Living in France

 

Bird song is what I thought the French language sounded like when I first arrived in France.

After a while, it just sounded difficult.

I was utterly lost after a person would say, "Bonjour."

When I was first married French Husband and I lived in Paris. A few years later, we moved with his business to Marseille.

The first few things I noticed when we arrived in Marseille:

The smell of pine trees.

That women's neckline dropped two inches. Cleavage was another fashion statement.

Thirdly, the Mistral (a strong cold wind, famous in the south of France) seemed to blow away the Parisian accent, which made the French I knew to disappear with the current as well.

 

Whenever anyone comes to France and stays with us, the questions mainly concern cultural differences.

Take cars; cars do not have the same meaning as they do in the USA. Having a nice car means you have a nice car. Status isn't attached to it as strongly as it is in the States. Why have a big expensive car in France when you have to drive it and park it in teeny-tiny places?

Where are the buckets of ice cubes?

Where are the toilets when you are out and about? 

Why do people drive like crazy people? Are they on a suicide mission?

Why do children seem so well-behaved?

You guys eat so much; why aren't you fat?

Why are there so many strikes?

Wouldn't it be more profitable if bakeries had coffee too?

What's health care like?

 

 

Strawberries

3, 20 Euros a kilo.

Roughly:

A couple of dollars for 2.2 pounds.

But they come from Spain, and the cost of French-grown strawberries is double at least.

 

 

In the beginning, when speaking French was something I could not do,

yet needed desperately, I memorized all the words I knew that were French

And I tried to use them when I could...

A la carte,

A la mode,

Au contraire,

Au natural,

Avant-garde,

Belle,

Merci, 

Beaucoup,

Carte Blanche,

Deja-vu,

Faux pas,

Rendez-vous,

 

And I was told that nearly every French word that ended with 'TION" is, in most cases, means the same thing in English as they did in French.

The trick was saying those words with the correct accent.

Super! is Super in French too. Super became my best friend.

How are you? Super.

Do you like it? Super.

How is your meal? Super.

Did you have a good time? Super.

Isn't it beautiful? Super.

Would you like some more? Super.

Do you want to go to the brocante? Super.

 

 

 

Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas. 

 

"It's just one step from the sublime to the ridiculous."

 Napoléon

 

I can say this in English, but it doesn't roll off my tongue in French.

 

 

Avoir le cafard literally means (to have the cockroach).

Translated, it means:

To be down in the dumps, to have the blues.

 

 

 

Another little surprise when I arrived in France was how the hours were displayed.

One through twelve, such as:

1h00

4h00

10h00

And so, on and forth to 12h00, are the morning hours until you reach midnight, 24h00 the evening hours.

13h00

16h00

22h00

Forget  12 am or 12 pm.

 

 

 

Eclaboussure - French verb,

Means: Splash.

 

 

The perfect man.

 

 

 

Avoir le démon de midi (To have the midday demon)

Means: To have a midlife crisis.

 

In the beginning, I took a dictionary with me everywhere I went; It was humbling.

Nowadays, the advantage of cell phones is.

I bought sour milk instead of milk, flour instead of sugar... and was thankful for spices I could open and smell. It is a language I knew by heart.

 

 

 

Zut Alors! 

It is one of my French Husband's mother's favorite expressions and one that I first learned.

Means:

 Darn it!

 

 

The words:

Ça va? 

Are a lifesaver.

An entire conversation can be had with just those two little words.

 

 

Comments

[Penni]

Languages, other than my own (SoCAL American) fascinate me and it doesn't matter that I can't understand the words, they all make me happy just to listen and imagine... but that is problematic.
My sister learned 5 languages while still in high school. I imagine her brain traveling around Europe like a tiny car on twisty roads always ending up where she set out to be. I taught myself a bit of ASL, and later as a young married learned ASL -and the culture- (almost as important as the language) in more in depth from missionaries looking to teach those who wanted to learn. Eventually I knew enough to interpret for k-12 schooling. I feel learning ASL was easier for me because it is visual and tactile rather than dependent on hearing alone... I can't listen fast enough.

Currently I (volunteer)attempt to "teach" American English to 2 Afghani refugees and I pity them because along with not being able to listen quickly I also seem to lack the skill to speak slowly. It's frustrating for my sweet intelligent students who are incredibly patient with me. We sit and learn together (I've learned that "banana" in Pashto is pronounced the same as my daughter's name "K-lah","apple" sounds like "muh-nah" -which makes me think of the Muppet song and the only way I seem to remember the accented syllable, and "Spog -my" is "Moon" and the name of one of our new refugee babies who is so pretty and sweet she makes me cry every time I see her) I feel quite inept, but I keep trying! I have also found that my students are gleaning ASL a bit as we go along because I unconsciously gesture as I speak and find myself often using my ASL as I speak English (to *everyone* -insert eye roll here).

All this to say I am extremely impressed by everyone who has made a life move to a foreign country and is able to learn a second language!

[Jeanne]

My Grandson is fluent in several languages and I love to hear different cultures and the languages
and all that is new and exciting to each reason
I love your postings so very much
Blessings

[Diogenes]

I bet you've learned all the words for things at the brocante, from furniture to paintings and vintage clothing. ;-)

[Kathie B]

Times are written the same way in Portuguese as in French.

Even with two years of Portuguese coursework before my first trip to the Azores, I quickly discovered that immersion is an entirely different experience from classroom participation or written exams.

I concur with Diogenes that one tends to learn micro-vocabularies about certain topics -- in your case for brocanting, in mine re garden crops, genealogy, and other subjects of interest.

[Franki]

Learning languages other than one's mother tongue opens up the possibility of millions of new friendships as well as greater understanding of cultures other than our own.

A really interesting post. Thank you,Corey.

[marilyn]

I do love languages, but sadly only know American English.
I can pick up a few words if I listen or read carefully.
How I wish I had opportunity when young to live in another country and immerse in another language.