I love those signs - short and to the point. Shame more people don't appreciate them.
Absolutely!
Did you see the film 'A Good Year' ? there is a character in that who is English who visits his friend in France and does exactly that...'Enchante' he would say grabbing a womans hand and doing the long kisses along the arm! threw in the odd French word whilst wearing a Leslie Phillips smirk...hilarious.
I have seen signs in supermarket car parks that state "If you wish to take my parking place - please also take my handicap" (in French). Perhaps we could do with more of those.
hell, if I tried it my pedantic 10 year old who is super-fluent would tear me to shreds. At home she and I speak English but it is French with Maman. She tries bits of Italian, which she understands but fortunately having spent more years in the Francophone world than her Italophone origins she is happy with that. Yes, I have to help with homework, but interject one word about French and I will be hung out to dry :-(
Believe it or not Simon i'm usually a placid kind of person not known for losing my rag but I have just returned from a shopping trip to Carrefour in Cahors. I was loading the car with the bags etc and acar pulledup to the rear of me in one of the spacees intended for the Handicapped GIC/GIG vehicles only. A couple of lads in their 50s hopped out (literally !), took a trolley and proceeded to walk to the supermarket entrance. These people were definitely NOT handicapped 80%, probably not even 0.8% ! I asked if they really needed to park there and was told in no uncertain terms to mind my own business IN ENGLISH !!!!!!!
I asked if they had any idea what it's like being seriously handicapped and they just ignored me. Maybe someone in the family is indeed handicapped and thus meriting the use of the GIC/GIG place but it certainly wasn't onee of those two. My late wife had the badge fo the last 12 years of her life so I know too well how it works.
Ok, it's not always brits who abuse the system but ths really takes the biscuit for me...
rant over
Interesting isn't it? Until it happens unexpectedly. When my health went bad over the last couple of years I had some serious memory problems. My English and French went walkabout and my German infiltrated everything. As the neurologist explained, the dominant childhood language often takes over as a fail safe. As I have recovered things have got much better but I get moments of frustration with vocabulary where a word I knew an hour before is suddenly stuck. So, I now have sympathy for people I might have found strange before.
However, directly in your context I have no idea what it is about. I wonder what is wrong that one language or the other does not suffice but generally see it as 'proving' how clever they are by knowing words but not the language. It kind of makes me think Monty Python Gumbies sketches: 'My brain hurts'.
I have friends who have lived here 'for ever' who will in a discussion in English realise they have forgotten the French word for something so chuck in the French one so we can translate it! I know what you mean though Simon when someone mixes up French and English often for good effect with their English audience, hoping it makes them seem sophisticated.
I throw everything into the mix Tracy, lol. Twerp having spent several years at Maltese school, if he's ignoring my English entreaties to be quiet, for example, I bark at him in Maltese the way the teachers used to. Works a treat. Great for confusing the neighbours as well.
Perfectly, you had me going for a while :-)
Exactly right, Chris, especially the English person correcting the French. The school always say never try speaking French at home to help kids (or me) integrate faster because it's bound to be wrong somewhere. Just let the children pick it up naturally at school and speak mother tongue at home so they learn that separately.
I should sneak a peek at my kid's homework and see if i can learn a word or two ...
Guilty of that one - with bilingual kids and many bi-lingual friends sometimes the odd words do get 'frangled' simply because we get so fed up off correcting their English and we know what they mean - a classic example is 'to put the poubelle out'
Simon, my only excuse for doing that is, having lived here for over 10 years and often having to switch from French to English and back again, I search for the English word and can, in my tiny brain, can only find the French word. Hence my sentences can be a tad convoluted!
Our family causes great confusion Peter and baffles most people. We look very British/German (my husband is half German/Brit and the German part is very marked in our 9yr old daughter). The kids were born here and can not be told apart from the local French kids in terms of lingo though and are very French in terms of behaviour. We can talk to them in French if out at the park for example but the biggest surprise for folks is when they talk to us in fluent French and we reply in perfect English - part of our ongoing efforts to ensure they are totally fluent in both languages.
The kids have now started to appreciate the additional benefits of being bi-lingual and do sometimes talk to us in French in the UK or intentionally in English here as they don't necessarily want everyone to overhear what they are talking about.
I see some confusion here between speaking French to the French and speaking English to the English. If dealing with a French person or organisation, yes you should speak (or try to speak) in their language. However I do not feel it either necessary or a good idea to speak French with other English people in the course of normal conversation.
If I make an error in my French (comme d'habitude) the French are always delighted to correct me.However an English person correcting my attempt at French is more likely to get it wrong. Our French teacher discourages us from talking French when we speak to each other when we are alone at home as, that way, bad habits become engrained.
Glad I’m not invited then. We spend our time on more pleasant topics. Why worry or whinge about what one cannot change?
@ Vic - I maybe wrong re the button. In that case, should you want to edit stuff in the future, I would copy and paste before deleting and then reposting your edited copy. Does that make sense? x
You should have just asked him who’s dog he was then Suzy.
Catharine. Where are you hiding this "little red edit button" 'cos this luddite can't find it?
James. I've read & re-read your "how to" guide & still can't see how I breeched it. In my world the phrase I used would be considered normal & whilst I wouldn't use it to a "lady" I thought it acceptable to use it to a grown up bloke. Oh well, I'm trying to edit my post but failing miserably. Any chance you could change it to simply "What are you on about" assuming of course that doesn't cause offence. I leave it to you & your Admin button.
Oh snap Peter...my hobby as well. For me I can usually work out the Brits, Americans and Germans. I find generally that the German tourists here are very smart. Much more likely to wear tailored shorts, everything beautifully ironed, invariably mid length socks and sandals (obviously I am describing the men!) the German ladies also very tidy and neat, usually a pastel T shirt tucked into a cotton below knee length skirt or longer shorts. Hats for both are common as are sunglasses and nearly always a quality camera on a neck cord. As you say, great trying to work out if you are right whilst enjoying a midmorning coffee in the village square.