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messaline said:
Yes, for me, all English people were looking like him ...:p



Perhaps it's coming from English language ?


But for you, English language is practically used like the French'one, isn't it ?
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It's probably what we call an anglicism with the youth learning English at a younger age than my generation.
And with internet opening a wider world.

I did learn to read and understand English as a teenager because of my passion at the time for cars with the help of "Car and Driver" and "Motor Trend" magazine and a Webster dictionary!

And at the same time my parents did get cable TV:with all those American channel that did open a whole new world to me (i had to understand what they were saying being a curious person:)

As for speaking it i had to live for a couple of month to an English speaking Province to practice all that theoretical knowledge.

How can somebody get a 12 pack of beer if you don't know how to ask for it!
 
hornet1ba said:
As for speaking it i had to live for a couple of month to an English speaking Province to practice all that theoretical knowledge.
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There really is a world of difference between reading and speaking another language! As I said in an earlier post, I've read quite a few French classics and I actually have a much wider vocabulary than our daughter, who earned a minor in French at college. I had practically zero French until I was about 43 years old, started taking it in an adult education class and was good at it. Then I actually spent some time in France and got to use it. My problem now is that I don't get much practice speaking it.
 
messaline said:
Certainly ! I'm better and better in understanding written English , but nearly unable to understand a spoken conversation ! ...excepted perhaps when it's a French who is speaking ...:D
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My French teacher's first language was French and he really beat the pronunciation into us. As a result, I was told that my accent was pretty good when I had conversations with people in France. Makes a lot of difference when you're trying to communicate and with the attitudes of the people you're trying to communicate with.
 
messaline said:
Are French people not pleasant with foreigners ?:D
... if yes, you were not meeting me, Jedakk ... ;)
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I personally have a lot of good memories of people I met in France. I remember sitting on the porch and drinking beer in Mittelhausbergen near Strasbourg with the couple who owned the gite we had rented. We passed an English/French dictionary back and forth while we talked about life in Saudi Arabia, farming in Alsace, etc. I had just started learning French then. Later I called them and was able to speak French well enough by then to rent their neighbor's apartment in Tignes where we went skiing.

And then there was the young couple in a gasoline station in Clermont-Ferrand. I walked in and said, "Je suis absolument perdu! Pouvez-vous m'aider? And they got a map out and patiently showed me where I was and how to get where I needed to go.

As I think about it I have so many good memories of people who went out of their way to be friendly and help us when they really didn't have to.
 
jedakk said:
I personally have a lot of good memories of people I met in France. I remember sitting on the porch and drinking beer in Mittelhausbergen near Strasbourg with the couple who owned the gite we had rented. We passed an English/French dictionary back and forth while we talked about life in Saudi Arabia, farming in Alsace, etc. I had just started learning French then. Later I called them and was able to speak French well enough by then to rent their neighbor's apartment in Tignes where we went skiing.

And then there was the young couple in a gasoline station in Clermont-Ferrand. I walked in and said, "Je suis absolument perdu! Pouvez-vous m'aider? And they got a map out and patiently showed me where I was and how to get where I needed to go.

As I think about it I have so many good memories of people who went out of their way to be friendly and help us when they really didn't have to.
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I can read Spanish pretty well (National Geographic en Espan~ol), I can read Der Spiegel pretty well (only have to look up a word once in a while), and while I don't read French regularly, I did read and understand La Nausee et La Peste. I can get by in French. But, I have no one to speak with, and I really worry about what I might say when I'm translating in my head (not to mention my accents). The classic example is when the US Postal Service wanted to say "you don't have to be embarrassed to ask for help" in Spanish, and used "embarazado" (should be "embarazada", pregnant). One always worries. A friend of mine who to this day speaks English with a horrible Chinese accent after over 30 years in the country once wnated to say "ads" and it came out "AIDS". I'm kind of a sociophobe anyway, so I think I'll just stick to reading.
 
Frank Petrexa said:
The classic example is when the US Postal Service wanted to say "you don't have to be embarrassed to ask for help" in Spanish, and used "embarazado" (should be "embarazada", pregnant).
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Another great example was the Chevrolet Nova. GM was puzzled by the poor sales in Latin America until someone pointed out what "no va" means in Spanish. They renamed it and it sold just fine.:D
 
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