Osler's Razor

I took three years of french.
Here is what I remember: I can say:
Hello!
What Time is it?
Look at the SNOW!
Where is the beach?
Would you like some butter?

I have been to France three times once and I even spent a week in Paris once. A lot of my French DID come back to me! But not for long. When I got back I reverted to you know "Would you like some butter?"

I think some people have like a talent for learning and speaking and remembering languages. I am not one of those people.
 

SO, to answer you question, I don't speak it because I know the time, where the beach is, I have seen the snow and I don't need any butter.
 

LOL
I'm with Tyd, but 4 yrs. Mrs Newhouse and Mr. Regelbrugge were lovely teachers but I don't remember any emphasis on conversational French (until yr 5 - too late). All the focus was on grammar, reading and writing french.

I can usually understand people speaking French if they speak slowly. I can read the language fairly well. If the term relates to FOOD, I'm good. I won't starve in too many foreign contries.

On a final note: Mon frere un grande monstre!
 

I took Latin in high school, and French in college. Looking back, I chose both mostly out of pretension. Also to find out what Doc Holliday says in the bar scene in Tombstone. They've come in handy for learning Spanish, though, and for pedantic quoting. Also for erudite pronounciations.

Aequitas enim lucet ipsa per se. -Cicero (to be pronounced "KICK-uh-ro")
 

I actually use both Spanish and French quite a bit. Problem is, they usually get mixed up with English so I end up speaking Franglishpagnol.
 

The only French I ever learned was:

"Nous sommes les Allemands, et nous sommes ici pour être vos chefs."

And I only learned that because I figured that would easily get me out of any scrapes I ever had with a french person.
 

RRL-
I'm impressed--you've identified the single most useful bit of French in the whole language. I can't think of any more terrifying prospect to a French person than "Oh crap, the Germans are back, and this time they must be serious." Touche, monsieur.
 

When I had to take a language I picked Spanish because it would be more useful in communicating with people. I haven't used it since high school.

The point of learning languages in a classical education was to have access to the literature in that language, not to be able to speak it. Everything I've cared to read has had a translation readily available.
 

I majored in French in college and used to use it quite a bit. I think it's a beautiful language and I hate the fact that I rarely get to use it anymore. I also speak Spanish but I generaly dislike it and try to avoid it wherever possible. If I get hired in Alaska I'll probably start learning Russian, as a lot of communities here still speak that as their primary language. Vivent les langues!
 

I took 7 years of German. It was helpful in Germany when I was drunk because they told me I have a better German accent when I've had more than a few. In reality, it was unnecessary to speak German there because only the uneducated lower class with crap jobs didn't know English. Some of the lower class didn't even have a firm grasp on German because they were Turks.

Most people took Spanish or German in high school. The French teacher was a tool and we also just thought it was a country none of us would ever care to go.
 

IPLAWGUY-- the Thomas Jefferson to my Alexander Hamilton.

Les Etats Unis sounds way worse than the United States of America.
 

Yeesh! I may enjoy French food, culture, art, literature and wine and I appreciate the beautiful architecture, gardens and countryside, but don't associate me with Jefferson and his totally unworkable and unrealistic political views.

I am firmly in the Hamilton camp, philosophically. If he hadn't been such a schemer and Adams hadn't been so arrogant, who knows how the Federalists might have fared! The real pity is that Madison switched sides and went over to be Jefferson's toady.

--The good news is that we've installed firewalls and no longer have to say nice things about the French during the Prof's absence.
 

Mais oui, Guy du Droit IP! Le langue francais, c'est magnifique . . .

And that's why I moved back from German-speaking land and took a job at a French school, because I thought it would motivate me to become (finally) more fluent in a language.

And I certainly use what I remember of French--most of the meetings and emails at school are in French, and I understand about half of it--but as long as we're in an English-speaking country, I still revert to using English unless I absolutely have to attempt some French (which increasingly I don't remember). It's way too intimidating to try to bumble through a French sentence when I'm surrounded by native speakers . . .

so I agree, either you have to really force yourself to speak it, or you have to live in country where they speak the language and you are forced to speak it.

But I really feel for people who move to this country--for jobs, whatever--and know virtually no English. Unless you live somewhere on the border where Spanish is really common (or unless you live in Bethesda where lots of the French live), you absolutely CANNOT do the most basic things without knowing English. It's impossible. If you speak Czech or something and get off a plane in DC or Charlotte or pretty much anywhere, you are SOL without knowing some English.
 

I didn't know that they spoke English in Charlotte?
 

Ich studierte Deutsch, weil Deutsch zu schön ist.

Franzosen ist eine Sprache für die Schwachen.

Wo sind Ihre Papiere?
 

I didn't take French in high school because my crappy public high school didn't offer it. Spanish was the only option, so I took that against my will. The only place I've ever used it was the kitchen of the chain restaurant where I waited tables in high school. I took German in college because it is awesome. I rarely use it now, much to my chagrin.
 

Ooops! We may have broken the Razor. Neither Mr. CL, Mrs. CL nor I seem to be able to add new posts.

The boss may have been irritated at us for changing his profile to Nicholas Sarkozy to Carla Bruni to Plastique Bertrand.

What did he think when he asked US of all people to take care of it?

For now, check out:
musingsfromaneccentric.blogspot.com

We will be attempting to patch this up as soon as possible

IPLAWGUY
 

I speak both Spanish and English, but I often find that if you are in Texas and you want something, you better be able to speak Spanish. I got chucked into Spanish because my mom was in League of Women Voters with the Spanish teacher. Who knew? I have dabbled in French, and I can get by in Paris just enough to get into trouble but not enough to get out of it. Hmmmm. Hope you get the Razor fixed.
 

Great discussion! I find the French I learned in grammar school, and in junior high has almost totally failed me. My working knowledge of the language is from forcing myself (Swissgirl is right, as she usually is) to speak.

Tyd...by the way...J'ai besoin vraiment du beurre, svp !
 

OH NOOOOOOOOO The Razor is Broken? and Le Professor is away on osler island??? MUST FIX
 

I think the Prof would not mind an alias of Sarkozy. He likes all things French. French toast, french wine, french bread, french green beans, french fries, french dip avec au jus....
 

Nel mio lavoro, si deve parlare e sapere tante lingue diverse. Ho cantato in inglese, italiano, francese, tedesco, latino, spagnolo, ceko-slovak, e russo. I miei professori mi hanno aiutato moltissimo!