mint Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I was always very good at spelling in English. Nowadays, I am experiencing unexpected problems. I think it's to do with French and English being so alike......[:P]Wanting to spell "tranquil," I had to look it up in the dictionary as I'd written tranquille and it looked absolutely fine to me. Until the spellcheck tells me I have got it wrong![+o(]Does anyone have similar problems?I'm not too happy about all of this as I cannot imagine having now to learn to spell in English all over again! I mean I learnt all that years ago in Primary School......!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 stop uzing lawng wooordz, was wrong wiv 'peeesefool'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericd Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Completely normal Sweet17. It's all down to age and too much time spent abroad. I have exactly the same problem with my French (however nothing to do with age as far as I am concerned) [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman II Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 For what it is worth I spell far better in English since I learnt French and German than ever I did at school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I think it's just an age thing sweets.At school I was always near or at the top of the class in English and spelling but these days even some simple words have me thinking 'have have I spelt that correctly' [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman II Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Total frustration at school. Useless comments like why do you not look it up in a dictionary. Answer because if I could spell the word well enough to find it in the dictionary I would have spelt it correctly. Great joy when I first bought a Thesaurus. Even more fun with spell checkers on PCs. Provided you treat UK English and Amerenglish as two languages no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suej Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Beware Sweet, for the next stage is when you can't remember the right English word to use never mind the spelling,and you then start splattering the odd French word into your supposedly English conversation/prose/ letters..When or if you realise what you've done you suddenly feel that you must sound so twee-ly pretentious to some people or to those who do know you're not being affected you risk being seen as forgetful and gallopping towards gaga-land.Methinks 'tis best not to think about it and just to tip-toe gaily on in absentedmindedness, n'est-ce pas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 medicine and medecineno idea which is for which country and my spelling is lousy anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 That's just me too, Suej! No problems with spelling - as long as I can remember the word! I'm also always asking OH for the word for a.................and describe it minutely for him to guess and tell me the English word. If he knows the French word for it, that's a shortcut; but trying to do a version of that game where you say it's a book, film, whateverand try to mime/fudge for him to guess is dreadful! [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 A British plumber called round last evening to quote for a job and I found I had forgotten the English for handbasin, quote, pipe ......... He was very tolerent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suej Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 [quote user="gardengirl "]That's just me too, I'm also always asking OH for the word for a.................and describe it minutely for him to guess and tell me the English word. If he knows the French word for it, that's a shortcut; but trying to do a version of that game where you say it's a book, film, whateverand try to mime/fudge for him to guess is dreadful! [:)][/quote] Someone ought to invent a tv game for folks like us Gardengirl, probably the only thing we'd ever win... Incidentally, if it's not a rude question , what were you doing up and about at 4.50- Dictionary Search??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 [quote user="AnOther"]At school I was always near or at the top of the class in English and spelling but these days even some simple words have me thinking 'have have I spelt that correctly' [:(][/quote]That's bad Ern when a 4 letter word defeats you.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 [quote user="Iceni"][quote user="AnOther"] At school I was always near or at the top of the class in English and spelling but these days even some simple words have me thinking 'have have I spelt that correctly' [:(] [/quote] That's bad Ern when a 4 letter word defeats you.John [/quote]And a royal stutter too!While I'm still coming at this from the other side, but I don't understand the problem since as Alexander Dumas reputedly quipped, ‘English is just French, badly pronounced’!bassin de main = Hand basin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Told you I woz lewsing it, stutter is mabe coz I watched unowhose Speech the other nite - shhhhhh. [:D][:D][:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 JJ, I wish you hadn't said anything about pronunciation because I now have a problem with that as well! Yes, especially when the word is French in origin such as garage, liqueur, jus (yes, watching too many cookery programmes), cause celebre, etc.Am having to pause and think about which language I am speaking in ........... I feel a right idiot (there another word that could be French or English, LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 [quote user="sweet 17"] JJ, I wish you hadn't said anything about pronunciation because I now have a problem with that as well! Yes, especially when the word is French in origin such as garage, liqueur, jus (yes, watching too many cookery programmes), cause celebre, etc.Am having to pause and think about which language I am speaking in ........... I feel a right idiot (there another word that could be French or English, LOL)[/quote]Dahhlink, don'cha'know, it's ab-b-s-o-lutely de rigueur to use french pronunciation when using french phrases . . . mange tout eh sweets[6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 After a few years in France we reckoned that we were getting semi-lingual instead of bi-lingal.I was out with old friends last week and when the odd word in my english vocabulary abandoned me, as it used to happen in France with french words and so the party game commences whereby I give a full description of the word sought and friends have to devine what I mean............ and I hate it happening to me.Truthfully some words seem to suit one language rather than another.I don't think I think about what language I'm speaking in; I seem to be able to come out with much rubbish in both qnd for the most part quite fluently.The trouble with the english speaking friends I had in France was that I could say 'remorque' for example in mid sentence and wouldn't have to find the 'english' word, and we all spoke franglais. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 But your franglais is particularly delightful, Idun. Sweet, I don't want to sound like I am bragging, but truly, my spelling hasn't suffered much in either language. I've always been a smart alec with words, which I put down to the fact that I am particularly stupid in so many other areas of life.independent - independant, address-adresse, onion-oignon, there are so many to play with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 5-e, you are still up and about! How lovely, delightful, formidable (er.....what's it mean, formidable?)However, I CAN spell "formidable", so that's OK then, as far as spelling goes?BTW, will be looking for a French class to go to. Only problem is, the only one I've been told about is run by an English person and I have sufficient trouble with my English without having an English teacher who is supposed to be teaching me French.[8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 My problem comes not from spelling (well, I do have a problem with spelling now, but that's another story altogether), but from what a word or item is in English.French doors will forever be known to me as porte fernetre for example and I always have to think about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Formidable that you are looking for a French class S.17! In your own case, simply because your French is already pretty good, you have to get the best teacher possible: so you are quite right to try and go to a class with a teacher who is both a native French speaker and a "real" language teacher. Too many people seem to think that speaking a language automatically turns them into into a teacher of that language. But also, if someone is a teacher, doesn't mean they can teach a language they might not know quite enough. This is where qualifications and experience come into the equation!About spelling: there are many very clever (but near dyslexic) people who are hopeless at spelling - in whatever language. Being good at spelling is not an intelligence indicator, it just shows some particular ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericd Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 [quote user="sweet 17"] Only problem is, the only one I've been told about is run by an English person and I have sufficient trouble with my English without having an English teacher who is supposed to be teaching me French.[8-)][/quote]Hm hm hm Sweet17........My wife is British and is also a qualified teacher (Delta etc..) she is actually qualified to teach teachers of the French language at all levels. Her students young and old have always been full of praise for the quality of her teaching from beginner's classes to higher levels. So don't knock the British teacher of French language, just make sure he/she is suitably qualified for the job.On the other hand, I agree with you that many British people "rather good at their own language" automatically think of themselves as being suitable teaching professionals. I am French born and would not dream at teaching you lot (unless you are real desperate and offer me a small fortune [:$].) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 The only thing I must say to defend my preference for a native speaker of French as a teacher is that I don't really enjoy learning a language per se and a "proper" French teacher can open doors to a whole new and exciting French world.I love the cultural side; what the language does for your understanding of the social, artistic, traditional aspects of the life that the language describes.To give a very basic example, I soon learned, practically right after arrival, to ask for "un petit kilo" when I don't want quite as much as a full kilo and it's the sort of taken-for-granted statement that a native speaker would use but which a foreigner person would not necessarily understand.Another example is how you call where you live a "maison" (when you aren't talking about "chez") regardless of whether it's a house, a flat, a caravan, a shed, whatever. I remember thinking that very strange but it's little bits and bobs of information like that which I find fascinating.A language to me is a lot more than conjugating verbs (which lots of people I know seem to think it is) and being able to put pronouns in the right order [:D] Yes, yes, I know all that's hard enough but the reward for all that effort has got to be something rather more than the sum of the parts assembled together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 [quote user="ericd"] So don't knock the British teacher of French language, just make sure he/she is suitably qualified for the job.[/quote]And what makes your wife even more suitable to teach French, Eric, is that she is married to you, a French-born person! Not only she is a bilingual qualified teacher, but she is also likely to be bi-cultural - very important. But then there is the question of accent. It is very, very hard for an English-born person to completely lose their English accent - just as hard for a French-born person to lose their French accent. There are many native English speakers who speak French fluently but have a very strong English accent - and likewise for French native speakers with their English. Still, sometimes it can be done. Then you have those who are brought up speaking 2 or 3 languages equally perfectly... edit: whoops, I wrote the above without seeing Sweet 17's post - but that's OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I would love to hear Eric's english accent, living where he does, are there lovely Northumberland lilts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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