France & French language

[Delenn]

You have visited France & you want to tell about your journey...
You're planning a trip to France & you have some questions about it...
You're learning French & you've a question about a word, a sentence...

...this topic is for you! Feel free to ask everything you want about France & French language!

[mi_guard]

where do you live in France?

[Promethius30]

Been to france twice, once Paris for a week, and Catalan for a weekend... For the rugby.
Lovely country, I learned the language at high school.... But after 3 and half years without practice so I'm quite rusty

[mi_guard]

I love the region called "Alsace", mainly the villages along the "Route du vin" just lovely

[Artemis-Neith]

I love the region called "Alsace", mainly the villages along the "Route du vin" just lovely

Always worth a visit!

Nice landscape and good vine!

[jeri]

3 years of high school French, and I don't really remember much. Proves the old saying, If you don't use it, you lose it.
Haven't been there yet, someday. My 2 trips to Europe where arranged by my aunt. She asked me where should we go this week? Vienna or Paris? I said Paris. We went to Vienna. So you see how it was traveling with my aunt!

[SF_and_Coffee]

Four years of French in junior high and high school, a semester in college, and spotty use in the nearly three decades since then. *sigh* But I can still manage to read in it, at least to some extent. I should practice more often!

[mad_gater]

All I know about France is that French baking of most pastries and sweet stuff involves lots of butter and sugar....

[Delenn]

where do you live in France?

I live in a region called the Loire Valley, in a city called Blois. It's a region steeped in history & we have a lot of beautiful castles to visit. Maybe you've heard about the "Château de Chambord"... My parents live about 12 km from this place. And my region is also famous for its wine.

By the way, I've noticed that a lot of new tv series use French language, French characters... (i.e. Ringer or Grimm) It's quite surprising for me to hear French words when I watch an American series. Is French "en vogue" (fashionable) in the US?

[SF_and_Coffee]

French words and phrases have long been sprinkled here and there in American speech and writing. Many Americans use French terms without actually knowing any French, and perhaps not even knowing the exact meaning of the terms they use. This is because they get tossed about in general speech and writing and are accepted as though they were part of American English. A couple of good examples would be an American saying or writing, "She had a certain je ne sais quois about her," or "He called and said he needed me to be there tout de suite." Half the time, if you asked the person using those phrases to tell you their actual meaning, you'd likely receive a blank look in response.

[Ben 'Teal'c would WIN!!' Noble]

French words and phrases have long been sprinkled here and there in American speech and writing. Many Americans use French terms without actually knowing any French, and perhaps not even knowing the exact meaning of the terms they use. This is because they get tossed about in general speech and writing and are accepted as though they were part of American English. A couple of good examples would be an American saying or writing, "She had a certain je ne sais quois about her," or "He called and said he needed me to be there tout de suite." Half the time, if you asked the person using those phrases to tell you their actual meaning, you'd likely receive a blank look in response.

The same applies in UK too

[Duval]

Oh a good subject, I squeezed(tightened) delighted to give advice on my attractive country or on the language(tongue), but especially on regions to visit, as the Ardèche or better still, Pyrenees ^^
Although in the North it is not bad either, Bretagne in many of the beautiful landscapes.

[4thDoctor]

Interesting French exchange on Sanford & Son with the word "hors d'oeuvres"

Fred G. Sanford: Lamont, try some of these horse divers.
Lamont Sanford: Those aren't called "horse divers" that's French, it's pronounced whores de ovaries!