English Speakers and French subtleties Hey everyone,
I’m a novice when it comes to spoken French and the subtleties of the language but I really want to do it justice when I reference it in my novel. The particular scene I need help with is a first person account of a French woman where she tells the reader about an occasion when was approached by English Gentleman (an official and very well educated) who was fluent French speaker, but not a native, and how she knew he wasn't French. I wanted to include details of how she
she might have missed initially if she wasn’t paying too much attention to him but as her guard was up already in the scene, she was able to spot the giveaways that others may have missed.
Whether it be pronunciation, tense, inflection or something to do with the time etc.
The English man in the scene approached the French woman when she’s at work in a post office and hands her a note. He tells her something along the lines of ”I need this delivered by tomorrow morning, 9:30 at the latest. Tracked” with a French name and address on the envelope. I’m thinking something around the way he says the time could be interesting, but I’m not sure how it would work yet?
What are some subtle giveaways that native French speakers pick up with non native French speakers that indicate to them them that they’re not French? (That aren’t so obvious.)
Any thoughts will be helpful. Thank you for your time🙏🏻
Is there some reason to use one or the other? It seems to me that there needs to be an object for ¨adorer¨...?
That would literally translate to “chose a service punctual or regular.” Why isn’t instead “ponctuel et régulier?”
I believe the English should say ‘Tomorrow Federer will lose to Roland Garros’.
Yet, "un vrai nom" can mean a person's real name, correct?
Hey everyone,
I’m a novice when it comes to spoken French and the subtleties of the language but I really want to do it justice when I reference it in my novel. The particular scene I need help with is a first person account of a French woman where she tells the reader about an occasion when was approached by English Gentleman (an official and very well educated) who was fluent French speaker, but not a native, and how she knew he wasn't French. I wanted to include details of how she
she might have missed initially if she wasn’t paying too much attention to him but as her guard was up already in the scene, she was able to spot the giveaways that others may have missed.
Whether it be pronunciation, tense, inflection or something to do with the time etc.
The English man in the scene approached the French woman when she’s at work in a post office and hands her a note. He tells her something along the lines of ”I need this delivered by tomorrow morning, 9:30 at the latest. Tracked” with a French name and address on the envelope. I’m thinking something around the way he says the time could be interesting, but I’m not sure how it would work yet?
What are some subtle giveaways that native French speakers pick up with non native French speakers that indicate to them them that they’re not French? (That aren’t so obvious.)
Any thoughts will be helpful. Thank you for your time🙏🏻
I was definitely listening to this exercise in French but the answers were shown in English with various options provided. That's not how this usually works, unless I've been drinking too much eggnog...
The commentary is simply too fast. May I suggest that you have a slower speed, in addition to the present one. Duolingo does this, and I find I need to break down the words -- then, I can play the faster speed, as I know conversations aren't done in a slow speed. But, as of now, the words simply run together and I can't discern individual words.
Hi, I think there are too many hints in many of these exercises (including this one). Specifically, the type of hint that tells you what word or words to use. These prevent you from making your own attempt. Personally, I’d remove these.
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