How much French do you need to get by?

[The Wino]

A little French goes a long way so the basics of greeting and ordering food and drinks to start with.

Duolingo is a great app for learning French.

And make sure you learn the difference between Andouillette and Andouille if you like sausages or find out the hard way

We went on holiday once and our daughter in law ordered it and ate it........yeuk

 

[ChrisSue]

Let's improve this sentence : Je suis un peu sourd (I understand you are a man, yes?) , s'il vous plait parlez lentement et distinctement (if distinctement is a tad too hard to pronounce then use , clairement. Clair is only an adjective , not an adverbe , hence the "ement" added to clair)

Merci yodeli

Vous etes tres gentille

 

[phil1946]

I have always managed with just 'excuse moi' - they usually move and I 'get by'.

 

[AnnieB]

I once went up to a Gendarme in Paris and asked where the Conciergerie was (prison where MarieAntoinette spent her final days). I managed the simple question and was quite pleased with myself until he just jerked his thumb over his shoulder pointing at the building behind him - he was standing in its doorway.

 

[Vipar]

Learn your numbers rather than hold out a fist full of money and let them help themselves.

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[yodeli]

Merci yodeli

Vous etes tres gentille

You're most welcome.

While I'm at it, on a forum ... obviously French forum , with people who meet on a regular basis, you are supposed to use TU more than VOUS. I know quite a lot of you don't really feel when it is appropriate and when not. So to make it easier, just think English. Do you call the personn Madam or Sir, or do you use his/her christian name? If the latter then in French it will be TU unless she or he is much older or your Boss or a client.
To me it should be

Merci Frankie , tu es gentille !

 

[Camdoon]

I once went up to a Gendarme in Paris and asked where the Conciergerie was (prison where MarieAntoinette spent her final days). I managed the simple question and was quite pleased with myself until he just jerked his thumb over his shoulder pointing at the building behind him - he was standing in its doorway.

Got a similar response leaning out the car on the Champs Elysee to "Ou somme nous?

 

[ChrisSue]

You're most welcome.

While I'm at it, on a forum ... obviously French forum , with people who meet on a regular basis, you are supposed to use TU more than VOUS. I know quite a lot of you don't really feel when it is appropriate and when not. So to make it easier, just think English. Do you call the personn Madam or Sir, or do you use his/her christian name? If the latter then in French it will be TU unless she or he is much older or your Boss or a client.
To me it should be

Merci Frankie , tu es gentille !

But, being English, we haven't been properly introduced

I actually debated for a while as to whether to use the tu form and I'm very pleased to have that honour

 

[Spriddler]

I once went up to a Gendarme in Paris and asked where the Conciergerie was (prison where MarieAntoinette spent her final days). ..... he was standing in its doorway.

Nearer home.........,
When I asked the shelf-filler at the booze aisle in Redruth Tesco if they had any Pastis she said:
"Well, my 'ansome, if we do them'll be over there with the sausage rolls and pies".

 

[Gina M]

Nearer home.........,
When I asked the shelf-filler at the booze aisle in Redruth Tesco if they had any Pastis she said:
"Well, my 'ansome, if we do them'll be over there with the sausage rolls and pies".

I need photographic proof please 'ansome

Gina.

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[Spriddler]

I need photographic proof please 'ansome

Gina.

'Ere y'are.........it's up Tolgus Hill.

Sometimes women in Cornwall greet me with "'Allo, moy luvver" but I don't like to cause offence by admitting that I can't remember them.

 

[hja]

I think I've mentioned on here before about by struggles with French. I got a U for Ungraded in my French O Level in the mid 80s. It still wrankles me a bit, and I've always regarded it as a bit of "unfinished business".

I therefore started French Duolingo in November 2020 whilst recovering from an op on my Achilles tendon. I thought I might as well do something constructive with the time I had on my hands. I've kept it up since, and I've maintained a 670 day streak. My vocabulary and grammar have improved significantly. Writing and reading in French is now fairly decent, but my pronunciation still lets down my attempts at spoken French.

I'd recommend Duolingo to anyone. It's free (if you don't mind ads) and as it's on your smartphone you can fit 5 or 10 minutes in whenever you get chance.

We are working our way down through France at the moment, so plenty of opportunities to practice.

I failed French O level twice. I have tried various courses including holiday French night school. Never very good. I can often decipher written French. I can ask for a few basic things, but rarely understand French spoken to me.
I did have a go at duolingo for a while on the off chance we might return to France. The written parts were fine but not the spoken. Whenever I needed to speak it never recognised it, always told me to try again. So I ended skipping the oral parts. I assume my accent was just awful. I can’t sing, don’t appreciate music, can’t even tell garden bird songs apart (except blackbird and sometimes robin). I think it is all part of the same problem.

 

[Spriddler]

Whenever I needed to speak it never recognised it, always told me to try again.

There was a lot of 'Paris' French spoken at home from when I was about 5 but I struggled a bit with our Grammar school French master who had a very broad Yorkshire accent.

 

[gus-lopez]

the first word is squirrel,

Did you find the squirrel?

'Ere y'are.........it's up Tolgus Hill.

View attachment 671483

Sometimes women in Cornwall greet me with "'Allo, moy luvver" but I don't like to cause offence by admitting that I can't remember them.

They all loook the same .That's identical to the one in Tiverton or Cullompton

 

[1967bowesj]

Thanks for all the replies I will read them all but manic busy work again getting in the way

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[BikerGraham]

The problem is after you have delivered your pre prepared and practised French sentence.
Their reply is so fast that any hope of recognising a single word of it is impossible. Your only hope then is
“Parlez-vous Anglais?”.
But at least we tried.

this is so true

 

[BikerGraham]

Learn your numbers rather than hold out a fist full of money and let them help themselves.

or wait till they ring it up on the till and look at the display .... LOL

 

[BikerGraham]

just back from 4 weeks in France, I speak extremely little but always start off in French and the help is then very good.

but when in cafe's etc instead of figuring out the menus just go with the "menu de jour" or "plat de jour" and see what you get. Can be interesting at times

having said that, i pulled into a small site in Netherlands on way back to the ferry the other night and came across what must be the only person in the country that didn't speak English

 

[EuroTrotters]

Further to my reply’s above.

The 2 nd thing I would learn is …

Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français. parlez vous anglais

 

[Spriddler]

They all loook the same .That's identical to the one in Tiverton or Cullompton

I don't think I've had any luvvers in either of those towns, but I do agree that they all look much the same in their Tesco uniforms.

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[L' Hobo]

just back from 4 weeks in France, I speak extremely little but always start off in French and the help is then very good.

but when in cafe's etc instead of figuring out the menus just go with the "menu de jour" or "plat de jour" and see what you get. Can be interesting at times

having said that, i pulled into a small site in Netherlands on way back to the ferry the other night and came across what must be the only person in the country that didn't speak English

Many, many years ago (70's I think) when I was trucking, I went to pick up a load, late on Friday afternoon, in the Flemish part of Holland and not thinking, I started to ask them something in French.
Needless to say, I was stuck there all weekend! (For some reason, they neither understood my French or English?)

An important lesson was learnt that day by a self-employed truck driver!
(There was a lot of animosity between the French & Flemish speaking areas of the Nederland's and, possibly, still is?)

 

[Yorick]

Very little needed. I did and passed just, O level French in the 60s. My pronounciation is appalling but enough to show willing. The French recipient of my efforts has been known to ask me to speak English so he can understand me.
Used to be able to get little audio cassettes with titles like 'my holiday French/German/Klingon' which gave some very basic phrases.
Someone posted on here about poor pronounciation when a waitress confused his 'Thank you very much' for 'Thank you nice arse'

Merci beau cul

 

[Widge]

Just get used to listen to French programs. Put French movies on with subtitles, I'm sure you'll improve quickly

If you like police series, spiral is very good, I think all of it is still on iplayer, also on the more4 app under world drama there are many french series, all with english subtitles.

 

[suavecarve]

If you like police series, spiral is very good, I think all of it is still on iplayer, also on the more4 app under world drama there are many french series, all with english subtitles.

Spiral is a great shout, 4OD has a trilogy of Murder by the lake and Murder in the Alps and some other murder or killed in the khazi or something similar which are a good watch as well. Several other ones on there.

 

[Bustup15]

How much French do you need to get by?

A oui bit?

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[Abacist]

Years ago a mate seriously into cycling had a problem with his bike and sat down with his little pocket dictionary to look up what he had to buy. Evidently he ended up asking for tits and nipples and the french did a lot of head scratching and laughing!

I still have my Harrap which is A5 size but about 4 inches thick but gives all the different meanings for words not just the most common.

I had a french exchange student over and when we offered him mint sauce to go on roast lamb he thought we were trying to poison him.

When I went there they asked if I liked pis en lit which was most embarrassing but it turned out that pis en lit is dandelion leaves which we were eating as salad leaves at the time.

 

[AnnieB]

Two more stories about my pathetic attempts to communicate in French.
The first was in a small shop in Paris where I asked ‘c’est combien?’ When trying to buy a bottle of orange juice. The man didn’t understand and did the Gallic shrug so I repeated the question, and again a third time when he said ,in English, ’its 2f 50’ or similar. It was embarrassing and I slunk out the shop hoping I didn’t have to attempt again.

However, years later we stayed in a gîte in northern Brittany in a small hamlet. The farm next door sold milk so up I trot and asked for a bottle and was showed into the kitchen and invited to sit down while they finished milking . At Mass the following morning the farmer was outside and we were treated like long lost friends and introduced to the other people around.

The owner of the gîte was away so we had to reclaim our deposit from his elderly mother next door who spoke no English but invited us in to her kitchen and got out the cherry brandy. So we all sat down round the table and chatted away as best we could. She told us that the English and Canadians were always welcomed in that part because we freed the area in WW2.

 

[Spriddler]

On a motorbike camping tour in pouring rain I came across two elderly ladies in a minor road looking forlorn with a car with a flat tyre which I changed for them. When I mentioned that I was on a camping trip they invited me back to stay with them for two nights, feeding me and showing me around the area.

 

[ChrisSue]

Many years ago a group of us were on a "Beer Festival" weekend staying in Lille. It had been a long overnight journey and we were tired but the hotel wasn't ready so the coach dropped us in the centre of the city for a couple of hours. Off we trot into a cafe for coffee and croissants. We decided on a second round with a brandy awakened and sent one of they guys to order as he had a French girlfriend. He ordered the six coffees in impressive French and then turned to us and asked "er what's French for Cognac?"

 

[namwaldog]

When I went there they asked if I liked pis en lit which was most embarrassing but it turned out that pis en lit is dandelion leaves which we were eating as salad leaves at the time.

This paragraph rekindled something from my childhood.....

We used to call dandelions "pissy beds" ! I think the French word for bed is 'lit'.

I wonder if it is another "French" phrase that was brought back by soldiers from the war?

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