Topic: French (language) discussion thread

I figured since I made a thread for Japanese, I should make one for the other language I'm studying, French.

Since I graduated from university, I haven't had much of a way to study or practice French. I'm not nearly as good at it as I am with Japanese, but I do try to study. This year I moved to Kanagawa (the prefecture south of Tokyo), and I don't get to meet many French speakers here, either Francophone or Japanese people who are studying French. They're much easier to come by in Tokyo or the Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe area.

Probably the only way I get to hear it outside of internet studies and textbooks is the weekly French program on NHK, テレビでフランス語 (Terebi de Furansugo). It has some pretty good study advice and vocab/grammar lessons, but I don't think its enough by a long shot. Of course, its much better than anything on American TV, thought when I was living in Canada I came across a lot more French speakers.

So, even if its just casual chat, I'd like to set this up to discuss French language topics, advice, or anything else related to it.

Not technically language related, but why do the French eat snails?

Because why not? I mean really, I'm actually very surprised our culture is so limited when it comes to food, and I personally find it wasteful. What's really so wrong with eating snails so long as they're edible? Unless it makes you sick (I've never heard of anyone getting sick from escargo), especially when it's cooked right, why not eat it?

EDIT: Well, okay, so raw snails is lethal...I'll give you that. But still, if it's cooked right, it's safe, so...

@Mickeymac: improperly cooked snails are quite dangerous, actually — you can wind up with parasites. Also, regarding snails as a food source, i know apple snails were introduced to Taiwan and are now a major threat to rice farming and indigenous wildlife. They're also a threat to taro production in Hawaii (again, introduced as a potential food source) and to agriculture in the US as well. There's nothing wrong with the idea of eating snails IMO, but there are other things to be considered in terms of having them as a major food source (or even as a pet; that's the only reason i know all this D: )

Yeah, I probably should've done research before I wrote that.

I used to have a couple Apple Snails in my aquarium, until my loach ate them...

Actually, a lot of cultures eat snails. Its not so common in Japan, but I've heard about it before.

But you know, you can order escargot pretty much anywhere in the States too, so yeah...

So, no go on the French talk?

It's been years since I did French. I'd love to learn Old French, I have a side by side translation of "Le chevalier as deus espees" and a copy of "the lais of Marie of France" with some of the lays in Old French in the back. Odd bits here and there are very readable with my Beginners French knowledge.

That's pretty awesome. Can you still read a good deal of it? I had some friends in high school that were getting really good at it, but stopped learning it after high school or college, and then it just faded away. Most of them can listen to it or look at it in a book and make out a great deal of it though.

Since I've been putting so much time and energy into my Japanese studies, I don't get into French as much as I'd like, but I do pick up my little grammar books, or phrase books fairly often these days and have little mini-conversations with myself. that helped me a bit with my Japanese when I was in New York and California and I didn't have people to talk to.

People also eat clams and other similar marine animals that taste and feel like snails, and noone minds those.
Kinda like eating Lobster vs eating Roaches, or eating Crab vs eating Spiders.

Anyways, having spanish as my main language, I have no problem vaguely understanding french (and other similar languages). It's fun to tune in foreign tv channels and try to understand it.

I'm a bit like your friends, very rarely I'll stumble across some French online and be able to understand a bit of it but there isn't a chance of me being able to hold any kind of conversation. It's been almost six years since I did French for my HSC and it was just Beginners.

@Usagi-san I do think French is fairly intuitive, even if the accents and intonation is hard, compared to Spanish and English anyway.

Oh, quick question. What's a good translation for "on y va"? My electronic dictionary isn't giving me anything. Is it like "allons-y"?

Google says yes http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/on-y-va.htm

Got it, though I'm under the impression that "allons-y" has a bit more ooph to it, like you're embarking on something a bit bigger.

I am not sure the exact literal difference but yea they are basically the same. I'd have tried responding in French but need to go figure out how to turn autocorrect off for my phone first. I know people who did immersion programs and came back way ahead of me to the point that it was discouraging to try continuing it at Uni. I really regret putting other stuff ahead of my language studies now considering how much i could have learned in one trip but say la v. (Autocorrect.) Still I've retained a good bit from talking to them and just maintaining a general interest in languages if no dedicated study or practice.

I'd help but I've just studied it like less than a year. However, I'll keep watching this thread so I can learn a little more. Merci beaucoup つちのこさん.

ok... i am from quebec so its not France french but its french....allo ca va?

I'm still going to a Francophone school to which I have gone to for around 10 years. I have been in two different English schools, one year each.
Everything is taught in French, except for English class and Spanish class, obviously. It's really not that hard, the French language, though some trouble my classmates and I have is that there are a lack of works written in this wonderful language. We have to do translations of about everything we read from English to French. It's annoying sometimes, but hey, that's life.

Oui, bonjour! All the cool French speakers come from Quebec. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, lol.
C'est d'après mon avis, au moins. Il y a plein de personnes qui parlent avec l'accent dans mon école est c'est meilleur chose au monde.