Combien francais avez-vous besoin a parler ?

[shakebear]

Un petit chose: Je suis desolee pour n'ai pas les accents, mais c'est un peu difficile quand vous ne utilise pas un ordinateur francaise..

Alors, mon question est ca:

Combien francais avez-vous besoin a parler ? Je presque aise, mais ne pas completement.

Pensez-vous je suis bon?

[mulan1]

si tu peut parler francais comme ca, c'est tres bien!
my french is majorly rusty but i think that mine is understandable lol, you probably wouldn't need very much french, but its been said they like you to make an effort when you are in their country which is very respectable i think.

[Cyrano]

Hi shakebear and welcome to DLP DIS board :wave2:
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each :goodvibes

If you have not had a look yet, posting guidelines can be found here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm) and details regarding help on signatures here (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=976007)

As others have reported CM's speak English so you'll have no problem even if you do not speak French. Even those that try to test their linguistic skills will find that CM's reply in English since it is quicker :)

[bavaria]

language settings on keyboards can be changed - trust me, when you work internationally you get quite good at it!

I speak very decent French and had no issues working in Paris for a month. Nobody ever corrected me or asked me to repeat myself except one surly metro ticket seller.

Then I arrived at DLRP and the CMs insisted on speaking English even when I told them in French that it was not required. Frankly, I know that they are trying to be helpful, but as a German I found it insulting that they would assume that everyone speaks English.....

On a related note, one thing which Americans don't seem to realize is that in many Europe countries it is considered impolite not to greet the staff when entering a shop as in 'Bonjour, madame'. And in French, it is best to say 'merci monsieur' etc rather than just 'merci'

[jillrobinson]

"Mon Français est effroyable, heureusement chaque anglais de CM's est meilleur que lui. Svp et merci sont mes limites et ceci a été traduit par l'intermédiaire du babelfish d'Altavista"

I can't even imagine how that translates when done properly.
Your french assuming it's your own work, is much, much better than mine, but quite honestly although I encourage the children to use French and do try myself, I usually get the response "English ?" and then they proceed to put me to shame. You need little or no knowledge of the French language to visit DLRP but I do think it's common courtesy to attempt to use their language.:goodvibes

[mulan1]

Aw, I was really looking forward to making a fool of myself with my dodgy a-level french (which isn't very good!)
Hmm, will have to settle with some merci and s'il vous plait s then:rotfl:

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

I think your French is great!!

I speak French (did it at A Level) and at first I tried to practice my French on them, but when they saw I spoke English, they just replied in English - I guess they wanted to practice too!!

[bavaria]

Jill, the translation software muddled things up a little in the middle there, but I understood what you were saying! ;)

Quite often it is syntax which gives away a non-native speaker. My English syntax sometimes becomes garbled when I post here, although I am fluent.

I quite surprised a CM at WDW a few weeks ago. I had met a CM from Tirol, and he was excited to speak his native German rather than Italian (he works in the Italy pavilion in Epcot). We chatted for quite some time, then I moved on to the DVC booth and wanted to change my appointment.

I asked the CM there twice 'is it possible for the time to change please' before I realized that he had no clue as to what I wanted, due to my very confused syntax! :rotfl:

[Dimplenose]

I didn't even have to open my mouth for the CM to speak to me in English. We must have a definite English look. I only saw a CM get it wrong once - he tried to speak to a French woman in English (admittedly she was wearing a fleece almost identical to my M&S one!)

Libby

[jillrobinson]

On a related note, one thing which Americans don't seem to realize is that in many Europe countries it is considered impolite not to greet the staff when entering a shop as in 'Bonjour, madame'. And in French, it is best to say 'merci monsieur' etc rather than just 'merci'

I personally adore that, I love the "Bonjour, madame" and "Au rrevoir madame" in the shops - it makes me feel special, we could do with a little more of that in the UK.:)

[jillrobinson]

I didn't even have to open my mouth for the CM to speak to me in English. We must have a definite English look. I only saw a CM get it wrong once - he tried to speak to a French woman in English (admittedly she was wearing a fleece almost identical to my M&S one!)

Libby

Last year at the NPB the CM guessed at my being Spanish, the only time any CM has got it wrong.:)

[bavaria]

I was wearing American jeans, Italian shoes, French scarf and a peacoat from the UK. The ticket taker guessed - 'Italian?' I also had the same guess another day when I was wearing a suede skirt, black tights and Italian loafers, and a black sweater with the required French scarf.

But I look REALLY German in my facial features if there is such a thing.

[shakebear]

language settings on keyboards can be changed - trust me, when you work internationally you get quite good at it!


I actually use a laptop, so it's a little harder for me, i usually just use ctrl+__ codes for Word, but that doesnt work here, so ..
Do you have any tips for laptops ?

[bavaria]

I personally adore that, I love the "Bonjour, madame" and "Au rrevoir madame" in the shops - it makes me feel special, we could do with a little more of that in the UK.:)

Jill, I feel so RUDE in America not calling out a greeting when I enter a shop, but everyone else in the shop including the sales people think that that I am crazy when I call out 'good morning' on entering and 'thank you' on leaving... :rotfl:

And here's a hint for anyone trying out their school French - using the subjunctive makes you sound so much smarter than you really are! ;)

[bavaria]

I actually use a laptop, so it's a little harder for me, i usually just use ctrl+__ codes for Word, but that doesnt work here, so ..
Do you have any tips for laptops ?

control panel
regional and language options
text services and input languagese
settings


hope that helps - from then on you should be able to change the language in the task bar at the bottom right from one to another

[mulan1]

uf, i had really hoped to practise(or is it practice?) my french, maybe in la vallee shopping centre i can have a go??:rotfl:
:rolleyes1

[bavaria]

in smaller shops and patisseries etc you won't get that automatic assumption that you can only speak English.

I frankly got a little frustrated at DLRP and told a few ppl that it was rude when I was speaking to them in almost fluent French and they insisted on breaking into really really poor English. I told them 'you can speak French to me, or failing that German please.....' I know that they are trying to be helpful, but when I can't understand a word of their broken English it is very difficult....

[bavaria]

I DID meet one CM who was really struggling to answer me in French; I said in French 'do I detect a Dutch accent?' and she was sooooo relieved and said 'YES!' I offered that she could speak in English to me (knowing that almost every Dutch person is fluent in English!) and she was almost in tears.

It was her first official night on the job and she told me that her French was so poor and she was frightened that she would get into trouble. I felt really bad for her but she was happy to speak English, and really pleased that I had recognized the Dutch lilt to her French.

[jillrobinson]

I take my hat off to all the CM's I've met - their English far supercedes any French I could attempt.
Bavaria - as a Practice Manager/receptionist I'm very much used to being pleasant to people all day and greeting our patients with a Good Morning, Good day etc. maybe it's because of this I appreciate it so much when it's returned.
You hang in there - maybe between us we can get the world to be more polite to each other and where better to start than shops :thumbsup2

We have a real problem with "subjunctives" in the UK, very little usage I'm afraid - I just about understand their place in the English language, I think I'd be really stretching it to attempt their use in my French.:confused3

[shakebear]

bump:)

[tttessa]

We go to my family (retired to the Charente region) before we go to Disney on the "way home" and have realised that "French" is definitely NOT just one language!!!
The accent, the words, the syntax all change depending where you are and how old the person is you are talking to!! Very few people in the rural region we go to speak English (or even French as I know it! :rolleyes: ) Luckily they all seem to understand "schoolgirl" french spoken verrrrrrry slowwwwwwly - though the chance of me understanding the reply varies somewhat!:confused3.

Disney "French" seems easy by comparson - do they have the equivalent of "Queens English"?? We always try to start in French (politeness..) but invariably the CM will slip into English along the way (probably think it is polite too...)
So, I don't think you need to be able to speak French -though if you are driving there it helps! I still remember trying to mime drinking straw (paille) to a very bemused garage attendant on the way:rotfl:

Tessa

[crim1978]

Really quite looking forward to the french speaking part of our trips. We are off to Paris this weekend and then DLRP in November and will "attempt" to speak french as much as possible.

Thought I would share two quick funnies that I have had with French people and language:

Firstly a non DLRP related one - My cousin lives in Paris with a French guy and on our first meeting with him I spoke in my best English and French and on both occasions my cousin repeated what I said to her BF in English again and he understood her straight away but couldn't understand me at all.

Secondly in DLRP, my BIL approached Santa on his sleigh and said "bonjour" to which Santa replied "Hello mate are you from Nottingham or Derby"

I guess our accents give us away far more than we think.