Nev - your assistance please

Nev, thought I'd give you the chance to stitch me up good and proper - I'm looking for hints and tips

I have a week in a Paris apartment in early August with my family. I haven't been to France since I was 13 and I have no French whatsoever. Should I be worried?

Frantic of East Kilbride

I'm not Nev but buy a French Dictionary and a French Phrase Book...should cover you for your visit.

Bien sur, monsieur.

TBH I spend very little time in Paris.
They speak funny and put "euh"
at the end of everything they say.


One things for sure in August you'll
only be speaking to foreigners, as all the
Parisians'll be down here.



PS bookwise this is the one I bought after
deciding I was moving here:

Amazon.co.uk: Breakthrough French 1: Euro Edition (Euro Book & CD): Stephanie Rybak: Books

(It had cassettes in my day)

Don't forget our wonderful Beeb:

BBC - Languages - French

Originally Posted by Nev

PS bookwise this is the one I bought after
deciding I was moving here:

Amazon.co.uk: Breakthrough French 1: Euro Edition (Euro Book & CD): Stephanie Rybak: Books

(It had cassettes in my day)

Flippin' 'eck - that book's £26 Might be better than being looked on as something stuck to the sole of a shoe though

Originally Posted by Nev

Don't forget our wonderful Beeb:

BBC - Languages - French

Good call

Originally Posted by Fraser

Flippin' 'eck - that book's £26 Might be better than being looked on as something stuck to the sole of a shoe though

Yeah not cheap. But that is with CDs.

That Beeb course may be just what you need.

Before living here I got by with a Collins(Pah Murdoch)
pocket dictionary.

Amazon.co.uk: French Dictionary (Collins GEM)

Everyone says that the Parisiennes are hard to get on with.

I have GCE (as was) "O" level French from 1968. I am a crap French speaker - but I try.

Yes - I get me le's and me la's mixed up. Yes - Parisiens point this out - BUT - they are a great people with a sense of humour. Don't be arrogant but don't be intimidated either and you will do just fine.

I worked in London for years and got out at Victoria. Walking out of Gare du Nord I feel just as at home AND I have only been there 5 times.

Enjoy.

Paul.

Cheers Nev. My wife's found a small glossy sheet in the supermarket of all places called "Pidgeon....French). I think one is published for the more common languages so I guess it will be some sort of help.

Think I'll set my daughter on the BBC pages though sinces whe's doing nothing else at the moment.

Originally Posted by PaulR

Enjoy.

Paul.

Thanks Paul - I will. I'm really looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by PaulR

I have GCE (as was) "O" level French from 1968. I am a crap French speaker - but I try.

I got a 'U'

I dropped it before my O level, despite Miss Boyd

Originally Posted by Nev

I got a 'U'

No need to brag.


I was (not so much now) Ok speaking it but rubbish writing it.

Many years after leaving school we had an au pair. Believe it or not, in the 1980's it was cheaper than organised child care. Anyway Carole invited her parents over for the weekend - they spoke no English at all.

I thought I did OK - I spent the whole evening talking to her father in French.

Afterwards Carole told me that her father thought my accent was very French (I began to glow with pride) but it was unfortunate that I spoke nonsense.

(Better than his non English though).

Paul.

Originally Posted by PaulR

I was (not so much now) Ok speaking it but rubbish writing it.

Me too.
That's why it pays to butter up secretaries.

BTW 'U' means It was so bad they didn't bother
marking it.

Originally Posted by Nev

BTW 'U' means It was so bad they didn't bother
marking it.

No it doesn't. It means it was so bad they couldn't mark it.

If you master the Gallic shoulder shrug Fraser, you'll be 9/10ths of the way to being taken for a native.

You should start practising now as you'll probably never have used these muscles in the UK. Sudden use could result in severe muscle spasm and totally ruin your holiday.

If in doubt take H & S advice from Happy Man.

Shame you're missing Saturday Lesley - could do with some coaching

I'm sorry to miss Saturday too. but I'll be there the following weekend for sure.

When I lived in France I was told by a Frenchman that I was totally bilingual - in body language at least.

The phrases you need are:

Belle caisse! "Lovely looking car!" (Body work)
Combien de chevaux? "How many horses?"
Il y a beaucoup de meufes ici. "They are lots of birds here."

Originally Posted by Nev

BTW 'U' means It was so bad they didn't bother
marking it.

I know - it means "unclassified" (I was only joking).