Anita is becoming famous in some circles in Luxembourg for her French!<\/p>\n
For months, she practiced one and only one phrase in French: Anita’s pronunciation is so good (and effortless) that people don’t believe her. Usually, they switch to English (although sometimes with an intrigued look). Sometimes, they continue to talk to her in French! Once in a while, they switch to German, leaving her with no reply whatsoever.<\/p>\n Despite Anita’s quandaries, we recommend that everyone who plans to visit a French-speaking country take a few moments and learn this phrase. We’d like to think that it conveys a certain respect for others, moreso than “Parlez-vous anglais?”<\/p>\n That’s a polite way to ask someone to speak English, but it’s also a demand of sorts. It just seems a bit curt — imagine the following little skit, between an American grocery cashier and a French customer who knows little English.<\/p>\n Customer Marcel: Hello. I want to pay.<\/p>\n Shopkeeper Ned: Hello! That’s a great brand of ice cream you’ve got there. Did you see that we have it in chocolate and rocky road as well? My daughter loves the chocolate kind.<\/p>\n Customer Marcel: Do you speak French?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Marcel was a bit abrupt, don’t you think? I think Ned would be more inclined to try his high-school French if Marcel said, “I’m sorry. I don’t speak English. Do you speak French?” (Anita and I are thinking about skits a lot right now, since our French lessons are underway.)<\/p>\n We often need people to switch to English to accommodate us (or at least we need them to tolerate our bad French supplemented by charades). So we say “Parlez-vous anglais?” all the time, and we find that it works much better after we say the magic phrase.<\/p>\n To help you learn it, here’s a recording of Anita’s impeccable rendition:
\nJe suis desol\u00e9e. Je ne parle pas fran\u00e7ais.<\/code>
\nWhat does it mean, in English? “I’m sorry. I don’t speak French.”<\/p>\n
\nJe suis desol\u00e9e. Je ne parle pas fran\u00e7ais.<\/a><\/p>\n