Jump to content

Patf

Members
  • Posts

    5,724
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Patf

  1. Thanks to all, especially for Boonah deminata. Like bon demain (good tomorrow?) Or more like Bon Matin. Betty - I know she has hardly any english (though maybe she understands a bit) because when she came for an interview she had her Romanian friend on her mobile phone, translating for her.She's just starting out, this is her second job.Feeling more confident now.
  2. Thanks Norman - I might just show her that when  I get to know her better.
  3. Good point about french. I'll try that.Do you know if they're religious at all? I thought maybe catholic because she's called Maria.And I had thought of starting with objects such as water, bucket, mop etc.
  4. Hoping someone can help - ?Betty?We live in an area with a big Romanian community, where many of the young women are employed as cleaners. Several friends say that they're good at that job.We've got to the age now when we need help in the house and have taken on a young Romanian woman to do the cleaning. Starting tomorrow. Not that I'm fussy about cleaning but husband is. The main problem will be that she knows no english so I think I should try to teach her. But where to start?
  5. My bet is that BJ will be exonerated. Not so sure, mind, after his showing today.I'm utterly disgusted with the lack of morality in the TP now. Others aren't much better. And our courts could be drawn into the same mess.
  6. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we had a very charismatic immo from a local french company who found the ideal buyer for our house. We had been on and off for years, he had got to know us with our doubts and changes of mind. But kept plodding on and finally got his commission. He was a good friend too.
  7. If your house is built on clay land, and especially if some of the building materials are clay, this could explain the cracks, even maybe the fallen wall. After a long period of drought. Insurance companies only pay out on this kind of damage if the govt. has declared it an Acte de Nature or something like that.You need to speak to your insurance company.I know about this because similar things happened in the commune of our first french house. After the 2003 canicule many old houses suffered subsidence and the govt. covered part of the insurance claims.
  8. L'oiseau wrote - EDIT. "I don’t think a proffered kiss would go down too well with a tetchy fonctionnaire, though! ;-)"Very true - you have to assess the social situation and pick your victims! The most difficult interview I had with a fonctionnaire was after we had sold our tractor, sans carte gris (long story). The buyer later decided he needed a carte gris or wanted his money back. We didn't have the complete legal paperwork so I went to the prefecture in great trepidation - bonjour, ca va? etc. The lady checked everything and looked very doubtful, but she saw that I was almost shaking with anxiety. Eventually she said d'accord, je l'accepte. Or something like that. We got the carte gris.
  9. That's a very good point about Bonjour, Weegie. And it can be followed up by ca va? Or comment allez-vous? And a handshake in many situations. Occasionally a kiss, before asking what you came about. It took me some time to learn that - we british have the habit of rushing into the main issue with no formalities.
  10. Good question Wooly.Following Mint's excellent example, my experience is that often when you ask a french person a question their first reaction is "...sais pas".It might be because their education is linked to a right answer, or a wrong answer. They're afraid to get it wrong. A correct answer is a good/bon reponse.  A wrong answer is a bad/mal reponse. The question becomes one of morality.I don't think there are french words for correct or incorrect.
  11. Our MT in France had 2 morning sessions a week when you could go and be seen that morning. you needed to be there by 8.30 am otherwise you would be there all morning.I don't think he does that now - they've all moved into a new Medical centre in the nearby biggest town. And are suffering from the 'rural desertification' of MTs. He has probably retired as he was over 60 when we left..As for speaking english - I did my best to speak to him in french and he would keep it simple for me. Except for one occasion when I asked how long the effect of a cortisone injection would be. He replied "Wait and see!"Another word of wisdom from him - "everyone over 50 has osteoarthritis." He usually had young medics with him who were finishing their training and most of them could speak english. Another time he was commenting on the increase of health complaints in the winter. I tried to translate the phrase from Shelley's Ode To the West Wind - "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" He seemed to appreciate that.The best GP we've ever had.https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2017/09/27/2653500-medecin-de-famille-avec-ses-parents-et-son-grand-pere.html
  12. Hoddy - much thanks for plodding on here, a thankless job usually.I have my own view on these francophile forums, but it probably wouldn't be popular on here.
  13. Further to Richard's post - in my previous post I implied that in France pharmacies are inclined to favour prescribed meds, because they get a bonus for each one.  Nothing for over the counter. So they put the price up. A few years ago many pharmacies had to combine or close down when the govt. reduced the number of reimbursed meds.
  14. Other examples are aspirin and paracetamol etc. About ten times more expensive than in the UK.I wonder if it has anything to do with the money that pharmacies get for each prescribed med?
  15. Then there are words like temperate, temperature, from a latin root:https://www.etymonline.com/word/temperateOne explanation on there which relates to time is 'regulated'.Language is fascinating, but imo you can never get an exact equivalent when translating one language to another. So many other cultural influences. Let alone grammar rules.
  16. Same here.If anything is going to put me off this forum it's that.
  17. Sad news - RIP Chris and condolences to the family.It sounds as if he had many problems towards the end, so perhaps his passing was a blessing.
  18. There are various routes. Our first house in France was in the Gers, SE of Condom and  due south of Auch, and was on one of those routes. We had pilgrims passing daily in the spring and summer. But I think the usual route from Condom was more to the west. Hopefully Mint will advise - she did the walk a few years agops I'm still in touch with neighbours there if you want me to contact them.
  19. I'm sorry to hear about Quillan's problems. He put a lot of effort into this forum, but said he had problems just before he left.
  20. 'pale blue flowers' - beautiful, as you say, Loiseau.We lived in a cereal growing area and it was often a puzzle to guess what each field contained. One farmer only ever grew maize - he fed it to his pigs. But the others chopped and changed, and occasionally grew flax. Other favourites were sarassin and colza. Wheat barley sunflowers etc.I think flax was used as a green manure.
  21. The main thing is not to have any static water nearby where they can breed.Avoid going out in the evening when they're more active.Cover up.
  22. I HATE all mosquitoes. And especially these ones.Most creatures have a positive aspect, but not mosquitoes.Another result of global warming.
  23. I  agree Idun. I remember the 2003 canicule. I think what made it worse was there hadn't been any rain for weeks.I remember coming over to UK for a visit in the August, and the blessed drizzle!
  24. Look up scierie bois in the yellow pages.We had an interesting sawmill near us - beside a river, all types of wood. You could choose a chunk of wood and they would cut it to size for you.
  25. Richard - for your BiL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKNw477onU
×
×
  • Create New...