Squirrel Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 There's a very good interview with Johnny Depp (yum!) on the DVD of 'Arizona Dream.' The French director conducts the interview entirely in French, he can understand her apart from one or two odd words, but his replies are completely in English. Johnny said something funny once about living in France. He said at first he couldn't understand anything and it was refreshing to just be able to sit there and no have to speak! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 [quote user="Russethouse"] a member of the western group of Goths who sacked Rome and created a kingdom in present-day Spain and southern France [/quote]Does that mean they wore black eyeliner and spikey black hair?I got a grade 1 French O level and did about 3/4 of the A level course but then boys and booze prevented me from continuing with the course - it was at evening class at the time. I then spent about 20 years having holidays in France but when I moved here I realised I actually knew b****r all that was actually useful!!! My latin (for which I got 20% in the only exam I ever took) is quite useful for working out what english words you haven't come across before mean. And my german O level leaves me able to say haben sie hunger, haben sie durst, wie geht es ihnen, ich wohne in der nehe von Cherbourg and that's about it.[:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 I think you would have had an "A" in your O level. It was use less able folk that could get 1 2 3 4 or unclassified at CSE! (I got 3 in French Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 I remember coming to live in france for 6 months when I was 18, straight after studying it at A level. I didn't understand a word for 2 weeks! After, I got used to it and found I could understand more and more and communicate better and better. I went on to study it at university, but I can't say whether it was the studying or the frequent trips to France that helped me improve (probably the latter when I think of the pittiful state of my German) Living here and only ever speaking French outside of the classroom (and I don't think "where is Julie's hat? it's on the floor." really counts as English) has done the rest. I can also remember the hours spent learning the subjunctive and the past historic. Since leaving uni, I don't think I've ever written a single past historic, although I come across them in reading. And I seem to use the same subjunctives all the time. Maybe it would have been better to have only learnt être, faire, venir and aller to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 [quote user="JohnM"]I think you would have had an "A" in your O level. It was use less able folk that could get 1 2 3 4 or unclassified at CSE! (I got 3 in French[/quote] Correct. If you did CSE and got a grade 1 that would be equal to a C grade pass at O level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 I actually felt my French was pretty reasonable in a previous incarnation, when working regularly in the south, but living on the Normandy/Brittany/Pays de Loire borders I know how crap it really is. Although the poor souls (sorry, charming ladies) who have tried teaching me the language while I have been living here have been very encouraging, and manage to understand me pretty well, holding anything like a conversation with the locals is a real uphill struggle. It makes me feel like the Indian woman with Marjorie Dawes in Little Britain's Fat Fighters [:)]I suppose it all comes down to regional variations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 But but, I think that the indian lady in Little Britains english is good. Have I been away too long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 [quote user="Teamedup"]But but, I think that the indian lady in LittleBritains english is good. Have I been away too long?[/quote]Sorry, what's that again ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastobe Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 [quote user="JohnM"]I think you would have had an "A" in your O level.It was use less able folk that could get 1 2 3 4 or unclassified atCSE! (I got 3 in French[/quote]I think it depends when you took your O levels - they used to be graded1 to (I think) 7 before they had grades A to C. (Showing my agenow [:)] )Hastobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyC Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 I think it depends which exam board you took as well. Some used letters, some used numbers. What does depend on when you sat them is how many pass grades there were. When I took them, A,B,C,D,E and O (!) were pass grades, and I do mean proper pass grades, none of this "nobody fails this exam even if they get a G malarkey" that we've had more recently! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 [quote user="hastobe"][quote user="JohnM"]I think you would have had an "A" in your O level. It was use less able folk that could get 1 2 3 4 or unclassified at CSE! (I got 3 in French[/quote]I think it depends when you took your O levels - they used to be graded 1 to (I think) 7 before they had grades A to C. (Showing my age now [:)] )Hastobe[/quote]That's right Hastobe, when I took my O levels it was 1-6 as passes and 7 a fail. The year after I took mine they changed to 1-2=A, 3-4=B, 5-6=C, all the rest FAIL but still people used to proudly state they had 10 O levels and then include the 6 that they had got grade D or E For!!! Don't know if it depended on the board but I did Cambridge board. I'll let you into a secret, my German was actually only a CSE but it was a grade 1 so I always say I've got the O level. BUT I took the O level as well and got a grade 7 - dooooh!Love Scarlett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Katie Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Scarlett, did you take them both on the same day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 and recently had just over a year of private French lessons at home with my hubby, an American who had had lessons at Boston's French Institute as an adult. Could you rephrase that !!... [Www] Come to think of it, French is about the only thing I can still remember Waoowee! Some lesson that was....[;-)] [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 [quote user="KatieKopyKat"]Scarlett, did you take them both on the same day?[/quote]Couldn't have done that Katie, it would have been brain overload![+o(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith.P Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Sounds like a coach company from the 70`s or was that windsorian !!!!!!!!!Keith.p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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