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I would like to buy a gift subscription to the French language edition of Le Monde Diplomatique. The gift recipient reads French (more than I do). With the help of Google translate, I was able to obtain the following information from Le Monde. Note: Inquiries related to the French language edition seem to require French. (My original inquiry in English received a reply entirely in French.)

Reply (partial):
"Je vous informe que les tarifs d'abonnement pour Le Monde Diplomatique sont les suivants :
<snip>
* Abonnement au Monde Diplomatique papier + numérique au tarif de 71.96 € pour 1 an frais de port inclus.
<snip>
Pour souscrire, vous pouvez me contacter par téléphone au 00 33 3 21 13 04 32 depuis l'étranger du lundi au samedi de 9h00 à 18h00

J'enregistrerai avec plaisir votre abonnement.

Vous pouvez également me transmettre la formule choisie par retour de ce mail, accompagnée de votre adresse postale complète."

Reply in English using Google translate:
"I inform you that the subscription rates for Le Monde Diplomatique are as follows:
<snip>
* Subscription to Le Monde Diplomatique paper + digital at the price of €71.96 for 1 year including postage.
<snip>
To subscribe, you can contact me by phone at 00 33 3 21 13 04 32 from abroad from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

I will gladly register your subscription.

You can also send me the formula chosen by return of this email, accompanied by your complete postal address."

I don't have an easy way to make an international call to France. Besides, I don't speak enough French to place the order over the phone (and judging by my email experience, English isn't an option.) While my contact said I could send my subscription details by email, payment would still be an issue. I guess I could just include my credit card information (not ideal, though - no encryption).

So, I checked out the website. Not only did I feel overwhelmed, I couldn't even find the subscription option at the price my contact quoted (I think maybe it's a matter of postage charges). Even when I tried to just "click through" the options I got prompted with many questions I didn't feel prepared to answer (given the language issue).

https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/

Maybe I am feeling unnecessarily overwhelmed. In case someone who reads French can make sense of the website and let me know if it's actually pretty straightforward to subscribe, I would appreciate it! I've racked my brains trying to think of people I know who read French, but apart from the person I want to give the subscription to I can't think of anyone to call to ask for assistance.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I'm Canadian and we sort of speak French.

If you click on "Abonnement" on the top of the front page, the digital version is on the left and the printed version is on the right. It does say 79 Euro per year for the printed version and that's probably not including shipping, so it appears the person was offering you a better deal for whatever reason. When I select subscribe I am taken to a form to create an account and specify my address. It looks like I can't specify a payment option until I do that but I assume they take the usual credit cards. It SEEMS pretty straightforward this way, just maybe a bit more expensive.

There is a checkbox on their address form "Saisir une addresse de livraison différent", you would check this to specify a different delivery address.

Hope this helps.

google is your friend

https://boutique.monde-diplomatique.fr/ ... t/onestep/

you can translate the whole page in google chrome or microsoft edge

good luck

I subscribe to several foreign-language publications.

Subscribing is generally very easy nowadays, provided that you take the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance is to give them your credit card information, select "print" and/or "electronic" delivery, and accept that any introductory pricing will at some point be turned into their regular pricing and that your credit card will be auto-billed at the prevailing rates forevermore, until such time that you cancel the subscription.

If you want to deviate from the path of least resistance, you have to know exactly what you want, and you have to communicate that effectively. If you are willing to use a credit card, that solves one problem. If you are hoping to avoid automatic renewals, that may create a complication. If you want to make a one-time payment for a year's subscription and then have it lapse, you should express that very clearly.

Since you already are communicating with Le Monde Diplomatique by e-mail, it seems like this should be the easiest way to proceed. You should feel free to reply to their french-language communications in english, just as they feel free to reply to your english-language communications in french. The sender uses their best language in order express themselves flawlessly and accurately, the recipient uses whatever resources may be necessary to translate that information into their best language. This is often the most efficient way for both parties to communicate when there is a language barrier. Attempting this by phone would likely be frustrating and a waste of time for both sides.

FYI, Le Monde Diplomatique has a related publication that comes out every other month and is called "Manière de Voir". This may be one of the elements causing confusion on their web site.

In situations where I'm concerned about credit card security, I use a little-used credit card where I instantly can recognize odd charges.

I think you're giving your friend a fantastic gift.

Bonne chance!

Thank you all for taking the time to post. I will review all the suggestions more closely and try to figure out the best way to proceed to get this subscription done.

cholan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:31 pm google is your friend

https://boutique.monde-diplomatique.fr/ ... t/onestep/

cholan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:33 pm you can translate the whole page in google chrome or microsoft edge

good luck

Thanks. The link worked for me earlier. Last month, I remember it seemed to translate the entire webpage, just like you suggested in your second post. But when I tried it just now, it doesn't seem to give me that option. Is that possible? Or is it something that's going on on my end with my computer settings or something?

Update: While I successfully subscribed and the gift recipient has already received the print edition of the newspaper (in French) by post (yippee!!!), I got the invoice but am trying to find a way to pay online, if possible. Otherwise, it seems that I will need to send a check drawn in euros, which would be quite a nuisance.

Have you tried getting help from a French teacher at a nearby high school or college?

cheese_breath wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:25 pm Have you tried getting help from a French teacher at a nearby high school or college?

Thanks, I got everything worked out today. I just used Google translate to ask about paying online with a credit card and they sent me a link. Nice sense of accomplishment between paying and finally getting login access to the publication to work.

Not sure if it's me or the publication, but between Le Monde Diplomatique and the Financial Times I have had a hard time recently avoiding the paywall (despite having the requisite subscription).