This is what 'Hard Remain' looks like!

Excellent answer Stephen, some common sense. I’ve read so much that farmers say “the British aren’t prepared to do the work” but I didn’t think that being on the dole was a lifestyle choice … I thought that if a suitable position came up then people were obliged to take it rather than choose to refuse work if they’re physically capable. And foreign aid … yes to the starving and underdeveloped but India, which has a space programme?

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If you are British, including immigrant British, and the first two apply, because of health problems etc, that is what the welfare system is there for. NOT to support immigrants who are in UK simply to fleece the system and have an easy life, while not paying anything into the system, or those who simply can’t be bothered. If you are British, but an immigrant or born to an immigrant family, and you are not prepared to respect the last three criteria, or indeed the first two, you get deported to your country of origin, or that of your family. End of story. If you are ‘native’ British, and fail to respect the same criteria, you get nothing. And i mean nothing. No health care, social care, housing, money. NILL, until such time as you do. Britain is a soft touch and the British tax payer is paying through the nose for it, while the ‘native’ British are getting less and less. Lastly. NO, foreigners do NOT have an excuse. That is simply a fudge. If you are privileged to live in another country, you either live as the people of that country live, and abide by and respect all their traditions, culture and laws, or you get out. Voluntarily or by force.

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What’s your French like?

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:joy: :joy: :joy: Good one !!

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Awwwwwww very distasteful post.

Adapting not adopting possibly works better…just a tip. :slight_smile:

Improving all the time. I have no problems making myself understood, but will be happier when i am more fluent. Why ?

Of course it’s distasteful. The whole subject is distasteful. But if any country is not going to deal with reality, it will simply end up like the UK and most other European countries. Broke, and unable to deal with their rising crime, including terrorism.The systems in place at the present time, have shown beyond any doubt, that they simply cannot cope. They do not work. Of course there are many other reasons as well, but too many to discuss here. If we keep just sidelining the problem, which we are good at, it will simply get worse. I’m sure there are alternatives to mine, but if they are not just as distasteful i’d like to hear them. No country can afford to play into the hands of organisations such as the EDL, BNP etc, and that is precisely what is happening. Their numbers increase daily, and the last thing anyone needs is another Hitler, even in the background. I have absolutely no problems with immigrants. None. I do have problems with freeloaders, of any race colour or creed, whether they are immigrants or not.

Let me help…to quote you Steve:

By that token - surely you should speak fluent French - just like the people of this country.

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Steve - it wasn’t the subject matter of your post I found distasteful - it was your style.

I’m getting there Simon. I spent most of 2015 having 8 operations, including heart surgery, and most of 2016 recovering. All very unexpected, so i missed speaking French in ordinary situations. My wife also had an accident in the same year, and had to have both knees replaced by prosthetics. I’m told my French is better than i think it is, so i keep plugging away. A little more difficult at 64, but i’ll become fluent eventually. The reasons for doing so, are to make life easier for us, as well as those we communicate with, mostly neighbours and our local shop keepers, and out of respect for the people of the country we live in. As for style, well i can be a little too direct at times, but then i don’t see the point of riding around the houses, to get to the end of the street. :slight_smile:

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Stephen…

I suspect that your medical French vocab has increased enormously… ours did under similar circumstances…:wink:

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Steve - it sounds like you’ve been through the mill but it’s great that both your health and your French are doing well! I imagine there are immigrants in the UK in a similar position to yourself.

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Exactly. We’re all foreign if you go back far enough. The only common theme is we’re European.

One thing that few people seem to mention is the European based standards agencies.

An important one is the membership of Euratom (the nuclear agency) which has some very complicated regulations on things from how nuclear plants are designed to how nuclear waste is disposed of (at Sellafield)

Setting up Euratom has taken many years and setting up “UKatom” in 2 years before Brexit won’t be cheap (if it’s even possible). I’d wager we’ll be spending more than our old EU membership fee on running it!

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It certainly helped Stella, although i spent a total of 3 out of 5 weeks in 4 different hospitals, in intensive care, so i was sedated a lot of the time. The medical care was the best i have ever experienced. Fortunately we have a very friendly Pharmacist, Bruno, who speaks good English, as does our doctor, Patrick, so we usually speak French, and they speak English. Maybe that should be we all try. It helps all, and can be very amusing at times. It makes the other customers / patients smile as well. :smile:

You were lucky to have such support… we struggled through armed with our dictionaries…and I would write down short phrases/questions (as my accent was awful).

One nurse was particularly stroppy and stormed off… I searched through the dictionary and suddenly realised what a complete plonker I had been with my reply to her question… :scream: …I shot down the corridor, found the nurse, showed her the book… and we both had a good laugh. She was one of our staunchest allies from then on.

Much more recently, one Specialist told us that English is fast becoming the language used in the Teaching Hospitals. But we chat in French throughout…and always have a good time… generally get around to talking about classic cars at some point… and it is plain-sailing after that…:smile:

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I went for my “mammo” a couple of weeks ago.
On seeing my name the doctor said hopefully, “Aha you are Engleesh. You speak a leetle French?” To which I replied (in French) “No worries we can talk in French, I’ve been here for ten years!” And he burst out laughing and said (in French) “That doesn’t follow at all, I see plenty of English people who’ve lived here for longer than that and can’t speak one word of French!” He found this hilariously funny, I found it very embarrassing and didn’t know what to say.
So yes I think people should try, not only for amusement but to try and change the general perception that people have of Brits and their inadequacies.
Good on you, Stephen.

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Ha ha… Anna… know just what you mean…I cringe at some of the comments about Brits who don’t seem to want to integrate…

Nowadays, if someone says to me “I speak a leetle English”…I reply “I speak a leetle French”… then proceed to rattle away in my best French accent (which is def not 100% correct)…and they always (well, nearly always) understand. Sometimes I have to repeat a phrase, but we get by…and smiles do work wonders.:wink:

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I will tell you what makes him the worst. Instead of dealing with what the majority of the country voted for he just ran away and left it because he had no plan B. And osbourne did the same.

I’ve used the example of Brexit to urge my French friends and neighbours to vote… to make a choice and vote… because in UK (very roughly) 17 million chose to leave and 16 million chose to stay… with many millions who did not vote at all…

As I say… these are rough figures but, even so, it shows just how things can go haywire because of non-voters… It would have been better/nicer to see a larger difference in the numbers…whatever the outcome… it would have felt more like “the people have chosen”… because at present… it is almost neck and neck…and not at all “the people’s choice”… :cry:

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