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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
yes, i remember all the important words. i also remember der Wein and das Bier for instance.  and also liebchen and "alles gute zum geburtstag". oh, and "wo ist die siegesaule bitte ?" very important.
also key phrases ! but if you say that in french, you will get the bathtub. you should say "où sont les WC ?" |
Wine should be important to learn in any language, you being French
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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
no, it's pronounced like "vé-cé" (sort of like vey-sey to the accent-impaired).
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Ah, the same as in Dutch, should remember that...
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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
pfff ! funny story. i really wonder what the waitress thought she was asking, at first. |
Same here...
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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
i can't speak for everybody living here, but personally i find it really annoying when tourists don't make even the slightest effort to understand the different culture and adapt to the fact they are in a different country. they don't have to speak french perfectly, but if they are going to ask directions (or whatever) from a french person, the very least they can do is learn to say "bonjour", "s'il vous plaît" and "merci", it's really not that hard. it's like, when you go to italy, at the very least you learn to say "buon giornio," "dove," "grazie," "per favore". after that you'll find most people are very friendly and glad to help. i think that's true anywhere in fact. actually if a rude tourist comes up to me and starts bellowing in english i pretend i don't understand him and keep walking.  but i have a low tolerance for rudeness, and being a tourist is really no excuse. on the other hand, if a tourist is trying to speak to me in french and clearly having a really difficult time, i will ask them if they prefer to speak in english. i appreciate that they tried. |
And that's why I don't go to France. I don't speak one word of French (those three years of French at high school were waisted on me...) I did learn on key phrase though:
Je ne parle pas Francais, vous parlez Anglais?
Don't mind the spelling, spelling isn't important when you're speaking
But, at least I think I'm being polite by using the polite form of you...
My German is passable though, but that's mostly because it looks a lot like Dutch and I often go to Switzerland (the German speaking part).
Btw, what you say about not even trying: I went interrailing once and we went to Copenhagen (that's in Denmark, for those geographically challenged amongst us). There was an interrail desk there, that was serviced by Danish students, who wanted to help those interrrailers through their beautiful city. Now, the Danish speak good English, maybe some German, but most certainly not French. So, we went there, and there were these three French guys. Who only spoke French and even when the person sitting behind the counter said he didn't speak French, they kept on talking in French...