Bruno

Discussion (7) ¬

1. 
   Wood

   July 16, 2015 at 1:56 am | #

   Well, then it’s a good thing they never ask you “paper or plastic for your groceries” in France. Back when that comic was made (2001?) it was just plastic bags for everyone. Today, it’s re-usable plastic bags that you have to buy, or nothing.
2. 
   Sensei Ken

   July 16, 2015 at 3:34 am | #

   From my high school German class (really):

   “I am in the cellar.”
   “Why are you in the cellar?”
   “I am looking for the lemonade.”

   Perfectly reasonable conversation. It became a running joke in class.
3. 
   Kona

   July 16, 2015 at 7:37 am | #

   While in Japan in the 60’s (it involved being drafted) a shipmate suggested we climb Mt. Fuji. It was my only excursion outside of the enclave around the naval base in Yokosuka, and I was very grateful that he was an old Japan hand. There is no way I would have been able to navigate all the trains and other public transportation it took to get there. I’d have hailed an English-speaking taxi and paid him a quadrillion yen.
4. 
   Pete Rogan

   July 16, 2015 at 1:23 pm | #

   Learning another language is learning another world, another state of being, another entire perspective on existence. French does not, for instance, construct ‘twenty’ out of an archaic form of ‘two tens.’ It is its own word, vingt. But the nice orderly progression we have for tens (thirty, forty, fifty) following the same model does not exist in French. And our ‘eighty’ is their ‘four twenties’ (quatre-vingts). Unless you immerse yourself fully in the Francophone world, you are going to be caught in translation between two worlds, not unlike trying to hold two railroad cars apart or together with your bare hands. Formidable, in both languages.
5. 
   Lil Sis

   July 16, 2015 at 6:08 pm | #

   I’m going to Germany next year. The first time i went, it was with the misconception that I knew enough to get by. this time, I go fully aware that I am an american tourist with no language skills whatsoever!
6. 
   Mr Lapin

   July 16, 2015 at 10:23 pm | #

   French numbers are to English numbers as US measurements are to the metric system. Quatre-vingts just throws you into the labyrinth. Ninety-seven is quatre-vingt-dix-sept — four twenties seventeen. For thirty-one it’s trente et un (twenty and one, no hyphens), but thirty-two is trente-deux (twenty two). In time, 9:15 is neuf heures et quart (nine hours and [a] quarter), but 8:45 is neuf heures moins le quart (nine hours minus THE quarter).

   English has at least as many pitfalls for those learning it as a second language.

   Fortunately, in my experience the French are remarkably patient with foreigners who struggle with their language, especially once you get beyond Paris. I wish Americans were as tolerant of those learning THEIR language.
7. 
   Mr Lapin

   July 16, 2015 at 10:25 pm | #

   “For thirty-one it’s trente et un (twenty and one, no hyphens), but thirty-two is trente-deux (twenty two).” Wrong! That should be “For thirty-one it’s trente et un (thirty and one, no hyphens), but thirty-two is trente-deux (thirty two). See why I did better in German than French?