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I fooled a native speaker | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| Kualidu Triglot Groupie Mexico Joined 5986 days ago 93 posts - 102 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 41 of 56 30 November 2007 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Let's show off *blink*
I haven't taken either DELF or DALF but I got passing marks in this "unintentional" test. Even though I have a B.A. in French I had only been in France (for the first time) for around two months at the time this happened to me: I once had to call the American embassy in order to fix an appointment for an interview as part of the visa application process. At the end of the call I was told I could pick up a fill-out form at any travel agency in France. So, I went to the nearest travel agency in town and asked the lady on the desk if I could have an application form for an American visa. She was very kind and opened a drawer but told me she had run out of forms. So I inquired if there was another travel agency (I was living in a VERY small town) where I could get one. However, instead of giving me an answer she just stared at me and smiled. What she told me next sent me right up to the sky: Mais les citoyens francais n'ont pas besoin de visa pour aller aux Etats Unis. (But French citizens don't need a visa to travel to the USA) And then I responded: Je sais. Mais je suis pas francais, je suis mexicain. She just went: Ah! Edited by Kualidu on 04 December 2007 at 1:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lloydkirk Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6193 days ago 429 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 42 of 56 02 December 2007 at 11:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Kualidu: If you really wanted to show off, you might have wanted to say, "Je NE suis pas Francais". Typo, perhaps?:)
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| Kualidu Triglot Groupie Mexico Joined 5986 days ago 93 posts - 102 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 43 of 56 03 December 2007 at 12:56am | IP Logged | |||||
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No, it was not a typo. I'm thinking I probably said J'suis pas francais... etc. Thanks anyway ;) Edited by Kualidu on 03 December 2007 at 12:58am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| furyou_gaijin Senior Member Japan Joined 6166 days ago 540 posts - 631 votes Speaks: Latin* | Message 44 of 56 03 December 2007 at 5:19am | IP Logged | |||||
Ha-ha! :-)) Priceless. Well done. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lloydkirk Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6193 days ago 429 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 45 of 56 03 December 2007 at 5:42am | IP Logged | |||||
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Is that proper French? Never seen it before...
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| Gilgamesh Tetraglot Senior Member England Joined 6022 days ago 452 posts - 468 votes 14 sounds Speaks: Dutch, English, German, French Studies: Polish | Message 46 of 56 03 December 2007 at 6:27am | IP Logged | |||||
That's rather surprising. It's just a more colloquial way to say it. You probably won't really find it in written language, but as far as spoken language is concerned, it's hard to miss... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Vlad Trilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member Czechoslovakia foreverastudent.com Joined 6364 days ago 443 posts - 576 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Czech*, Slovak*, Hungarian*, Mandarin, EnglishC2, GermanC2, ItalianC1, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Serbian, French Studies: Persian, Taiwanese, Romanian, Portuguese | Message 47 of 56 03 December 2007 at 12:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'll second that :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kualidu Triglot Groupie Mexico Joined 5986 days ago 93 posts - 102 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 48 of 56 04 December 2007 at 1:24am | IP Logged | |||||
Actually this is the way most speakers would say it --at least the ones in France-- in an informal context. The "NE" is hardly ever used in a casual conversation. Your professor probably doesn't want you to know there are other informal contractions besides the ones in your textbook like, for example, when people say t'es for Tu es, t'as for tu as, etc. The one I love is "Je ne sais pas", which becomes something like Zhsaypah. If you ever want to surprise him/her, you should respond one day in class: "J'sais pas, moi". I take no responsability for your grades though. :) 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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