Patricia Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 We hear so many criticisms of the inefficiency of French bureaucracy that I felt a little praise may be called for. Yesterday, I sent an email to the office which issues the tax demands on property for the whole of the department, requesting a copy of the demand as mine had been lost in the post. As the tax had already been collected through the bank, I expected a long delay in receiving, if ever, a copy of the paperwork. To be fair I would probably have had the same expectation in England. Within less than 35 minutes the copy appeared in my mailbox accompanied by a very friendly message! How's that for service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 That's good Patricia. How's this? At our "regular" haunt in the Dordogne, this year I queried the bill. There was no discount applied for the long stay that we always take. Suzanne, the lovely and (usually) efficient Guardien, took one look at the bill, realised she'd missed applying the discount, also realised the amount of paperwork that would need to be re-done and said... "Some years you get it, and some you don't" Exit Martyn & Andrea from the Accuiel with looks that were probably beyond description :D Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Patricia - 2010-11-03 8:33 AM We hear so many criticisms of the inefficiency of French bureaucracy that I felt a little praise may be called for. Would I be correct in my assumption that you are reasonably fluent in French? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 I did write in French but most big organisations and firms in France employ people who speak in English, even on on-line chat lines. To my knowledge this is not the case using French speakers in the UK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Patricia - 2010-11-03 2:16 PM I did write in French but most big organisations and firms in France employ people who speak in English, even on on-line chat lines. To my knowledge this is not the case using French speakers in the UK! Which explains why you received such a prompt reply! The problem French people have is even if they hold just a little knowledge of english, most are reluctant to speak it. By far the strangest situation i've encountered is in Switzerland where 70% of the population are Swiss-German who speak Schwyzerdeutsch amongst themselves. They are also fluent in High German as that is what is taught in their Schools. However, the Swiss-French who only make up 20% of the population either cannot or, as is more often the case, will not speak German. So many Swiss-German people have to become multi-lingual. My ex-wife (Swiss-German) is fluent in five languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 Bulletguy my comments were really making a comparison with English bureaucracy. As for the French being reluctant to speak English that has certainly not been my experience - many people that I meet are overjoyed to be able to practicse their Englsih, even if only for a short period. It really depends on the people involved. Some years ago we broke down in Switzerland, literally just yards from the border with the French speaking canton. I do not speak German and can only read a few words. Unfortunately for us the garage owner denied all knowledge of French (or English!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Patricia - 2010-11-04 7:27 PM It really depends on the people involved. Some years ago we broke down in Switzerland, literally just yards from the border with the French speaking canton. I do not speak German and can only read a few words. Unfortunately for us the garage owner denied all knowledge of French (or English!). He's on his own then......and if he couldn't even speak French either you must have met up with a reclusive cave dweller! I regularly visited Switzerland, even learnt a few words of Schwyzerdütsch (though learning High German is ten times easier!) and have never ever met one Swiss-German who had zero knowledge of english. One old guy I once met had learnt a little english during the war. He was in his late seventies and the conversation whilst fragmented was pretty damn good for a guy his age. My ex-wife and I once visited a furniture store in the French speaking part of Switzerland. We were in my car so obviously 'brit' reg and right hand drive. Parked up just in front of the reception area and as we walked in these two girls at the desk were jabbering to one another....in French of course. When we came out my ex-wife walked over to the desk and spoke to them. I don't speak French but could tell from the tone of her voice and the reaction from these two girls that all was not well. When we got back to the car I asked my ex-wife what that was all about. She told me they had seen us arrive, seen the car, wrongly assumed we were both British and as we went in she overheard them making derogatory remarks about us. So she tore 'em off a strip and left them looking pretty embarassed. I quite enjoyed that! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.