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Post by sistereurope on Jul 11, 2007 12:07:33 GMT -5
Well, my daughter is taking Spanish and both my husband and stepson are studying Japanese - it gets really confusing at our house!
Last night we were quizzing my daughter in Spanish to prepare for our trip and my husband, who speaks French fluently and knows some basic Spanish (the brat) said "how do you say 'how many' in Spanish?." My daughter forgot, so I yelled out "Combien!", really thinking that it was how you say it in Spanish!
Of course I was happy to realize that I had been thinking in French ;D
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Post by cybee on Jul 11, 2007 12:23:57 GMT -5
Ha! Goldenmama, that gave me a good laugh (re saying "si!" at the restaurants in Paris)! Your hubby likely thought he was quite clever at the time! ;D Hey, SisterEurpoe, I am thinking your upcoming trip to Mexico "looks" wonderful!!!!! mmm! I could handle something like that around now!  |
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Post by GitteK on Jul 11, 2007 12:34:14 GMT -5
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Post by arrowcapet on Jul 11, 2007 13:17:23 GMT -5
GitteK is correct in that one uses "Si" in French to respond to a statement or question that is posed negatively, where the affirmative answer contradicts the statement. It's usually meant to be pretty emphatic as well.
He did not wear brown pants, did he? Si, he did.
So...he wore brown pants? Oui, he did.
Where's Les when you need her???
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Post by Penny on Jul 11, 2007 13:20:54 GMT -5
Spanish/French
Since I lived in S. California, then many, many years in Dallas I know enough Spanish to get by, LOL like my favorite foods and did fine on trip to Mexico.
these posts remind me of a funny. I had practiced the hello, thank you and the numbers for first visit.
After visiting Orsay we went to a sourvier shop close to museum. I was standing outside waiting for my friend and I hear this woman counting, OK, I'm thinking great I can understand her. The next thing you hear is her husband saying "French, no Espano"
I also tend to forget and say Por Favor instead of s'il vous plait.
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 11, 2007 13:32:41 GMT -5
Okay, A(LG)C, now I'm confused - I thought "si" in French was "if" and didn't know that it seems to have another meaning (or is it more a colloquial thing, equivalent to "as if!" in American slang?).
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Post by GitteK on Jul 11, 2007 13:37:01 GMT -5
becky - it DOES mean "if" also - the word has more than one meaning. It is not slang or colloquial.
Words like that are called homonyms, like in English
"bank" (the horrible place that send you nasty letters about overdrafts) and "bank" (the wonderful place by the river where you used to hold your first boyfriend's hand)
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 11, 2007 13:37:58 GMT -5
Sort of like how confused I got on my first trip to Paris, wondering why the bridge by Notre Dame was named "nine"? ;D
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Post by geordy on Jul 11, 2007 13:58:10 GMT -5
I guess we've all had that problem! My high school and 1 semester in College language was Spanish. Also alot of it spoken here and came in handy in my profession. I found my French improved dramatically went I went to Spain(after several trips to France where I too said si instead of oui. Get to Spain and I'm spouting French! And once I got into the swing of the Spanish...it was like I was on a 30 second delay..someone would say something, I'd look at them speechless, and then the meaning would come through!  And then in Zurich where every one speaks at least two languages one usually English I'd start in French, because I was just there, and blow my English opportunity! Of course the French did not last long!  |
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Post by Happygoin on Jul 11, 2007 14:15:26 GMT -5
Becky, that's so funny to me...I had the same problem for YEARS with the Pont NINE . |
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Post by arrowcapet on Jul 11, 2007 21:36:47 GMT -5
So you both now know that Le Pont Neuf (The New Bridge), is actually the oldest bridge in Paris, but is still called the new one because when it was built it was so different from the others, and such a stand-out that everyone simply referred to it as Le Pont Neuf, and it basically just stuck. So, now, the next part of your assignment is to write back and tell us who the statue is of on the middle of the bridge, and why he is there.
Oh, and "si" can also mean "so" in English, in addition to yes and if. As in, il est si bizarre!
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 11, 2007 22:05:00 GMT -5
Il est Henri IV - mais, pourqoi? Je ne sais pas . . . .
It was begun by Henri III, I believe, and I know who the statue is, but not sure why it's there.
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Post by Happygoin on Jul 12, 2007 6:29:07 GMT -5
Oh Becky...you're SUCH a teacher's pet...(of course, I have no idea)
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 12, 2007 7:25:04 GMT -5
Drat! I learned all about the Pont Neuf on my Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruise...but I guess I should have been paying better attention because I forgot about the statue! I could cheat and google it, but I won't. So does anyone else know the answer to Arrow's quiz WITHOUT cheating?  |
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Post by Anne on Jul 12, 2007 7:48:57 GMT -5
Well, I know the answer, but I suppose that the fact that I am French would be considered somehow as cheating ? So I am not telling you ;D
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 12, 2007 7:50:47 GMT -5
Well Anne, you don't live in Paris so I would say that it's NOT cheating for you to answer ;D
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 12, 2007 7:52:39 GMT -5
HEY!!! I've joined the Methuselah club!!!  |
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Post by Anne on Jul 12, 2007 8:29:17 GMT -5
Congratulation Sister Well, Becky was right, it is Henri IV indeed . And since the the material of the statue came from the melting down of a former statue of Napoleon and since the guy who manufactured the new statue was actually a pro-Napoleon, he finished his job by installing a small statue of Napoleon in the arms of Henri IV . Is that right Arrow ? |
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Post by Anne on Jul 12, 2007 8:52:07 GMT -5
Well, to be very honest Sister, I AM cheating a bit here : my father was a Parisian (very much so), so I used to go to Paris twice or three times a year from early childhood onwards to visit my Parisian grand-parents |
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 12, 2007 8:56:10 GMT -5
That's ok...I was born in Baltimore and work downtown (so I'm here every day) and I bet that I couldn't answer some questions about various monuments in Baltimore! So I'd say that you still win the prize |
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hahahha