I don't speak the lingo!

[Brakers]

Hi all you MH’ers
As I’ve said in another post recently, I’m thinking of going abroad next year, to that end I’ve bought a course in learning French but I’m finding it really difficult, the old saying comes to mind “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” so I was thinking of looking into buying a electronic language translator, the question is has anybody ever used one of these and are they any good.

Or should I just point to what I want hold my fingers up for the amount I want in shops and hand over my wallet for them to take the correct money?

I await you intelligent response.

Many Thanks Tony

 

[The Wino]

Just try and do your best and smile try more to speak what you can everytime you go you will enjoy it forget the translator thing buy more wine!!!

 

[two]

Just look helpless (I'm sure you could do that )
I've seen others use a phone app that you dictate into and it responds with the translation. The foreigner can then respond back into the phone and you'll get the English. I've always managed to get by though (looking helpless but remaining friendly and doing my best).

 

[Sundowners]

We have Google translate, you say what you want to say in English, it then translates and says it in French, lazy I know, but sometimes needs must, it takes a lot of stress out of it, but it also helps you to pronounce it correctly.

 

[Brakers]

Just look helpless (I'm sure you could do that

Looking helpless, now that's something I'm good at in fact I don't have to even try I've helpless inbread is what my X wife said, or was it hopeless!

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[Riverbankannie]

Google translate is a free phone app. You can download the language you might need so that you do not need a data connection to use it. I downloaded it to go to Germany and, although I came across many people who couldn't speak English, I didn't use it as always managed some sort of communication even if only nods and smiles. I will keep it on my phone as a useful backup.

 

[Allanm]

You will get more respect if try your best to speak the language.
Use a phrase book or translate app and practice what you want to say before you need to say it.
Of course, if you pronounce it well and sound confident, everyone will think you speak their language fluently and start a conversation.
I find a combination of as many appropriate ( insert language here) words and a few gestures works wonders.

 

[TJBi]

The thing to be aware of with translation engines is that they are not 100% reliable and I have known them come up with something that is exactly the opposite of what is said (for example by leaving out "not"). If one restricts oneself to straightforward, reasonably short sentences, without slang, etc., they should generally be able to do a reasonable job but I would never wish to be totally reliant on one.

 

[Ex-caravantugger]

Hi. Have you asked around the family? Kids learn languages quite early these days. Maybe there is an 8 year old neighbour learning. You could learn together. Does your course contain a CD with phrases on? It's easier to learn this way or phonetically. Local courses anywhere? Good luck. A bientot. (See you later).
Regards, Mike

 

[Brakers]

they should generally be able to do a reasonable job but I would never wish to be totally reliant on one.

I'm the same I would not want to rely totally on a translator but it might be another tool to help you but I still will try to learn a bit more of the language.
Tony

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[Brakers]

Does your course contain a CD with phrases on?

Hi There the course I have is learn French with Paul Noble it was recomended to me, I just think I need to try a bit harder

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
There will be more mainland europeans speak english,than let on,as said in the above posts,just be polite and smile,use Mime,works for me,there will allways be someone who will take pitty on you and come to your aid. You only ever hit a brick wall,when the response is the "Gallic Shrug".
Being deaf'ish, that is one bit of French i envy them,it says it all.....without a word being spoken.LOVE it (I think i will go and practise it in front of a mirror) Where's my beret and string of onions? "I was lost, in France........."
Tea Bag

 

[Ex-caravantugger]

Hi There the course I have is learn French with Paul Noble it was recomended to me, I just think I need to try a bit harder

Hi again. For the price seems quite reasonable. Just listened to a sample of audio. With a bit of patience and practice, you'll get confident. Try, if you can, to use headphones. It will help. If you repeat sections over and over, you will find this also helps. Regards and adieu (bye for now). Mike

 

[Hollyberry]

If you're just going on holiday you only need a few basics, to do with shopping, eating out. A few phrases to help you check in on a campsite though usually someone speaks enough English. At least you won't have to converse about French tax returns!

 

[Easyliving]

We use an audio course called which you can get from Amazon for about a fiver. The CD course just aims to teach you 50 or so words and some useful phrases. We have found we can just about manage enough French to ask for stuff in shops or directions etc.

Paul

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[BobtheBass]

 

[reckless]

Try the free podcast Coffee Break French, breaks it down into short lessons. Repeat repeat repeat.

However, I had French from school and recently paid for a very good personal tutor. Still don't have much confidence despite having huge vocabulary.

As said above concentrate on everyday words, food etc. Bon chance (good luck).

Karen

 

[DBK]

If you shop in supermarkets you don't need any language skills, just fill your trolley and at the checkout you can see the total displayed so you can see how much money to hand over.
The only place where a few French words will help would be at a campsite. You might find someone on duty who can speak English but not always, so the French for "a pitch with electricity for three nights" or whatever, will be useful. But if you use aires you won't need much beyond the ability to work out from any notice where and how to buy any jeton required.

 

[BreweryDave]

It is well known that if you shout loudly at Johnny Foreigner in your native tongue they will understand you.............

 

[Fenman]

A lot of my friends found the Michel Thomas course was very good. He died about 10 years ago but there is still a website about his course. http://www.michelthomas.com/how-it-works.php
His method is more like you learnt to speak as a kid. Not grammatical. For instance a huge amount of words are the same in both languages - almost every English word ending in "tion" is the same, or close, but just pronounced differently.
Another help is to watch French films with English subtitles and listen carefully.
The most important thing is to try. Just keep talking in English but getting louder is a good way to be ignored.
Give it a go and always use your hands to indicate things.
The French can't speak if their hands are in their pockets.

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[Just smiffy]

Where ever you go in France the first word anywhere is bonjour....

The rest will just happen the longer your there..

I spent 3weeks just driving around in my car and little tent to sleep in and I didn't starve or run out of diesel and even had a few conversations with locals in restaurant... it's amazing how far a few words and sign language goes...

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

There are just two "types" of French people:

Mostly they will ignore your attempts to speak French as they like to show you how good their English is.
or
They expect everyone to be French fluent and will have no sympathy with stupid Rosbeefs.

But be sure to be fluent enough for the basic greetings, thanks and farewells.

 

[Shrimp]

I agree with the last post, be polite, friendly and try but like a lot of people you will always find the ones that don't want to know!
I once read that you don't need all the 'ins & outs' of a language to make yourself known!
We had 7 months in France this year, I don't speak nor understand the spoken French but with a few critical words it is fairly easy to got thru.
My main shop is usually their equivalent to our super markets so that's easy, street markets are easy too they want to sell the stuff, you want to buy it!
Learn some useful words and numbers, forget grammar and male & female, you don't need all that.

 

[MillieMoocher]

I came across a great free app for leaning Italian (off there next year) at the App Store . There's no grammar as such but you learn around 1,500 words which enable you to (hopefully) make yourself understood. Time will tell!

There is a French version of the app, Learn French by Greg Vick, which is also free. The icon is a French flag with a speech bubble on it. There is an " in app purchases" warning, but so far I've not had to buy any upgrades on the Italian job..

From my perspective, being able to understand and be understood in a foreign country is all part of the fun!

 

[Jaws]

We always feel guilty about not speaking ( apart from a smattering ) the language of the country we happen to be in..
However, having visited 24 countries over the recent years, we do realise that it would be somewhat impractical to know them all
We always seem to get by with sign language and patience on the part of those to whom we speak

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[urban_biker]

Try the Duolingo app - available for Android and Iphone. Its free. It turns language learning into a game. It also uses voice and gets you to speak into it to check your pronunciation.

I've found it really useful because it actually gets you to speak the language out loud so you gain confidence in using it.

 

[two]

If you plan to travel far, you will need to learn a lot of languages and most likely get them muddled up. If you can learn to utter some kind of recognisable greeting that will be a good start. Practice charades and improve your gestures – they are always useful as they work in any language.

 

[two]

Filling up at a water tap last year I was approached by a chap who greeted me in German and asked, I thought, if the water was drinkable. I did my best to humour him by saying “Yes, but only once…” The conversation quickly dried up due to lack of understanding when the chap said “Are you English?” to which I had to admit that I was. Maybe the T-shirt with English written over it was the give-away. “Why didn’t you say so, then?” he replied. “So am I!”
We chatted at length after that.

 

[sewinlynne2]

Binga, banga, bong, blinkin' eck-wasa comin a go?

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I have Linguaphone French and Italian.

I got on quite well with them.

I agree with the other people who have said that at least trying to speak the language of wherever you happen to be is the way to go.

It's pretty easy to pick up basic tourist French, Italian and German.

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