French

[Couture]

Does anyone speak French well?

 

[Guest]

Nyet.

Perdita

 

[rgraham666]

Just enough to get my face slapped.

 

[Guest]

Does anyone speak French well?

Non, un petit puex (and I know I probably spelt that wrong. )

Lou

 

[Bridget69]

I do. It's my mother tongue.

 

[gauchecritic]

Just enough to get my face slapped.

Well it can't be all that difficult, there's millions of children over there that can.

 

[shereads]

The parrot of my grandmother is with the pencil in your automobile.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Uh, "No spechen ze duetch," but my tongue is willing to learn new things.

 

[Guest]

Hey, Couture, sorry about all the kidding (I seem to have started it). Ogg speaks French very well (though not as well as his wife he'll tell you), try PMing him. P.

 

[Guest]

Je Vais M'acheter des bas!

Regardez-moi cette belle brune!

Il etait, celui qui a invente ce truc-la.

Tu es bien gentil de dire ca.

 

[cantdog]

CV's got it down. I can do French, but a native speaker is the one you want, every time. Grab Bridget while she's feeling generous!

 

[carsonshepherd]

Je Vais M'acheter des bas!

Regardez-moi cette belle brune!

Il etait, celui qui a invente ce truc-la.

Tu es bien gentil de dire ca.

Hey! I can still read some of that.

Five years of French not entirely down the toilet.

 

[TheEarl]

Oui, je peut parler Francais, mais, avec rien de pratiquez, maintenant il ya un petit peux mal. Je doit pense pres-que je parle.

Le Marquis

The Earl

 

[cantdog]

Hey! I can still read some of that.

Five years of French not entirely down the toilet.

I taught it. Parents came to me to say they saw no utility, since everyone always forgets their high school language.

But it's perfectly fine to forget your high school French, so long as you do manage to hang on to the example which it provides. It demonstrates a lesson so many Americans never learn-- that there is another way to do things, another approach to life, other modes of thinking, which are not the American ways and modes. And that they work perfectly well for the people who employ them.

For me, this is the entire point of high school French. If you actually use it, bonus.

cantdog

 

[carsonshepherd]

For me, this is the entire point of high school French. If you actually use it, bonus.

cantdog

For awhile I actually did use it. When I was a pastry chef I worked for a french family. They spoke French to each other, with no idea that I understood some of what they said, if it was basic. Enough to get the gist. I startled the crap out of them one day when they were talking about about lazy Americans by answering them in French. They were always careful around me after that, even though I rarely bothered to pay attention to what they said.

My grandmother was a french teacher. The thing I like about learning another language is just what you said, it teaches your mind to think a different way. In my honors French course in college we were not allowed to speak English; so we really had to struggle to express ourselves in French with words and grammar we knew. I ended up with an A in French and an D in English (too boring!)

 

[cantdog]

Well then! A pastry chef. Heh! Blanc mange is often compared to semen, but they're wrong. It would need a vaguely salty, musky, maybe even smoky? flavor underneath, although the egginess is right, and a more colloidal texture.

Your cum-flavored ice cream remark set me to thinking.

What ideas do you have?

 

[cantdog]

Never mind the threadjack. I read you in the ice cream one. Scrub it.

On to the next thing, I suppose!

 

[carsonshepherd]

I was drunk last night when I made that post. It surprised me this morning when someone mentioned it, I was like, "What did I say now?!?!"

 

[Couture]

Showoffs

 

[oggbashan]

Do I speak French?

Er... depends on the definition of 'French'.

I caused hilarity in Boulogne yesterday. I speak 18th century French with an Australian accent. The lady in the tourist information office agreed that it would be better if we both spoke English. My wife was teasing me by not saying a word.

Do I write French?

Yes. Without the accent but I tend to write like a 19th century professor. (Haughty look for anyone who suggests that my English is like that too.)

Can I get dialogue translated into reasonably modern French?

Yes, through my wife. 21st century slang might be a problem and torrid sex scenes might embarrass her knowledge of colloquial expressions - anything else could be possible.

Og

 

[Guest]

it sucks being uni-lingual. wasn't allowed to take a language in highschool because i was put on the fast track to the business world...see? things back then were really screwy.

its a goal to learn another language besides vella-ese one day. spanish would most likely be the one but my daughter is writing songs in french so some of it is rubbing off on me...
she wrote the french in my sig line...dont know if i got it right, but i thought it would be worth a shot.
does anyone know if i did?
would love the imput.

 

[impressive]

it sucks being uni-lingual.

Indeed. Quite.

Two years of Spanish in high school, plus four semesters in college ... and I still sucketh majorly (that's muy mucho sucko).

French is so fucking sexy -- written or spoken.

Of course, any language (even pig Latin) murmured against the skin just beneath my ear will make me weak in the knees.

 

[oggbashan]

I'll have an attempt. Word order is important, as it is in English.

J’ai tant révé de toi tu que perds ta realité. Je t’aime.

It depends what you think it should mean.

I read it as "I have dreamt of you so much [implied full stop] You that loses your reality. I love you."

That doesn't sound French, but French in songs has different rules.

'tu que' I think should be 'tu qui' = 'toi'. 'you that' is not correct. 'you who' or just 'you' would be better. So 'Tu/Toi perds ta realité' or ''Tu/Toi perds la realité'

'J'ai toi tant révé que tu perds ta realité' means 'I have dreamt of you so much that you lose your reality.' = You are becoming a dream person, not the real you.

'J'ai toi tant révé que je perd ma realité' means 'I have dreamt of you so much that I am losing my sense/grasp of reality.' = I've lost it!

Hope that helps.

A native speaker would be better!

Og

PS. I'll check with my wife and correct if necessary.

Edited for PPS: Checked with wife.

'que' is WRONG and not French. It could be:

J'ai tant révé de toi. Toi qui (or just 'Tu') perds ta realité. Je t'aime.

or more likely because the 'ta' is too much.

J'ai tant révé de toi. Toi qui (or just 'Tu') perds la realité. Je t'aime.


Both could mean:

I have dreamt so much of you. You who are losing your grip on reality. I love you. = You are spaced out and don't know who or where you are.

I have dreamt so much of you. You who are turning into a dream. I love you. = I'm spaced out (on you) and don't know the real you from the dream.

I'm not sure that either are what you intended to convey.

 

[Couture]

Oggs, what is the French word for masturbation or one who masturbates?

 

[oggbashan]

Couture,

I need to consult my Dictionary of French Slang. Until then:

Common use with French kids just the other side of the Channel is:

'Wanker' as a verb.

and

'Wanker' as a noun.

The perfidious influence of the English!

Og