French Attitude

the authentic russell points out his dirty nose

"grusl" a écrit dans le message de
...
On Sep 27, 7:06 pm, "Runge12" wrote:
No need to tell us all about your private life


**** off you ignorant troll

Surreyman wrote on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:55:37 -0700 (PDT):


Or just learn some basic Fench for a few weeks prior. It's no
great problem to be able to enable a simple conversation.

I admire your apparent ability to learn a language quickly. Some of us
are just not that good. Even after 5 years of French in British schools,
tho' I read French well enough, I could only sustain a short basic
conversation. Mostly, people took pity on me in France and switched to
their *much* better English.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" kirjoitti
...
Surreyman wrote on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:55:37 -0700 (PDT):


Or just learn some basic Fench for a few weeks prior. It's no
great problem to be able to enable a simple conversation.

I admire your apparent ability to learn a language quickly. Some of us are
just not that good. Even after 5 years of French in British schools, tho'
I read French well enough, I could only sustain a short basic
conversation. Mostly, people took pity on me in France and switched to
their *much* better English.

BBC published a study a few years back which stated among other things that
an average Englishman has an active vocabulary of ten (10) words in a
language he/she studied at school. Not much for a conversation in any
foreign language. Not even for survival at dinner table.

"MarkofAus" wrote in message
...
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard to
correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned
about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the use
of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers.

Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their language
to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French
countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general
anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big
questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing.

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

-- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to
--

Mark

As some of the other replies have indicated if you but try to speak a bit of
French and greet everyone (more or less) correctly you will find the average
French person will go out of their way to make themselves understood and to
help.
In my various visits to France (the latest early this year) I have found
that to be the case. Mind you I often told a person I was dealing with that
I am Australian. Many times this resulted in an interest in Australia - and
a consequent enquiry of where in Oz, etc.
I was also there during the Sydney Olympics and most people wanted to know
why I wasn't there. Telling them that Sydney was some 4000km from home in
Perth brought understanding.

Once again you must really try to speak some French and the people will love
you for trying.

Gerrit - Oz (Perth)

On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:38:36 +0300, Markku Grönroos wroteÂ*:

BBC published a study a few years back which stated among other things
that an average Englishman has an active vocabulary of ten (10) words in
a language he/she studied at school. Not much for a conversation in any
foreign language. Not even for survival at dinner table.

French people are now much more able to speak some english than it was
some decades ago. Not because school is better, but because they are much
more exposed to english language and have more opportunities to speak
than it was before. Nevertheless, in general, do not expect people you
meet in the street to understand you perfectly and don't imagine they
will have the words to answer you easily.

English speaking people have the luck to have much more chance to meet
somebody that will have some knowledge of their language than any other
other speaker.

You will have no time to learn the dozen of european langages before you
come to Europe, just as European have no time to learn the dozen of
chinese dialects when they go to China. Stick to english, but be prepared
to some difficulties. Meeting something different is what you look for
when traveling.

"Surreyman" wrote in message
...
On 27 Sep, 11:46, "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk
wrote:
"MarkofAus" wrote in message

...

Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard
to
correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned
about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the
use
of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers.

Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their
language
to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French
countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general
anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big
questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing.

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

The French place great importance on being polite. If you strike them as
rude, they will be unhelpful but if you come over as polite, they are a
very
friendly people. One of the most important things is to greet them
properly.
Always greet people when you meet them, even if it is passing meeting
with
someone you will never see again, say at a supermarket checkout. Say
bonjour
monsieur or bonjour madame, rather than just bonjour and if you walk into
a
small shop, greet everyone as you enter - bonjour messieurs dames is the
correct greeting if both men and women are present. Shaking hands is also
important if you are introduced to someone or have business with them.
Once
you have made even a small effort, you can ask if they speak English. A
lot
of French do speak English, but they are often reluctant to do so,
because
they think they don't speak it well enough. If they don't, they will do
their best to work out what you want. When I bought a house in a French
village, I went to introduce myself to the mayor, another important
politeness. He was a former English teacher and spoke the language
extremely
well, but still apologised for being less than fluent.

Colin Bignell

Or just learn some basic Fench for a few weeks prior. It's no great
problem to be able to enable a simple conversation.


Understanding the reply at that level of competence may be problematic. Even
with French at a level where I am quite happy to converse entirely in
French, I don't always immediately understand what is being said to me in
reply.

Colin Bignell

perhaps you homosexual don't mind to tamper your taglines



"Gregory Morrow" kirjoitti
...

grusl wrote:

On Sep 27, 7:06 pm, "Runge12" wrote:
No need to tell us all about your private life


**** off you ignorant troll
----------------

GM replies:

BWAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA......!!!!!!!!

;-D

--
Best
Greg

" I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim
that
we are some
kind of comedy team turns my stomach."
- "cybercat" to me on rec.food.coo

here comes another monkey.
Isn't it early for you morrow ??
You haven't even washed (as usual)

"Gregory Morrow" a écrit dans le message de
...

grusl wrote:

On Sep 27, 7:06 pm, "Runge12" wrote:
No need to tell us all about your private life


**** off you ignorant troll
----------------

GM replies:

BWAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA......!!!!!!!!

;-D

--
Best
Greg

" I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim
that
we are some
kind of comedy team turns my stomach."
- "cybercat" to me on rec.food.coo

grusl wrote:

On Sep 27, 7:06 pm, "Runge12" wrote:
No need to tell us all about your private life


**** off you ignorant troll
----------------

GM replies:

BWAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA......!!!!!!!!

;-D

--
Best
Greg

" I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim that
we are some
kind of comedy team turns my stomach."
- "cybercat" to me on rec.food.coo

Runge12 blabbled:

Yes ignorance is a terrible thing and you shouldn't believe in father
Xmas.
Duh.


Paris is nice and the peoples there are perfectly hospitable, not all are
like the odious "scRunge"...


--
Best
Greg

" I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim that
we are some
kind of comedy team turns my stomach."
- "cybercat" to me on rec.food.cooki


"MarkofAus" a écrit dans le message de
...
Living a long way from Europe, one hears various things which are hard
to
correlate. As a first time visitor to France next year I am concerned
about stories that French service is proudly stubborn in regard to the
use
of the French language in their dealings with non-French speakers.

Will staff use any English if I am unintentionally chewing their
language
to pieces? Is there more understanding to be enjoyed in the French
countryside perhaps? Does the language issue underscore general
anti-Anglo/British sentiment? Is Paris going to be a headache? Big
questions I know. Ignorance is a tres terrible thing.

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

-- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to
--