In French class in high school we had a French exchange student who we called “Freddy”. He chief contribution to the class was that he taught us little assholes how to say “va te faire enculer” and "suce ma bite". Good ol' Freddy.
I did French immersion in junior high and high school—I received a certificate (long since lost) that claims I was bilingual (no, really!)—and of course what we used the really good classroom French-English dictionary for was looking up swear words. It's kinda funny, in retrospect, that the first thing we wanted to know was how to tell someone to go fuck themselves.
None of us ever got to be very good at French pronunciation in our high school classes (I took 5 years of French from middle school/junior high to high school), so we could get away with working those phrases into our responses to our French teacher. She’d look confused for a moment, and say “une fois de plus?” And then we’d say something else to throw her off. I remember laughing so hard and uncontrollably in that class that on more than one occasion she’d ask me to lay my head on the desk and gather myself for 5 or 10 minutes.
I had two practice teachers in my six years of immersion, poor bastards from Quebec sent out west to see what we heathens would do to their language (as many issues as I have with the Quebecois culture and politics, the French language is certainly beautiful). One guy (whom I just googled; he's still teaching French to the barbarians, but in Ontario) we teased mercilessly. The "huh" H sound doesn't exist in French, so he was talking about how "just because you 'ate someone, you don't 'ave to kill them," to which we asked whether Quebeckers ate people alive. He kept on saying, "'ate not ate." He deserved so much better than fuckwits in smalltown Saskatchewan.
I took an early year of French at the end of middle school (8th grade), so was a year ahead when I got to high school. In high school we were only required to take 3 years of a foreign language, but since a couple buddies and I were already a year ahead, and we more or less enjoyed it, we made it to a fifth year of French by our senior year. Since we had made it that far, our French teacher thought of us as some of her best students and we could get away with all kinds of shit. And yeah, she deserved way better than us. The French language is beautiful, but in hindsight, I wish I’d taken 5 years of Spanish, as I’d have had more opportunities to actually use it over the last 30+ years.
It's sad that, living in Ottawa where French is almost as common as English, I could actually benefit from truly speaking and understanding the language. But it's decades in the past and people speak too quickly for me to pick up on what's happening. So I mostly apologize for my deficiencies.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
the only french I know was taught to me by Paul McCartney in 1965 ...
sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble
I have no clue what it means, I was told its gibberish, so in other words, french.
The other french word I know is "but!" which I believe means "goal" from hockey.
Multi-cultural I am.
From what I see there's still a little hope
That's if we don't hang from too much rope
the only french I know was taught to me by Paul McCartney in 1965 ...
sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble
I have no clue what it means, I was told its gibberish, so in other words, french.
The other french word I know is "but!" which I believe means "goal" from hockey.
Multi-cultural I am.
I mostly remember how to tell people that the birds are in the library and Guy and Monique are at the discotheque. Shameful, really, that that's what remains of six years of education. Youth really is wasted on the young.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
I did French immersion in junior high and high school—I received a certificate (long since lost) that claims I was bilingual (no, really!)—and of course what we used the really good classroom French-English dictionary for was looking up swear words. It's kinda funny, in retrospect, that the first thing we wanted to know was how to tell someone to go fuck themselves.
None of us ever got to be very good at French pronunciation in our high school classes (I took 5 years of French from middle school/junior high to high school), so we could get away with working those phrases into our responses to our French teacher. She’d look confused for a moment, and say “une fois de plus?” And then we’d say something else to throw her off. I remember laughing so hard and uncontrollably in that class that on more than one occasion she’d ask me to lay my head on the desk and gather myself for 5 or 10 minutes.
I had two practice teachers in my six years of immersion, poor bastards from Quebec sent out west to see what we heathens would do to their language (as many issues as I have with the Quebecois culture and politics, the French language is certainly beautiful). One guy (whom I just googled; he's still teaching French to the barbarians, but in Ontario) we teased mercilessly. The "huh" H sound doesn't exist in French, so he was talking about how "just because you 'ate someone, you don't 'ave to kill them," to which we asked whether Quebeckers ate people alive. He kept on saying, "'ate not ate." He deserved so much better than fuckwits in smalltown Saskatchewan.
I took an early year of French at the end of middle school (8th grade), so was a year ahead when I got to high school. In high school we were only required to take 3 years of a foreign language, but since a couple buddies and I were already a year ahead, and we more or less enjoyed it, we made it to a fifth year of French by our senior year. Since we had made it that far, our French teacher thought of us as some of her best students and we could get away with all kinds of shit. And yeah, she deserved way better than us. The French language is beautiful, but in hindsight, I wish I’d taken 5 years of Spanish, as I’d have had more opportunities to actually use it over the last 30+ years.
It's sad that, living in Ottawa where French is almost as common as English, I could actually benefit from truly speaking and understanding the language. But it's decades in the past and people speak too quickly for me to pick up on what's happening. So I mostly apologize for my deficiencies.
Yeah I wish I’d had more opportunities to practice/use it since then, but now I mostly just remember Freddy’s swear words and “Je vais a la montagne” – “I’m going to the mountain”. I can understand probably much less than 50% of the French I read if I puzzle it out, and spoken French goes by too fast – I never really learned to think in French, and the delay for translating it to English makes it too difficult for me to understand spoken French. I’d like to think it’s still in my head somewhere and I could probably pick it up again if I put the time in, but at this point I’d be more interested in travelling to Spain or Latin America, so I’d be more likely to devote the time to learning Spanish anyway. Our old brains aren’t as well suited to picking up foreign languages at this point without serious dedication and practice though.
The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John has a long mustache.
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Putting a little stick about. Putting the frighteners on flash little twerps
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Sir, please, this is the high school second-languages thread.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Sir, please, this is the high school second-languages thread.
The good takes, the bad takes, and the Queen takes high school second-languages, but some forget them.
The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John has a long mustache.
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Sir, please, this is the high school second-languages thread.
The good takes, the bad takes, and the Queen takes high school second-languages, but some forget them.
Far and away the worst Steely Dan record.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Sir, please, this is the high school second-languages thread.
The good takes, the bad takes, and the Queen takes high school second-languages, but some forget them.
Far and away the worst Steely Dan record.
I only remember the swear words.
The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John has a long mustache.
I *love* the first TGtB&tQ album. Couldn't get into the second at all though. I'm with Black on this - not a bad song on it. I return to it all the time.
Sir, please, this is the high school second-languages thread.
The good takes, the bad takes, and the Queen takes high school second-languages, but some forget them.
Far and away the worst Steely Dan record.
I only remember the swear words.
That comes from the people who hear it in the grocery store.
"Grab some wood, bub.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
