Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jul 12, 2012:

Of course it's training and of course in better quality French it would read "formation proposée".

"Formation" generally is training, it can more generally include courses as in the meaning of "formation continue". Here it is "training".

"De" is used increasingly comonly this way. It is not good French, but it is creeping in to the conversation of people who should not make this type of mistake. Adolescents and young adults use it quite commonly in writing too.

Marian Vieyra Jul 12, 2012:

Source? The text may come from hand-written comments from staff attending a conference, hence the colloquial French. I've had the misfortune of wading through reams of answers from employees of the African Development Bank who attended lectures at Cranfield University. They always want more training as it's usually a bit of a junket in a foreign country.

Timothy Rake Jul 12, 2012:

@Gurudutt Yes, thin ice. I doubt your interpretation here. If it were "Formation de la proposée", well in that case, maybe. IMHO its simply bad usage; I stand by the theory that is should read in proper French, "formation proposée"

Gurudutt Kamath Jul 12, 2012:

Candidate I am treading on thin ice -- but de proposée seems to me to refer to the candidate selected or proposed candidate. So it is referring to the training of the candidate.

jmleger Jul 11, 2012:

Probably because I live in the States... i have not as yet encountered the "de quoi", which Nikki talks about... but I promise to keep an ear out for it and be ready to pounce on it. I suddenly remember that we used the "de quoi" phrase when I was a kid as a challenge to mean "what did you just say?" (i.e. repeat, so I can hit you), but i don't think that's what Nikki is talking about.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jul 11, 2012:

@ Wolf et cie This is absolutely standard (bad) French. Check Google which gives 68 hits for "formation de proposée".

Wolf Draeger Jul 11, 2012:

@ Lara In that case, JM is probably right, especially if it's an instance of recorded speech (thought it was prepared writing).

Lara Barnett (asker) Jul 11, 2012:

@ Wolf Quite a lot of instances. Also one in my next question:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/4873561

Wolf Draeger Jul 11, 2012:

@ Lara Sure; it depends on whether there is text missing or not; might be worth asking the client. JM could be right, of course, but that's quite a slip-up for a written business proposal - are there any other instances of similarly sloppy language elsewhere in the text?

Lara Barnett (asker) Jul 11, 2012:

@ Wolf Thanks yes, I see what you mean, but I think it would be understood if I left it without as it could mean "training week", "training course" or "training program". Better not to specify if the French doesn't no?

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jul 11, 2012:

JM Leger is quite right. The style is colloquial in all its glory, dodgy grammar free of charge. One thing which makes me cringe is the current tendency to say "de quoi" instead of "comment?". WHen my kids say it, I say "de rien", which gets up their nose!

Wolf Draeger Jul 11, 2012:

@ Lara Yes, sry, I meant that "training session" on its own doesn't make sense, it needs to be specific, as in "we need at least one XXX training session per year in order to maintain a link with the brand strategy".

Lara Barnett (asker) Jul 11, 2012:

@ Wolf I don't know why it doesn't make sense to have a training each year. The text suggests it for preserving their links with the brands strategies, no?

Wolf Draeger Jul 11, 2012:

Text missing? Hi Lara, proposée relates to formation, so sounds like there's a word/some text missing, like you suggest in your 1st option. The proposed training appears to be specific to salespeople (it doesn't make much sense to say that there should be a training session at least once a year - training for what? brand awareness?).

jmleger Jul 11, 2012:

Your trouble is that you learned proper French. ;-)

Timothy Rake Jul 11, 2012:

...de proposée awkward to me, but the "de proposée" seems to be referring to "une formation, and IMHO could just as easily read "une formation proposée"

jmleger Jul 11, 2012:

It's just a colloquial way of putting it it's a popular, and incorrect, turn of phrase. It should not be there, the "de".