Or rather: French-speaking people.


I've recently started a six-month work placement in Paris*, and it made me realise how appalingly shit I am at speaking French. It really is quite frustrating. I feel like a five-year old with a serious speech impediment, sometimes. Then again, that's probably how it sounds when I speak English as well, so no surprises there really... ;)

And, hell, this is after having learned French at school for seven years! Which, luckily, means that I can actually understand a lot of what people are saying, it's just that my replies usually consist of two- to three-word sentences, e.g. "Merci beaucoup", "Au revoir", "Bonne journée", and "Je comprends pas". Admittedly, it does sometimes have its advantages: "Sorry, mister officer, I didn't realise my car was parked in a no-parking zone. I'm a stupid foreigner, what do you expect? Anyway, fuck you very much, au revoir!"

Most of all, though, I've definately got new-found respect for people who just (have to) pack up their bags and move to another country without any knowledge of the language whatsoever - given they manage to learn the language and integrate into society, of course. I really appreciate how tough it can be, and remember I do know some French already, so in theory it should be easier for me. Ah, well, hopefully at the end of the six months I'll be speaking French like it's nobody's business.

Anybody else here had a (work) placement abroad where they had to come to grips with the language?

Anyway, if this sounds like I'm just whingeing about France/ the French in this thread, that's certainly not my intention. At all. In fact, I am really enjoying the placement so far, my work colleagues are cool, and I'm confident it'll get even better. Especially since we're moving into swanky new offices next week. :D

Plus, I obviously wanted to take this thread as an opportunity to pimp the inevitable book of my adventures once I'm done. It's going to be called: Half a Year in the Merde.




* Well, it's in Suresnes, really, one of the suburbs, but no need to be fastidious, eh?

What are your favorite swear words in French ?? :)