Note to self...

[alexpgp]

I have been thinking about something I wrote at the beginning of June:

Ulrich threw a wicked smile in my direction and began to speak to me, in French, distinctly pronouncing each word, saying something along the lines of: "well… if… I… speak… like… this… I… suppose… you… will… have… no… problem… understanding… me…, yes?…

We all had a laugh, but I was sitting there, comprehending every syllable, thinking:That's right! No problem at all!

It turns out there are some people whose French I have no problem understanding, and those whose French is incomprehensible. Most of the latter are, alas, native speakers.

Not to put too fine a point on the issue, or sound overly cryptic, but there must be an answer somewhere.

Cheers...

Comments

[brenk.livejournal.com]

Some of the French speak unbelievably *fast*, remember. That was one way I could tell the 'French French' from the Swiss 'uns at first, before I could distinguish the accents. Most of the Swiss speak slower. Which does *not* mean we are stupid, contrary all the jokes on the subject!

And hate to say it, but the only answer I can come up with is the trite one of practice, time and patience. Or come over here more often - Charlotte is an exception to the above rule of 'slower'.

Ummm... and your link doesn't work.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

I realize that some people just naturally speak quickly; that's not really a problem (which is to say that I'll miss some of what's said in such cases, even if English is being spoken). But I need to get to the point where it's at least even money that I don't have to ask people to repeat themselves while speaking slowly. :^)

The "note to self" part has to do with figuring out a good way to get practice without breaking the bank or having to devote myself full-time to this end.

Cheers...

P.S. Thanks for mentioning the broken link. It's been fixed.

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

When I was in college, some professor once told us that the French spoke very bad French, linguistically speaking, and that the best French was spoken by the Dutch. I have no idea why, and since I don't speak French I have no way of judging. However, I've been somewhat suspicious of professors ever since ;)

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

That's very likely, but I'll warrant that by the same token, we Americans speak very bad English (from a linguistic point of view). Indeed, it takes a foreigner -- who is still intimidated by rules of grammar and usage -- to speak a superior brand of lingo.

I recall here a comment made by one of my editors, one time when we were throwing back a few beers in Phoenix, to the effect that one of his early girlfriends was fascinated by his habit of speaking in complete sentences.

Too, there is a maxim to the effect of "if you want to make someone sound like an idiot, quote them verbatim."

Cheers...