h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(its Louise - but please call me Lou )

Dont unsubscribe - if you need any translations we'll help you, and you can pick up some French here. I'm sure its for anyone who can speak french and for people that want to. Definitly go to classes - French is a lot of fun and very useful. And by staying here you can pick up some French and be at an advantage when you're learning in September.

Some basic phrases (brackets are pronounciation) - if you know them I'm sorry!

Bonjour (Bonnjoor) - Hello / Good Day
Bon Soir (Bonn Soi) - Good Evening
Ca va? (Sah Vah?) - How are you?
Je me ca va bien merci (Je ma sah vah be-an mercy) - I'm fine thankyou
Merci (mercy) - thank you
Au Revoir (Oh Rev-wah) - Goodbye
More coming up soon if you want them!
Lou xxxxx

Thank you Lou for the offer but I cannot reply back in French does that matter?

I am finding French very hard to learn and I get very discouraged when I cannot join in conversation properly because I have to keep on asking for translations. I am very poor at learning foreign lanuages.

kat

Don't worry about replying in French - even being able to recognise phrases is a great start

At first I was terrible at learning languages, but at my school we had to learn two (I chose French and German) and so I knew I had to get good at it. Just keep perservering with it and you'll be fine - i ended up getting top marks for Languages GCSE and am taking French for A Level (maybe even at University). So don't give up, whatever you do!
Bon chance (Bonn Shance) - good luck!

Lou xxx

I have found the Franglais thread far too hard to join in Lou. I am also starting to find this thread difficult. I just get very easily disheartened. Thank you Lou for your very kind encouragement. Please will you tell me ( I do not how to spell it) this phrase is used when someone resigns themself to a certain situation "san feri an".

Thank you.

I have never been to university or acheived a degree in anything. The highest accompilishment I have ever acheived is Higher in English but then it was a D grade. I do not think I will get far in learning the French language as I am not intelligent enough. I have not even got any "O" levels or GCSE's.




kat

It's Ca Ne Fait Rien - (Sa ne fay riyen) - it means liertally it does nothing, so basically it can be "that's nothing" in response to Thanks for doing that or just a resignement to a situation.

Intelligence and qualifications are not related. I know very intelligent people with no qualifications and some very highly qualified people who are quite stupid. All that you need to suceed is determination. Don't give up!

(If you are embarrassed by talking in front of a lot of people, set up a thread on my space and I'll help you one on one if you want)

Lou xxxxx

Thank you very much Lou it is that if I keep on asking people what they mean it is spoils for them and me and I cannot really take part. Do you have to speak only French here. It never used to be like that. I could always join in before.

Well I will try. This is taken from a French phrase book.

Enchante de faire votre connaissance Lou, Whisky, Loup and Deja vu.

Puis-je vous prester Lou, Loup, Whisky and Deja vu.

Puis-je vous prester Lou, Whisky, Loup and Deja vu.

J'ai ete heurex de faire votre connaissance.

Est-ce que vous voolez

Je viens de Grays, Essex.

Je suis celbataire and will always remain single, no man would have me.

Allons a Versailles. I do not why it was in the phase book but we could to the cinema

Qiel temps fait-il?

Je me suis perdi.

Je ne fumes pa

Je bois peit

Je ne parle pas Francais.

I come here also to make friends as I am a full-time carer to my elderly parents and disabled sister I have no social life and therefore no friends. It is very tiring and stressful being a carer. I come to make friends. If I cannot contribute fully to the conversations here and have to keep on asking for a barrier it will only make me feel more isolated than all ready am. I am very interested in the French language. I just want people here to understand that I cannot understand the language as well as they do. I am not saying not to speak French but beaware of my limitations. It is like joining in a private conversation.


kat

I wonder if you can have deja vu sexe.

avoir des rapports deja vu avec the imaginery deja vu amant.

I have a grat non-existent vie sentimentale/sexe.



kat

I'm sure you can

I'm sorry to hear about your problems Kat.

Those phrases were great! See, I told you you could do it! If you want a friend, I'm here for you to talk to. It doesn't have to be French - I'm a United Friend and always glad to make new friends!

Lou xxxxx

Thank you Lou for your very kind concern. I got the phrases my Collins dictionary. It sounds better in French.

I am also on the United Friends list.

Katrine
xxxxxx

Ca ne fait rien = it's nothing

Lou xxxxx

Another of Poirot's favourite expressions is Bon Maginifique and he calls his friend Captain Hasting his mon amie.

Katrine

Oh I speak Franglais (french and english) all the time - all of my friends are Mes Amies (my friends) and I NEVER say Hello, only Bonjour or Heya (which is, admittedly, English)

I do not have any chance to speak French or Franglais. I hear alot of French phrases in Agatha Christi's Poirot (Suchet). He has to exercise his little grey cells. I do not the English word for Suisse as when my Dad went to abroad in Suisse he went to the French areas of Geneve, Basle, and other cities which I have forgotten. I have now forgetton the spellings of them in English. I am starting to in French but only in my mind or underneath my breath. I do not like to in English.


A bientot Bonsoir

Comment allez-vouz?

merci beaucoup pote

Barbant committee meetings are exciting,

Deja vu committee meetings discuss the same thing week after week, month after month.

I have a deja vu life.


I do not have a love life.



kat

hi Katrine,

um... while i understand your frustration, i'm not sure why you keep asking if this is a thread for French speakers only. Forgive me if I am wrong, but i think you have been in this thread for awhile now, and will know that mostly it's english that gets spoken.

as far as what the thread is for...my own perception is that its now overwhelmingly about deja vu. because its been running for awhile, there is probably quite a bit of injoking and deja vu subculture going on that might not make sense to someone coming into the thread fresh. but people seem to pick it up as they go along.

for quite a while now the thread has been about fun and people trying to be clever . sometimes, probably because deja vu is a french phrase, there will be banter in French too.


you might also be interested to know that technically its against house rules to use any language other than english on h2. although i think that they are more lenient about this now, and one of the mods speaks French, so there is more use of that. Just wanted you to know this, in case you start posting in French elsewhere and get modded.

as for not being able to follow a thread...well, there was quite a bit of what you have posted on this page that i can't translate, although i get the general gist of it. there are other threads that i'm subscribed to that periodically go through postings that i can't make sense of...its just part of the deal. i'm sure the French being spoken a few pages back would have settled down after a bit.


i think its great you are learning French. i can also appreciate your situation re having no social life and the importance of h2 because of that.


okay, i'm probably in danger of flying tomato flans now for being too serious.

Lou, Hello.

have you thought about setting up a Learn to Speak French page? i'm sure there would be lots of interest.

you'd probably have to clear it with TPTB re use of French on h2, but i'm sure it could work.


btw the Franglais thread is in Ask h2g2

F19585?thread=190857

Good Morning Kea I hope you are feeling well.

I can understand the deja vu jokes as it is one of my favourite types of Jokes but they have stopped that now.

I keep on meeting Deja vu when I post as I think he fancies me. It's the only time I can get a date is when Deja visits me at every posting. It's when I press update details and it comes out 2 or 4 times.


That is one of my jokes above. Here is another one below.

Can you have Deja vu or Deja vu sexe/passion?


kat

Kea yes I know it's been overwhelming english but I don't why it has changed in the past few days and only spoke in French.

I only joined this thread a month ago and I understood it straight away the deja vu jokes as I have a deja vu life.



kat

Does anyone remember the song Jennifer, Jennifer? It was half in English and half in French and the record came out in the 70's. There were quite a few songs in French and English. I think this was due to the influence of the eurovision contest. My favourite songs in the 70's were all the ones sung in French and English.


Katrine

there are gremlins about! my PS shows a recent posting here (25 mins ago), but when i come to the page, the last post is over 3 hours old.

Kea You have entered the twillight zone. I think it's the Borg again at work. Or you could have experienced a temporal anomaly. I do not what it means but they have it alot in Star Trek. No that thing, they only do it in the holodeck.

Kat