vingt-deux, with no et). Well let's stop that at 80. So it's soixante-et-un but quatre-vingt-un (pas et). Why? Because we just feel like.
It’s a relief when we reach cent (100). And then it all starts again.
And don’t even get me started on big numbers. In English, the year of my birth is a breeze at five-syllables – nine-teen-eigh-ty-five.
In french? Eight. Un-mille-neuf-cent-qua-tre-vingt-cinq.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be this hard. Really.
French-speaking Belgians were smart enough to realise this, coining really-very-much-simpler terms for 70 (septante) and 90 (nonante). You folk just don't appear to use them.
So, people of France, I ask you kindly once more, why do your numbers have to be so hard?
Your sincerely,
A struggling student
Rob Garratt is studying beginner's French at Alliance Française Dubai, a non-profit language and cultural institution established in 1982 which teaches French to more than 2,500 students every year. Find out more at www.afdubai.org.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Pakistan - Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Aamer Yamin, Rumman Raees.
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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