I don't speak the lingo!

Jaws said:
I have often been told by German friends that I really should not try and speak German as it is so poor they reallt struggle to understand what I am saying ! ( 6 years of German at school.. Absolute waste of time for me )
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I once attended beginners German language night classes.
After the tutors initial intoduction in English the bugger refused to speak any English....no idea what he was talking about.
He just pointed at things and muttered unintelligible noises.
Only lasted two classes then convinced my then girlfriend, who was fluent due to her German dad, to teach me instead.
Still only have a smattering and as someone on here said, when the reply comes at warp speed with typical 35 character words its wasted on me.
 
Brakers said:
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
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Tony I am 71years old and if I can learn a bit of French then anyone can .dont be a defeatist get on and learn a bit. ..roy
 
I always try and start the conversation in French or whatever language but quite often find that the other person takes pity on my horrendous accent and replies in English
 
PhilG said:
Go to Germany, they don't pretend to not speak English there.
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Belgium is good as well. If you aren't perfectly fluent in Flemish, which unless you grew up there you won't be, it's completely acceptable to speak English.
 
Brakers said:
That seems better "Maybe HE is lost" not that I knew just entered it into a web translator.
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Except that Google (or any other translator) is not French ...while I AM and have been French for 57 odd years now. So I think (and I keep correcting Google to improve its translation) I know best.

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I think its a disgrace that many foreign people cant speak English.

I don't know what they are taught at school.
 
PhilG said:
Go to Germany, they don't pretend to not speak English there.
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Jaws said:
Dunno how you can say that !
All the German folk I know speak at the very least a BIG smattering of English, while many ( even the crumb snatchers aged 8 on ) speak very good English
I have often been told by German friends that I really should not try and speak German as it is so poor they reallt struggle to understand what I am saying ! ( 6 years of German at school.. Absolute waste of time for me )
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Our experience in Germany for 6 weeks this year reflects @PhilG , went to many places where no English spoken even in campsite reception. A few times I had to photograph the campsite rules ( usually an A4 page) and email to my DiL, who is fluent, to translate as we were stumped even with the use of a dictionary.
 
yodeli said:
Except that Google (or any other translator) is not French ...while I AM and have been French for 57 odd years now. So I think (and I keep correcting Google to improve its translation) I know best.
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and I bet you pronounce your surname ....bouquet. madame (lol)
 
I politely asked a lady serving in a posh cake shop in France if she spoke English only to be amazed when she told me, in French, no, but she spoke f**king good French! She obviously didn't know that I understood what she said but must have realised when I mumbled something about sticking her cakes where the sun didn't shine and walked out.
 
My technique is to learn a little bit so you can greet people in their language and then try a little bit more, but badly. This usually uncovers those that can speak English as they find it easier to do that than continue with trying to understand my bad French/Italian/German etc. This way they are pleased you have tried and not just done the 'brit on holiday' thing of pointing and shouting in their accent; but they quickly realise your language skills are poor and (most times) make an effort to assist you.

We keep a pocket dictionary in case there is a word (or few) alongside a product or on a menu so we can translate it - and sometimes getting the dictionary out at the head of queue really helps a shopkeeper/assistant remember their schooldays English quite quickly.

As hinted above, it is surprising how you can break the ice with around 40-50 words.

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We learnt French, at night school for three years, we tried to spend at least 1 hour, a couple of times a week where we only spoke French to each other.

After all that!!!! I can sit here behind the keyboard and proudly announce to La Monde that I can hold a conversation, in French!!!
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with a 3 year old French person! :hi5:
 
urban_biker said:
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.
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I've used Duolingo with some success. As well as the phone apps, you can access it through your browser at https://www.duolingo.com/. So hopefully you'll be able to go from Monolingo to Duolingo! :D
 
yodeli said:
Except that Google (or any other translator) is not French ...while I AM and have been French for 57 odd years now. So I think (and I keep correcting Google to improve its translation) I know best.
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57?

FIFTY SEVEN?

Jeeeezzzz.

I thought you were only 43. :Eeek:


JJ :cool:

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JJ said:
Umm... I don't think the French say "smart arse"... :rofl:

JJ :cool:
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I bet it 's your French girl fiend who told you so! And If you were thinking of my birthday EVERY year you would know how old I am ... cheeky you!!!
 
Riverbankannie said:
Our experience in Germany for 6 weeks this year reflects @PhilG , went to many places where no English spoken even in campsite reception. A few times I had to photograph the campsite rules ( usually an A4 page) and email to my DiL, who is fluent, to translate as we were stumped even with the use of a dictionary.
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I think my post was misquoted , but reading it again, i can see why... in france , my experience is that people will choose not to speak english , even though they can, in Germany, even if you can speak a bit of German the conversation always ends up in english , because they are happy to use the language.

My German is good enough to follow a conversation ( as long as its about bikes lol) , so i dont struggle even when there is no English spoken.. can get along even in Dunkl Deutchland , although the Czech republic was fun this year , especially when we got stopped as a suspected drugs smuggler coming back over the border.

My advice is use t'internet apps , and learn the things you have to, the most useful being ' do you have change for the trolley'..
 
Gary217 said:
My technique is to learn a little bit so you can greet people in their language and then try a little bit more, but badly. This usually uncovers those that can speak English as they find it easier to do that than continue with trying to understand my bad French/Italian/German etc. This way they are pleased you have tried and not just done the 'brit on holiday' thing of pointing and shouting in their accent; but they quickly realise your language skills are poor and (most times) make an effort to assist you.

We keep a pocket dictionary in case there is a word (or few) alongside a product or on a menu so we can translate it - and sometimes getting the dictionary out at the head of queue really helps a shopkeeper/assistant remember their schooldays English quite quickly.

As hinted above, it is surprising how you can break the ice with around 40-50 words.
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@Brakers We always appreciate the effort foreigners make to speak in our SOOO difficult language. We are 3 teachers at home: My mum used to be one, my sister is headmaster in a primary school and I carry on teaching to babies and toddlers (after having taught in Middlesbrough) and we keep arguing about verbs, tenses, what we call here "analyse logique" which is explaining in a few words the why where and when of each word in a sentence. We are all three very technical and know the subject.... Still we need at least 4 different grammar books to find the proper answer. Each time I hear a foreigner making a mistake when trying to speak in French, I feel for that person , indeed. So , if you manage a few words, and if you keep in mind that when you learn a new word you must learn it with its gender and if possible in a sentence, then you should make some effective progress! Good luck anyway!
 
When we were in France we found that EVERY single pronunciation must be exact or they refuse to understand.
Yet when I got on a bus in Croatia that was FULL of French tourists, EVERYONE understood every single word I was saying to one of their number who spoke to me in English... Cos they all laughed !!
Funny that. !!
Mitch.

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I've never come across anyone in France being deliberately unhelpful because my French is less than perfect.

Sometimes it's been a mixture of my pidgin French and their pidgin English but we've always managed to get there in the end, usually with smiles.

I find the longer I'm there and the more I speak it the better my French gets anyway.
 
I find that the more beers I drink the better I can speak French, everyone likes me more and I can dance better than anyone else.
 
Hi everybody
The problem I have with learning a language is pronouncing the words especially if the word does not sound as it is spelt. All these apps etc when repeating the sentence speak too quickly, although you can get the app to repeat it over and over it does not help as you end up with the same result, and when you try to pronounce it into the app it says it that it is not correct!
What I need is, if I'm not pronouncing the word correctly is for that word to be broken down into sections and played slowly so I can get the correct pronunciation a bit like the dictionary does i.e. Intelligentsia the dictionary brakes it down to in-tel-li-jent-so-uh, and corvette = kor-vet, so this gives you a better chance of pronouncing it correctly.
It is so frustrating trying to learn something when you come up against problems like this, I think this is why a lot of people try and fail, just my opinion
Best Wishes Tony
 
jenny and mitch said:
When we were in France we found that EVERY single pronunciation must be exact or they refuse to understand.
Yet when I got on a bus in Croatia that was FULL of French tourists, EVERYONE understood every single word I was saying to one of their number who spoke to me in English... Cos they all laughed !!
Funny that. !!
Mitch.
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Indeed.. very funny.

Its beyond annoying. I have to go there in September by the looks of it, and believe it or not, i get better service when im with my german friends, than i do if im with english ones.
 
Rob and Val said:
I find that the more beers I drink the better I can speak French, everyone likes me more and I can dance better than anyone else.
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My driving improves no end..

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@Brakers To have the right sound of a French word, you go on google search and ask for google translate. Select French . Put the word you need to hear in the devoted box as if you wanted to have it translated into English, then click on the small speaker sign underneath and you'll have the pronunciation of the French word. I have checked many times and the pronunciation is correct. It should help you a great deal!
 
I have been trying to learn a little French,Spanish and lately Portuguese for 25 years with limited success, the problem for me is that we move around frequently, just get used to one language and then move to another country and start again.

I concentrate on the important things like food and drink and the polite way of asking questions though am some times a little mistified when asking for a cerveza in a Spanish bar and getting a blank look (must be the way I tell'em), so one of the first things I mastered in Spain was 'Dos Canas por favor' (the 'n' should have the squiggle over it).

My daughter who holidays at our static van near to La Baule caused much hilarity when in a supermarket she tried to say that she spoke only a little French and said 'petit pois' instead of 'petit peu':)

And Portuguese pronunciation..........well!!:)...........I try though, manage to get the coffees that I like......and the food:)......mostly!
 
yodeli said:
@Brakers To have the right sound of a French word, you go on google search and ask for google translate. Select French . Put the word you need to hear in the devoted box as if you wanted to have it translated into English, then click on the small speaker sign underneath and you'll have the pronunciation of the French word. I have checked many times and the pronunciation is correct. It should help you a great deal!
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:smiley: Thanks Frankie :smiley: Google Translate came to our aid on more than one occasion in France this year. I also use it to check pronunciation so it's good to hear it's correct, it'll make me a bit more confident at having a go at conversing in French. Have also downloaded Duolingo and I'm proud to say I'm 2% fluent in French at the moment  ::bigsmile: so will spend the long, cold, miserable winter evenings trying to improve before we go back to France next year. Vraiment impatients de notre prochain voyage en France :smiley:
 
Brakers said:
Hi everybody
The problem I have with learning a language is pronouncing the words especially if the word does not sound as it is spelt. All these apps etc when repeating the sentence speak too quickly, although you can get the app to repeat it over and over it does not help as you end up with the same result, and when you try to pronounce it into the app it says it that it is not correct!
What I need is, if I'm not pronouncing the word correctly is for that word to be broken down into sections and played slowly so I can get the correct pronunciation a bit like the dictionary does i.e. Intelligentsia the dictionary brakes it down to in-tel-li-jent-so-uh, and corvette = kor-vet, so this gives you a better chance of pronouncing it correctly.
It is so frustrating trying to learn something when you come up against problems like this, I think this is why a lot of people try and fail, just my opinion
Best Wishes Tony
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I wouldn't worry too much, just think of Officer Crabtree in 'allo 'allo!
I am sure when we walk away people are saying " who were those idiots who think they can speak French"
 
Brakers said:
Hi everybody
The problem I have with learning a language is pronouncing the words especially if the word does not sound as it is spelt. All these apps etc when repeating the sentence speak too quickly, although you can get the app to repeat it over and over it does not help as you end up with the same result, and when you try to pronounce it into the app it says it that it is not correct!
What I need is, if I'm not pronouncing the word correctly is for that word to be broken down into sections and played slowly so I can get the correct pronunciation a bit like the dictionary does i.e. Intelligentsia the dictionary brakes it down to in-tel-li-jent-so-uh, and corvette = kor-vet, so this gives you a better chance of pronouncing it correctly.
It is so frustrating trying to learn something when you come up against problems like this, I think this is why a lot of people try and fail, just my opinion
Best Wishes Tony
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That's the beauty of the Michel Thomas CDs. It's all about repeating back what he says. And you can pick up the sets very cheap secondhand. Like here:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=9780340780640&cm_sp=mbc-_-9780340780640-_-all

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