A tale of the trials and tribulations, and many misunderstandings encountered while trying to learn to speak French, and converse ..
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MORE FAUX PAS IN FRANCE
Published on 2009-08-30 16:09:00
So, there I was, on my own, over in France one autumn, to do some work on our holiday home.As usual, having finished work and had a quick shower, I was in the quietest bar in the town having a couple of strong Belgium lagers before returning to the house to cook my supper. It is so quite this bar, especially compared with the couple of others in town, that I often wondered how it survived. Of the couple who owned it, the wife was always there serving during the day, and the husband only ap
HOW NOT TO GET YOUR TENT FIXED IN FRANCE.
Published on 2009-08-28 05:11:00
Towards the end of the seventies, I was on a camping trip in France with my future wife when we discovered that our tent had started leaking at the seams. It had rained for most of the week, so action was called for.With the help of the trusty English French Dictionary we concocted the phrase "avez vous quelque chose rendre ma tente imperméable à l'eau?" (Have you anything to make my tent waterproof), at least, that's what we hoped it meant anyway.Later, in a huge department store, I caught th
A FAUX PAS IN FRANCE.
Published on 2009-08-26 07:08:00
To completely misquote the well known Biblical phrase: 'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for an old man to learn to speak French.'I had been visiting France for many, years and, to my shame, had learnt only a smattering of useful phrases such as: 'A beer if you please,' and, 'Where are the toilets?'; the second question being a necessary adjunct to the first if you had used the former too freely.As a young man and a student, 'A beer if you please,' might ha
