Quote:
Originally Posted by Diabolical Artificer
An English version would be much appreciated, being English I don't do foreign languages, prefering to shout instead : ) jThat was a joke BTW.
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Foreign languages are something we are bad at, I'm afraid.
To put Andy's comment into perspective, it is said that, when confronted by someone who does not speak their own language, the British believe that, if you shout
loud enough, they will understand!
Likewise, French speakers believe that, if you speak
fast enough, they will understand! My knowledge of French is very poor and I recall being in a hotel in France many years ago and having problems understanding what the receptionist was saying to me. "Je ne comprend pas, répétez très lentement, s'il vous plaît", I said (I don't understand, please repeat very slowly) and she repeated it at double the speed she'd said it in the first place!
I think it is fair to say that the proportion of of English speakers who spoke French and vice-versa used to be very similar - i.e.: very low, but the situation has changed in recent years.
Whilst I've seen no evidence of any improvement amongst the British, the number of French speakers in both Northern France and Wallonia who speak good English has increased in leaps and bounds, to our shame.