Jacques
Randie’s French isn’t so good. Give her points for trying.
When in France, it endears you to the French speaking locals to at least TRY to speak to them in their native tongue. Usually, about half way thru your trying, they stop you and ask for your English (as you are butchering their language).
Moi je pense que le français c’est qu’un maladié gueule.
Mais ce n’est pas une probleme sinons les françaises pensant la méme chause de l’allemand…
On the other hand, its quite sad that i had french in school for much longer than english and still am more versed – i think – in the later…
BTT:
With the calamari kitchen, the tiki bar, joes cup’o’joe (have i missed one?) and now st-michel there seem to be a lot of nice places.
So… whens the german beer garden coming? Or better the swiss cheese fondue place?
I remember an episode of the Jack Benny show where he’s visiting Paris and wants to be able to introduce himself in French. After giving the bellhop one of his legendary stingy tips, Jack asks how to say “I am Jack Benny, star of stage, screen and television.” The bellhop tells him “I am Jack Benny. I drive a garbage truck.”
In her college days, my wife was able to go to England for three weeks with her English Lit. class. Afterwards, she and two friends tooled about Europe for another three weeks via Eurail Pass. She had a best friend from grade/high school that had moved back to her native Germany, so she joined them.
When they were in Paris, they always tried to speak what French they knew (which was precious little). As soon as they tried, every single person they were speaking to warmed up immediately and instead of getting “American tourist” hospitality, they got French hospitality.
Speak the language whenever possible and you will open doors you didn’t even know were there.
Je trouve cela très poli de parler francais en France. Dommage qu’ici au Québec, les anglophones n’ont généralement pas le même niveau de respect et s’attendent que l’on s’adapte pour qu’on leur parle en anglais…
Seems from the discussin’ here that French folk are better versed and more fluent in our foreign language then American folk are in theirs…or else they’re just angling for a bit of linguistic butchery themselves.
Conversations between Moneypenny, James Bond (Pierce Bronson) and M in “Tomorrow Never Dies” as 007 is contacted by his office whilst shacking up at a university with a Scandinavinan language tutor…
Bond: “I always enjoyed learning a new tongue.”
Moneypenny: “You always were a cunning linguist, James.”
M: [walks up behind Moneypenny]
Moneypenny: “Don’t ask.”
M: “Don’t tell.”
Sorry for the double post…
HA! I thought I’d translated Randie’s French correctly. (Though I speak no French, I’ve always had a great fondness and a bit of a gift for languages.) It could have been worse… a lot worse.
Oops… aaaand a triple post…
I just finished this month’s issue of National Geographic which included a fascinating article on dying or soon-to-be-extinct languages and the impact language has on a culture and its view of reality. I recommend it.
You can always try something from their dialect: “I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!”
That was NOT my experience in France at all. I speak decent French, but with a strong Quebec accent. 90% of the people I met in France wouldn’t even acknowledge that I was speaking to them unless I used English. Tho it may have been because I was in Paris, which I’ve heard is a lot worse than the rest of the country.
Tride… mouth disease? Ha, I think that term is funny…. Ya know, I keep trying to learn French, and I am JUST like Randie. I just keep plugging at it. And really, Cypress City is a nice place. You should visit sometime. You are from Germany, yes? … and I would guess that Ryan would enjoy some sausages & German beer… have one that is a favorite (beer, that is)?
Yat… HA! Garbage truck. Priceless…
Pete (1)… yah… it’s true… they see that you are making zee’ffort… and they open up. Really, I think it makes you a traveller and not a tourist, to learn about and respect the country you are traveling to.
(2) s’okay… I don’t mind at all!
(3) will have to look at it… It came yesterday in the mail, and I haven’t given it a glance yet. Did you read the article some months back about the underground tunnels of Paris? Fascinating!
Frank… c’est vrai? That’s a shame. Language is so funny… So many people complain about Spanish being spoken here in California (when in fact, Spanish was spoken here FIRST because Spain/Mexico owned us before the US did)… When I visited Brussels, their street signs were in 3 languages! Dutch, French & English… We could be bilingual in this country, but we don’t.
Dada… GAH! that would be difficult to translate! Food trough wiper? I just heard this somewhere, recently… what was I watching?
Chug… Really? Wow… Yes, I’ve heard that Parisians are very different than the other parts of France. I’ll let you know next year, when I visit other parts of France as to how nice they are about a traveller speaking ANglo-mucked up-French.
I would LOVE to visit Quebec… My Mom’s side of the family (via my Gram) is from French-Canadian areas… and I would love to trace some of my roots. Bourget is my Gram’s maiden name. Kinda Frenchy-Canadian, eh?
Brig… Actually its switzerland, but that close to the border that it doesnt really matter. As to the favorite beer.. hmm… thats a hard one… I guess I look at the temperature first and brand second, so that’d be a cold “Ueli Bier” (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brauerei_Fischerstube)