A Conversation for Handy French Phrases

Peer Review: A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 1

The French Connection

Entry: Handy French Phrases - A2207783
Author: The French Connection - U201936


Bonjour, all you PeeRevueurs, smiley - ok

For your delectation, a pretty self-explanatory entry on something I know about.

And I know that it ought to link to the EG entry on 'France' (The very first word, no less!), but I don't think much of that entry, so merde! smiley - tongueout

All suggestions/corrections/criticisms bienvenue, venez nombreux!

A plus
Fr_Conn


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 2

U195408

very good, very straightforward. I enjoyed perusing the list. Tres bien, merci beaucoup, J'espere voir ceci a la premier page du hootoo.

dave


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 3

HonestIago

Great entry, really useful. When I was travelling around France this summer I found using 'ouai' instead of 'oui' in southern areas was great for breaking the ice, perhaps you could make a mention of this?


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 4

Gnomon - time to move on

This is good!

I'd add two items to the eating and drinking section, because they often cause confusion:

English - French
The Menu - La Carte
The Set Dinner - Le Menu

I don't like the way you've linked to the pronunciation entry:

It should be near the start of the entry, not down at the end. The link should be on the words "French Pronunciation", not on the word "here". As it is, the references section in the right margin repeats the word "here" with a link to the pronunciation entry.

thankyou --> thank you
mediterranean --> Mediterranean

"Where" is included twice in succession.


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 5

Whisky

A couple you might like to add

Food and Drink section

Wine is also sole in a "Pichet" or "Pot" - usually the house wine, these can vary in size from 25cl (un quart) to 46cl (normal for 'Un Pot')

Beer... Certainly in Lyon you'll never hear the words 'un serieux', you're far more likely to hear 'Un Pint SVP' - however unfrench it is smiley - winkeye


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 6

Gordon, Ringer of Bells, Keeper of Postal Codes and Maps No One Can Re-fold Properly

Good list! smiley - smiley

A couple of comments...
smiley - earth In the section where you translate "wine" as "le vin", you should clarify that "le vin" means "the wine". If you wanted to order a glass of wine, you would say "Un verre du vin, svp." smiley - redwine
smiley - earth The term "le Samu" must be a term used in France. I haven't heard that term used in Quebecois french ever.
smiley - earth If you're going to list numbers, you should probably do one to twenty, inclusive.
smiley - earth There's a typo in footnote 1.
smiley - earth Describing "beer", the word "usually" is incomplete.
smiley - earth Talking about nationalities, I think you could say "For the female form, an 'e' is added and the final 's' is pronouced." When I read the description, I interpreted it as the 'e' is pronounced.

Hmmm... that's more than a couple, but it's not that bad. smiley - smiley

You might want to add section on transportation terms. And maybe terms like "north", "south", "east" and "west".

Cheers!

smiley - teasmiley - towel


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 7

Whisky

smiley - whistle

Anyone looking after this entry?


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 8

Renegade

All in All it is good I think, but smiley - footinmouth it seems a bit bland. Sorry.


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 9

Lord High Mucky-Muck

I would agree that it is very handy, if a little bland (which may be unavoidable given the content and purpose).
Some points to consider:
- another place that this list would be very helpful is Canada: English and French are both official languages here, and in Quebec French is the primary language.
- it may be helpful to have a slang section. I know this is very region-dependant, but some are pretty universal and well used, such as 'Salut' for 'Hi' and 'Allez!' for 'Go!'
Overall, a good entry!


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 10

Whisky

"in Quebec French is the primary language"

smiley - headhurts
You mean its French you lot speak... I keep getting into trouble over here for using a Canadian French/English technical dictionary that keeps giving me words that don't actually exist outside of Quebec smiley - winkeye


smiley - cheers
Whisky
(In Lyon smiley - winkeye)


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 11

Lord High Mucky-Muck

true true... i guess it's better to say that "Quebecquois is the primary language of Quebec" seeing as it's so loaded with slang.


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 12

Whisky

Having said that... I love the accent smiley - winkeye


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 13

Renegade

But you might want to say that if there are letters in brackets at the end of words, are feminine.


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 14

zendevil


Speaking as someone who has lived in France for a while & STILL not come to grips with the language, i'd say this is a reasonable short guide to basics.

I live in South West France & would definitely agree with:

<>

--here it is pronounced "way", it is now so automatic for me, i confuse English people on the phone by saying it, used constantly for "OK, carry on, i understand" etc

"How are you?" round here is inevitably "ça va?"

"STOP!" could be shortened to simply "ARRET!"

A useful phrase which is somewhat vulgar, but effective if an unwelcome person is being very persistent is "caisse-toi!" (basically means "sod off!")

smiley - zensmiley - devilTerri.

ps: whatever happened to the "Let's parlez franglais" thread?


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 15

Cyzaki

See the language thing if you wanna speak french smiley - smiley

smiley - panda


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 16

zendevil


Which one? Is there one for all languages, including English?

smiley - zensmiley - devilTerri


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 17

Cyzaki

There's a link to it from my personal space thing smiley - smiley

smiley - panda


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 18

zendevil


smiley - ta!

Or should i say "merci"!smiley - winkeye


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 19

Milos

I hope this is still being worked on... is The French Connection a single person or a group?

A couple of things...
In the section for emergency phrases you have listed 'Help!' as well as 'Help! Help!' which seems a bit redundant.

Your link to French pronunciation would be better at the beginning of the entry as was mentioned, and the words French Pronunciation should be the link. You might reword it to say 'A guide to *French Pronunciation* might help you get more use out of this entry' or something to that effect. And if you change the link to a h2g2 specific link the title of the entry will automatically appear in the sidebar:

smiley - cheers


A2207783 - Handy French Phrases

Post 20

Whisky

**kicks this one back up to the top of the list**


Anyone out there still working on this?

It'd be a shame to loose it!

Whisky


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