--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well, I have to admit to having been somewhat lazy with > the development of my French. I work for a French company, > but one in the computer industry (which runs on English) > and in which everyone speaks English, and in which all of > the documentation and training materials and programs I > write are done in English. So there has been (fortunately > for me in terms of finding work, unfortunately for me in > terms of learning French) not the "immersion factor" at > work that would have improved my French drastically. > > I can read most things in French, and understand most of > what is said. My weakness is in speaking French well. I > can get by, but French grammar is very precise, and my > French is, as yet, far from precise. I have the same > problems everyone has -- with the gender of nouns, the > exact verb form to use, etc. But I'm working on it. This > summer I get to live in a small town in the south, where > almost no one speaks English, so I will finally be forced > into the "immersion" scenario I need to progress. > > The more general answer to your question is that you can > get by adequately in Paris knowing very little French, > because English has emerged as the international language > of tourism, just as it is the international language of > business and computing. But in the smaller towns and > provinces, you'd be much happier knowing more French. > > IMO, the best way to learn whether one really has a feel > for France or not is to visit, and travel around. There > is an old saying here that is completely accurate -- > "There is Paris, and then there is France." The two are > not synonymous. Paris, although arguably one of the world's > most beautiful and livable cities, is not France. It's > Paris, its own universe. The outlying areas of France > are very, very, very different. Most different, for a > meditator, in terms of the level of silence. When you > get into the outlying areas, especially down south, in > some of the less populous areas, meditation becomes > just something you surrender to, not something you do. > The level of silence is that profound. In Paris, there > is an astounding level of silence for a city this large > and dynamic, but it's not the same.
Thanks for the insight and travelogue of sorts- somewhere on my dream list is to visit Paris. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
