Good half

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Originally Posted by WES

Paris est bon, GG, tres bon! French isn?t progressing as quickly as I hoped but definitely getting better. Loving the food scene, art scene, music scene and generally exploring the city.

I watched the game at Brady?s Irish pub on Rue Lisbonne. Nice little place and they have Piper?s crisps to eat with my pints of lager! I live just north of Parc Monceau in Courcelles so just walk through the park and turn left onto Rue Lisbonne and Brady?s is about 5 min walk. Will be there for the PSG game as well if you plan on being in the city. My schwarma place is in Marais so too far for a post match kebab. Not many kebab shops in the 8th sadly.

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First leg only GG, in India for the 2nd leg sadly

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Originally Posted by WES

Well, let?s just agree to disagree, Peter.

His left arm is absolutely around him and his right arm is touching him, is that better? Either way it was stupid.

And if you think that letting your man get goal side of you and between you and the ball is a good way of defending a set piece I?m not convinced on your defensive strategy.

Now, shall we switch to something we can agree on? Just Like Tom Thumb?s Blues came on my playlist the other day :love:

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Disappointed, Wes. The French have softened you up. A year ago this argument would have lasted for weeks :-)

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Originally Posted by Peter

Disappointed, Wes. The French have softened you up. A year ago this argument would have lasted for weeks :-)

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Fair point well made :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by WES

First leg only GG, in India for the 2nd leg sadly

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Re: French. Does the glw speak it? Even if only basically, try to speak it together. It will get you more comfortable with the simple things so they come naturally - genders, common terms, verb conjugation and tenses - and get talking translation apps on your phones so you can both look for words or expressions you're searching for. It really helps if you're there with another Brit.

Oh, you're the sort of person who'd have Netflix. Watch everything in English with French subs. And pause and google when something doesn't make sense. That really helps.

And if you have a good French mate, ask them to correct you. We had lots of Italian raver mates in London. One spoke really good English, and I'd correct him when he made an error. He said "You're my only English mate who does that. Everyone won't cause they don't want to appear rude but how else will I learn?"

Get a local and chat with the barman. I never learned Italian but when I was in Sardinia once, using a Lonely Planet phrase book, I managed to get one to use teletext to find out the Arsenal CL qualifier score. {We won 3-0} and I started to communicate.

OH, this could be really helpful. One of my best mates moved back to France and does translation work. She says that by law, French companies have to pay staff who want it to do things once a month that would boost the worker's skills and productivity. So she teaches them business English by Zoom or whatever. {Also once got paid €4k for five days translating for their Foreign Office - they share that well paid work around. Very civilised.}

So it could be that your company, by law, would have to pay my mate Decibel [or someone else] to teach you French once a month.

Ask them, or if you want, I could ask her and see if it works that way.

Having an online one-to-one lesson with someone bilingual who can speak to you in French but correct and teach you could really help. And she works at every level - people having their first Business English lessons to translating formal documents for the French state.

Old skool raver but sweet as ****, married with a kid and two cats etc.

I think the state pays the company to pay your teacher once a month. So while they get one day's less work, it doesn't cost them and your increased proficiency adds to the company's {your} productivity.

Let me know if you want me to look into it. But always have Fr subs on Netflix and try to speak it at home.

Bon chance, poto.

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Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult

Re: French. Does the glw speak it? Even if only basically, try to speak it together. It will get you more comfortable with the simple things so they come naturally - genders, common terms, verb conjugation and tenses - and get talking translation apps on your phones so you can both look for words or expressions you're searching for. It really helps if you're there with another Brit.

Oh, you're the sort of person who'd have Netflix. Watch everything in English with French subs. And pause and google when something doesn't make sense. That really helps.

And if you have a good French mate, ask them to correct you. We had lots of Italian raver mates in London. One spoke really good English, and I'd correct him when he made an error. He said "You're my only English mate who does that. Everyone won't cause they don't want to appear rude but how else will I learn?"

Get a local and chat with the barman. I never learned Italian but when I was in Sardinia once, using a Lonely Planet phrase book, I managed to get one to use teletext to find out the Arsenal CL qualifier score. {We won 3-0} and I started to communicate.

OH, this could be really helpful. One of my best mates moved back to France and does translation work. She says that by law, French companies have to pay staff who want it to do things once a month that would boost the worker's skills and productivity. So she teaches them business English by Zoom or whatever. {Also once got paid €4k for five days translating for their Foreign Office - they share that well paid work around. Very civilised.}

So it could be that your company, by law, would have to pay my mate Decibel [or someone else] to teach you French once a month.

Ask them, or if you want, I could ask her and see if it works that way.

Having an online one-to-one lesson with someone bilingual who can speak to you in French but correct and teach you could really help. And she works at every level - people having their first Business English lessons to translating formal documents for the French state.

Old skool raver but sweet as ****, married with a kid and two cats etc.

I think the state pays the company to pay your teacher once a month. So while they get one day's less work, it doesn't cost them and your increased proficiency adds to the company's {your} productivity.

Let me know if you want me to look into it. But always have Fr subs on Netflix and try to speak it at home.

Bon chance, poto.

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Thanks GG, great advice. I'm doing pretty much all of that - Mrs WES is learning it too and we're both doing courses and endlessly asking people 'encore et lentement svp' so we can learn it. My professeur is a quite attractive uni student who lives in Mauritius!

Toughest part is just how quickly the Frenchies speak! Still struggle with penetrating the accent.

We'll get there but it is more slowly than I had hoped. I can pretty much read it now and speaking is ciming along. Someone told me I'd be fluent in 3 months but no chance of that, sadly.

Paris is, well, Paris. There's a reason it's the most visited city in the world. Loving it here. Can't imagine life without a tradition every day.

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Originally Posted by WES

Thanks GG, great advice. I'm doing pretty much all of that - Mrs WES is learning it too and we're both doing courses and endlessly asking people 'encore et lentement svp' so we can learn it. My professeur is a quite attractive uni student who lives in Mauritius!

Toughest part is just how quickly the Frenchies speak! Still struggle with penetrating the accent.

We'll get there but it is more slowly than I had hoped. I can pretty much read it now and speaking is ciming along. Someone told me I'd be fluent in 3 months but no chance of that, sadly.

Paris is, well, Paris. There's a reason it's the most visited city in the world. Loving it here. Can't imagine life without a tradition every day.

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'encore et lentement svp' is vital.

What you really want is one or more best mates. I remember being with one of my best mates in Toulouse and one lunchtime she had a couple of friends 'round. They were nattering away but when she saw one of her mates had spoken to fast for me, she'd repeat what she'd been asked and answer in noticeably slower French. That way her mates would remember I was there and listening {and speaking a bit}, would get my level and would all make an effort to slow it down a bit for me.

If you have a best mate who takes you out and introduces you to his mates, he'll do the same, hopefully. Certainly once you ask. Despite what Brexiter types say, Parisians are incredibly polite if you try to speak their lingo.

Likewise, as with that Italian mate of mine, ask your mates to correct your errors, say it's not offending you, quite the opposite. Th ey'll get used to it and it makes it easier to remember what they corrected cos you can visualise where you were told.

Are you watching Netflix with Fr subs? We only have iPlayer at home but when staying with my mate opposite Ile St Louis, his 20 year old daughter was really into this Ch4 comedy set in a Bristol 6th form college so we watched that each night along with computer football and decent music.

So I'd listen to the English, read the French words and when something didn't make sense, I'd hit pause ad ask her. Might get a 3 word answer, we might talk about why the language was like that for 10-15 mins.

{It was great cos I once helped her. Two of the 6th formers, bf and gf, were sitting by the river in Bristol.

Boy: My mum and dad really feck me up, Kerry.
Girl: Yeah, Steve, but they don't mean to, y'know.
Boy: I get that Kerry, but they really do.

When I told her that was basically a famous post-war poem by Phillip Larkin she was amazed. It made her love the show even more.}

Oh, one time I was in Toulouse and the bloke was there with one of his male mates. The 12-2pm local tv show was on. We'd all been chatting and my French was at its very best 'round then. TV show had an article on Brit retirees living in the area who were doing French cookery lessons. My mates mate said in French "Fear God, the ****ing English get everywhere" and he nodded in my direction to remind his mate he'd been talking to a Rosbif.

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Originally Posted by WES

Thanks GG, great advice. I'm doing pretty much all of that - Mrs WES is learning it too and we're both doing courses and endlessly asking people 'encore et lentement svp' so we can learn it. My professeur is a quite attractive uni student who lives in Mauritius!

Toughest part is just how quickly the Frenchies speak! Still struggle with penetrating the accent.

We'll get there but it is more slowly than I had hoped. I can pretty much read it now and speaking is ciming along. Someone told me I'd be fluent in 3 months but no chance of that, sadly.

Paris is, well, Paris. There's a reason it's the most visited city in the world. Loving it here. Can't imagine life without a tradition every day.

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PS I'd kill to be able to get a tradition every day here.

Oh, and French music you like. Get the lyrics up and learn the song. That really helps. I know what a bullet proof vest is cos of the punk song, Petit papa Noel by Les Sales Majest?s for example.

Helps with the various accents, too.