How long did it take you to learn french ?
Oct 3rd 2008, 6:18 am
#47
RETIRED ;-))
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Benalmadena Pueblo,Spain
Posts: 20,156
Oct 3rd 2008, 8:16 am
#48
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,987
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Fascinates me too Brenda. That's why we went down to carcassonne a few weeks ago. Especially after reading 'Labyrinth' by Kate Mosse. It's a ripping good yarn, and tells the tale of the original Inquisition (nothing to do with nice red uniforms...). Read it, and you'll be entranced by life in the middle ages in the south, in the Pays d'Oc....the country of Oc, NOT France!
Oct 3rd 2008, 4:14 pm
#50
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Collioure, nr Perpignan
Posts: 403
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Am looking for a good read Le Chant so I will try that one, thanks.
Stanage2, the sound is more like an a.
Stanage2, the sound is more like an a.
Oct 3rd 2008, 4:31 pm
#51
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,094
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Oct 3rd 2008, 4:37 pm
#52
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Collioure, nr Perpignan
Posts: 403
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Have I started yet? Wey! LOL. No, am waiting til I get back from England in two weeks and she finishes her shifts working on the little train in Collioure for the summer.
She is a lovely lady and I am sure she'll have room for more.
She is a lovely lady and I am sure she'll have room for more.
Oct 5th 2008, 7:01 pm
#53
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: i am here
Posts: 825
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Either, im free!
Oct 5th 2008, 8:38 pm
#55
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Collioure, nr Perpignan
Posts: 403
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Sadly she ain't moose, she's married!
Oct 5th 2008, 9:29 pm
#56
Grey Bombshell
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: La Feuillee, Brittany
Posts: 1,441
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
Hang on a minute - Kate Moss has written a book? Sweet Jesus, it comes to something when models have to resort to that sort of thing - did Rimmel get some sort of brain in gear at last or what? Presumably we now have the humongous pleasure of reading more pearls of wisdom - I am still getting over Jordan's tome of maturity and command of the iambic pentameter ......
Oct 6th 2008, 5:21 am
#57
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,987
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
A more mature Kate Mosse with an 'e', I'm afraid Andy. This one has definitely got the hang of the iambic pentameter! 
Oct 8th 2008, 2:52 pm
#58
Just Joined
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Montpellier
Posts: 22
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
A good way to learn French is on the building sites but as with UK building sites the language can be too colourful it does guarantee a wide variety of accents to bend your ears around however.
I did this AND a 5 week course to get a bit of self confidence in the language going.
I did this AND a 5 week course to get a bit of self confidence in the language going.
Oct 8th 2008, 2:55 pm
#59
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: i am here
Posts: 825
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
A good way to learn French is on the building sites but as with UK building sites the language can be too colourful it does guarantee a wide variety of accents to bend your ears around however.
I did this AND a 5 week course to get a bit of self confidence in the language going.
I did this AND a 5 week course to get a bit of self confidence in the language going.
Oct 8th 2008, 3:30 pm
#60
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: In a pretty little village near Thiviers off the N21
Posts: 426
Re: How long did it take you to learn french ?
In case of doubt here are a few earthier terms which you don't usually find in the language courses but which might get you into - or out of - a jam.
merde - shit
putain - whore but used where we might use bitch, not for polite company but builders, people in bars use it frequently. Confusingly it is also the word for a full stop grammatically.
punaise - used as a politer substitute for the above
baiser is a kiss as a noun but to use it as a verb is to f*** someone. (The asterisks are not for your sensibilities but to get this past the censors.)
jouir is to come in the orgasmic sense
Tais toi - shut up is used very frequently almost in a sense of 'what do you know about things?'
Un escroc/ escroquerie con man/ confidence trick
Quelle conn/ connerie What nonsense/ foolishness/idiocy
Nom de Dieu for goodness sake
Often the phrases are repeated for emphasis e.g. Tais toi, tais toi
No doubt other forum members can add their own local variants
