Archiesgrandad Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I imagine that my views on the EU are sufficiently well known for me to not need to reiterate them, so I watch for every sign that we are moving towards my " it's only an acorn after all" prediction being fulfilled.. There are only 2000 or so souls who live in our little French town and it's environs, so it amazes me that we have 2 fullsized supermarkets, 4 butchers shops, 3 bakeries, 4 ladies hairdressers plus a number of other bars, shops, restaurants etc. For whatever reason, CG prefers to do her big weekly shop in LeClerc at Montreyal some 20 miles away, I think it's the Waitrose syndrome. They have recently had a biggish makeover in LeClerc, all new chill cabinets and all that sort of thing, and they removed the cards that used to hang over the aisles indicating what was in there, in French of course. this week I was dutifully pushing the trolley round and lifting the heavy stuff when I noticed that since removing the overhead cards, they have printed the information about what's in each aisle on the end of the cabinets, in French, but also in English! (Just in case you didn't know, LeClerc is pronounced "Leclaire") Now, one of our local supermarkets, Carrefore,( pronounced Carryfor not Carfor) have put up signs saying that English people are welcome in their store, and if needed they will find a member of staff who can speak to you in English. We are finding that all around us people are prepared to try a little communication in English with us just as we try to communicate with them in French, so maybe in this area at least reality may be beginning to take a hold, and we might be picking up acorns all over the place. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Well there are a lot of Brits in your area and especially the Dordogne. Maybe they are showing they wont be alienating them. Good for them. I Would travel 20 miles to Leclerc, brilliant Cheese counter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Archiesgrandad - 2018-11-04 12:06 PM We are finding that all around us people are prepared to try a little communication in English with us just as we try to communicate with them in French, so maybe in this area at least reality may be beginning to take a hold, and we might be picking up acorns all over the place. I don't know how long you've been living in France AGD but it's almost a tradition among French not to communicate in English even if they can speak it. In France itself i see their point. British 'invaders' (such as yourself), come to live in their country to enjoy a nice lifestyle, form British enclaves, don't learn the language, and isolate themselves from French society. However for the casual tourist such as myself who visits many different countries, i find this French peculiarity annoying at times. Each country i visit i try to learn at least some basic words. Polish is possibly the most difficult and even they admit it's not an easy language to learn, but every country i've toured someone will speak English and i've lost count of the times a country citizen has kindly come to my aid when faced with communication problems from remote areas of Bulgaria to a tiny little village in Moldova where a young Ukrainian guy speaking fluent English, interpreted for me. I can't say the same for France though......there it's a rarity. Here's an even more obscure example. My ex-wife is Swiss-German and speaks five languages fluently, one of which is French. Most Swiss do..they have to......because Swiss-French cannot speak German and certainly won't be able to speak Schweizerdeutsch. Yet the Swiss-French account for just 22% of the countries population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 We are in our 4th year, and over that period I think I have seen quite a significant change in the way the French will sometimes try to help with a word or two in English. Even that nice Mr Macron has realised that of the world population of more than 7 billion people less than 1 % speak French, and for most of the rest English is the language of commerce, transport and communication, and French kids are now being taught English, and we get far more help than we used to, and I am sure that we have never been got at because we don't speak good French, but we do try, and I know that helps. In this part of France we do not tend to live in an English speaking enclave, we live amongst our French neighbors, and we are outnumbered by the Dutch, but it is a pretty happy community Our French neighbors joke that they love the English because we have rebuilt or restored most of the ruined and derelict housing stock in rural France, and with a bit of luck they will soon be buying them back at knockdown prices when Brexit kicks in, and they don't believe us when we explain that we are doing so because the Brits are intent on reclaiming our lands in Aquitain by buying it up, one house at a time. I think that reality is beginning to kick in with the French, and probably ,the rest of Europe too, and that behind all the bovine excrement and waffle, things are being worked out. For all our sakes I do hope so. I do wonder how all those German car makers, French and Spanish farmer and fishermen and heaven only knows who else will feel about supporting Irish separatism if it means that no deal can be done because of the Irish border situation. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Had a meal in Brantome on the way down ;-) .......... The German couple opposite gave up trying to speak German to the waiter, and ordered their meal in English :D ........ The English have taught the world how to communicate B-) .......... With Brexit we're teaching them how to stand up too bullies >:-) ............. Again *-) ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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