112 Gripes About the French

[Matrix]

Originally Posted by johnnywash

Most French understand English very well but refuse to speak it. It's not their language, shy should they.

Most americans speak spanish but refuse to speak it, why should they? That's for anyone living in the southwest USA, that's the entire southwestern united states and anyone who enters a Walmart, lol

I see the french get disgusted with other languages spoken in their country as we americans do, ROFL

[Capn]

I could care less if you speak your native language in America just don't expect me to reply I ONLY speak English I was not saying that French that don't speak English should try to speak I was saying if they speak it and I don't speak French at all they could try to help me out.

[Fish]

What most people fail to realize is that our citizens are a lot alike. Just like I won't even bother with somebody who comes up and tries to instigate a conversation in Spanish without so much an "hablas espanol," a Frenchman won't converse in English if you don't try to speak in French.

Its a 60 year old article, but so much of that still holds true today. I think I'll spread it around a bit.

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Capn

I could care less if you speak your native language in America just don't expect me to reply I ONLY speak English I was not saying that French that don't speak English should try to speak I was saying if they speak it and I don't speak French at all they could try to help me out.

Originally Posted by Fish

What most people fail to realize is that our citizens are a lot alike. Just like I won't even bother with somebody who comes up and tries to instigate a conversation in Spanish without so much an "hablas espanol," a Frenchman won't converse in English if you don't try to speak in French.

Its a 60 year old article, but so much of that still holds true today. I think I'll spread it around a bit.

I have always been more than willing to try to help someone visiting the USA, who does not speak English, with whatever limited language skills I have (as long as they are not rude - and they almost never are). I am proud of this country, and am delighted that they chose to visit it. At that moment, I am America to them, and I want them to see us in our best light.

I have also been in France several times. The issue of whether they are willing to speak English or not seems to be generational to some extent. Those from the World War 2 era and after were much less willing to than those in their teens and twenties. I also noticed that the French, in general, have become more willing over the yers to speak English than they used to be.

[WindReaver]

There is a huge difference between somebody that lives here and does not bother to learn English and somebody that is just visiting that does not know English.

If you live here and only speak Spanish then you are just being lazy. I would not expect somebody that just got off a boat from Spain or Brazil to know English. I would not expect them to learn an entire language just for a holiday visit, and I would help them out however I could.

[Piblokto]

Originally Posted by johnnywash

Most French understand English very well but refuse to speak it. It's not their language, shy should they.

This is a real cliché. The truth is that most of the people here don't speak any foreign language at all. But it's true that saying the magic words like "please sir (or madame), do you speak english" before adressing somebody will help a lot. If the answer is "non", it's just because this person doesn't, not because he (or she) refuses.
In my case, if I know a few words of english, it's only because -long time ago- I wanted to know what was in the Beatles songs. Isn't it what Alzée did to some of you who became interested in learning french ?

And thank you Windreaver for posting this very interesting army booklet, although it's 60 years old, many things in it are still valid now...

[WindReaver]

You're welcome. =)

I thought it a nice glimpse into life in France in the 1940's.

[Edcognito]

Originally Posted by johnnywash

The French gave us Alizee, so I love them.

Also, don't judge all the French by the people in Paris. It's like saying all Americans are like New Yorkers.

I can't wait to return to the City of Lights and this time I'll be looking for Alizee.

?

Whats wrong with New York? We're friendly people too! Some of us even like ( ) Alizée!

Ed

Originally Posted by Capn

I could care less if you speak your native language in America just don't expect me to reply I ONLY speak English I was not saying that French that don't speak English should try to speak I was saying if they speak it and I don't speak French at all they could try to help me out.

DUDE! Use a comma, a period, ANYTHING!

DOWN WITH RUN ON SENTENCES!




Ed

[CFHollister]

Originally Posted by Edcognito

DUDE! Use a comma, a period, ANYTHING!

DOWN WITH RUN ON SENTENCES!




Ed

Tell me about it Guess what it's like for a teacher like me to look at that. Although, at least he's using capitalizationm, decent grammar, and standard spelling. It's when people throw all of those out the window that I start fighting the urge to scratch out my eyes.

[Capn]

Sorry I never enjoyed using punctuation I tend to mess it up. I will try a little more if it is that important to you. As for New Yorkers I am a New Yorker, I live in the city and whenever I leave the city, I usually find people ridiculously nice. lol (forgive me if I made any grammatical mistakes I never was too fond of it so I never bothered learning it properly)