Hello ! This is my question : Do you like France and french ? Me of course, because I'm french. But I really love english ! And england ! I already visited London, and I went to Blackpool, a park of charm. I went to the English school one day. It was brilliant! And you ? Did you already go in France? Bye bye !
Salut écriture! I am a big fan of the country and people and visit l'héxagone at least twice a year. Four years ago I finished a university degree in the French language with French literature as an optional and then went to teach English and literature for six months in a lycée in Reims. Then I worked in Biarritz, Beziers and en Bretagne in various roles as well. In fact I'll be back in France next week, on holiday in Fréjus. I would have replied to you in French for practice but the official language of the site is English for your information. I think by the way you mean to say 'theme park' for 'parc d'attractions'. Bienvenue!
I haven't really an opinion of France itself, though one side of my family is of French-Canadian descent, so I enjoy learning about that. The area I live in used to be New France.
I have no porblem with the country France, but I don't like the language. The schools made me take it from grade four to grade nine. I managed to squeak by with a 52%, just enough to pass.
Never been to France and really have no desire to go. I prefer natural beauty and the tourist attractions there all seem to be the cities and the art. Never enjoyed attempting to learn french had to take it in school and my last average in grade 9 was 16%.
When I went to France with my Grandparents back in 97, I found the French extremely rude and abrasive (Especially in Paris) the moment they deduced I was American (I assume this as its only when we mentioned we were American tourists that they became rude and abrasive). My mother and sister visited three years ago and reported they experienced the same thing. My dad however being in the 82nd airborne went to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and did a reenactment drop from a C130 (WHy were they dropping from C130's and calling it a reenactment I'll never know) but he said the folk in Normandy were very friendly, very hospitable (Maybe its just Paris or we got really unlucky during our other trips). As for the language it's ok. I knew some spanish and the basics are very similar as far as grammar goes so it wasn't too hard to learn, but I wasn't really committed to learning the language and dumped everything when I graduated. Knowing my luck that will bite me in the arse some day XD.
J'ai étudié le français depuis cinq ans mais j'ai oublié une bonne partie de que j'ai appris. I also studied Vietnamese, and while in Vietnam (formerly French Indochina) I could often communicate in French when my Vietnamese vocabularly was insufficient. As far as my feelings about France, many of my friends who have visited your country report that the French people are very rude to Americans. I have no desire to spend my money to visit a place where the predominant feeling is anti-American . . . I can get that treatment right here in San Francisco - for free!
I have cousins living in Paris, but we generally speak in Japanese with one another. I did study French for 4 years (with an AP course under my belt), though after high school was over, I went back to rediscover my roots and have completely forgot my French I think French is a very beautiful language, even with the trilling r's. Also, some great films come out of France. I'd love to visit the country some day.
I have drove through France when we went skiing in Italy and that is the only time I have been there, but I really would love to live there for some reason. I am also learning French at school, which although it is hard, I really want to be fluent.
The French are rude to everybody, it's a well-known fact. I'm learning the language, but I won't use it for anything Europe-related since the continent doesn't interest me. I can speak it in scenic Rwanda and beautiful Canada.
That seems kind of like a simplistic overgeneralization. :/ A long while back I remember making some positive comments about France online, and the reaction I got from Americans was largely not only negative, but vitriolic; it seemed strangely unwarranted. I was even personally attacked and called vile names. And while visiting a nearby French-Canadian landmark with my family recently, my brother and father made all sorts of anti-French jokes. So maybe some of the perceived French rudeness is just in return for that? I'd love to learn French, if only to read some of the historic Canadian documents available online, but I'm horrid with anything other than English! Anyway, I'll bow out now to avoid more conflict. My apologies if this was bad enough.
I can't remember having any friends who had a good experience in france. I've known about a dozen people who have gone there and the review has always been very negative (Save my dad's trip to normandy). I doubt the french are simply reacting to American stigma because I knew people in GB while my dad was stationed there (British friends mind you) who would go to France and say everyone was rude, so its not just Americans. I doubt the french rudeness is a recent thing either. French jokes in the US have only become common in that last five or six years or so. Prior to 2002 I don't remember anyone ever making a French joke (And I grew up in the army where everyone makes French jokes now). I think the anti-french stigma that currently exists in the US was simply backlash at the French nation over the country's stance on the War on Terror (Who remembers that stupid idea to call french fries freedom fries?). It's a recent social event in the US and I went to france prior to that event as did many people I know.
I think the country or culture to hate goes in cycles. when I was a kid it was Americans who were rude and obnoxious. in Canada it is the french and almost always has been. They want to take all of Canada or at least separate from it. The French in France are now the popular culture to joke about. Japan and China are also on the belittle list. I think we will all wake up some morning and find that Canadians are the new bad guys on the block. Although who could find Canadians anything but wonderful is beyond me. very tongue in cheek with the last statement. I think this thread is counter productive to peaceful happy chats or at least it could become that.
Ahh I took my French GCSE 2 years early and got an A. However, I went to france this year and could only remember basic phrases. This could be becuase I have learnt Italian and some Norwegian since then but if you want to be fluent you really have to keep practising. My mum is fluent in French, but she has a French pen friend going back like 35years so she writes to her every few weeks..... It is quite hard otherwise.
