In France: As a "Deaf-Mute"
Coming to France not familiar with the language can be a frustrating experience. When I downloaded for my iPod my “In-flight French: Learn before you land” I thought I was set to go. I knew my basic phrases: hello, where, how much, and what. I would realize later that I was far from being ‘set to go’. My French pronunciations mixed with my Tagalog accent was simply too confusing for most of the people I would strike conversations with. I ended up giving up and just harnessing all the charm I can muster while begging if anyone “parlez vous anglais?”
When I decided to see Paris on my own, I felt the impact of being French-challenged. From the moment I had to get a day-pass for the train and the Metro, I had to request the station attendant to help me work the ticket machine that only gave instructions in French. She had been very nice, translating each query leading to my ticket purchase in English. After uttering endless ‘merci beaucoup’ I walked away with my pass to a day of adventure in Paris. I sat in the metro and listened to the train operator’s announcements on the PA system in French, totally clueless to what he was saying. I figured if the people all got off the train then that would mean that the train was no longer in service, otherwise it still meant I was going to be taken somewhere. I listened to the sounds around me and observed how people reacted to them.
In the few times I had tried my luck to asking for directions in French, either I received them back in English or hand signals. I couldn’t help but appreciate however the helpfulness and patience of the French with a lost tourist.
Once after asking ‘ou est le metro” a man patiently mouthed to me that it is 200 meters ‘a droite’. I thought I knew my basic French and that ‘a droite’ meant to the right or the opposite of ‘a gauche’ or to the left. So to make sure I got his instructions correctly, I repeated in English: 200 meters to the right…? He looked at me with surprise and then said: “no, a droite” to which I interpreted once more with “turn right?” He scratched his head and then responded in English, “200 meters straight”.
Later I learned from my fluent French-speaking friend Joy that ‘a droite’ sounds the same as to go straight as to go right. She said it was important that you watch the hand signal that went with the words to understand if the speaker was meant to say ‘right’ or ‘straight’. I shrugged my shoulders - as though French was easy enough without the same sounding words!
Wondering around France without skill in the native language is like getting lost in the land of the deaf and the mute. I could hear the sounds around me but was totally unable to comprehend what people were saying. At any given point anyone would have sold my soul to the devil in plain earshot and I would have smiled back totally clueless. And when I mumbled whatever little French I had taught myself, no one understood me. I had to either gesture wildly or point my way around restaurants if not to resort to talking in English. And so with much frustration I ended up avoiding situations where I have to be in conversation with anyone.
It adds to the experience, however of being in a different city. I certainly taught me to take my language classes more seriously. And then guess what? Sometimes, when worst case scenarios strike, my Italian (which is about a level better than my French) had been able to bail me out of situations. Besides, dov’e la stazione de metro is far easier to pronounce than its French counterpart and I do not even have to pretend I have an accent!
When I decided to see Paris on my own, I felt the impact of being French-challenged. From the moment I had to get a day-pass for the train and the Metro, I had to request the station attendant to help me work the ticket machine that only gave instructions in French. She had been very nice, translating each query leading to my ticket purchase in English. After uttering endless ‘merci beaucoup’ I walked away with my pass to a day of adventure in Paris. I sat in the metro and listened to the train operator’s announcements on the PA system in French, totally clueless to what he was saying. I figured if the people all got off the train then that would mean that the train was no longer in service, otherwise it still meant I was going to be taken somewhere. I listened to the sounds around me and observed how people reacted to them.
In the few times I had tried my luck to asking for directions in French, either I received them back in English or hand signals. I couldn’t help but appreciate however the helpfulness and patience of the French with a lost tourist.
Once after asking ‘ou est le metro” a man patiently mouthed to me that it is 200 meters ‘a droite’. I thought I knew my basic French and that ‘a droite’ meant to the right or the opposite of ‘a gauche’ or to the left. So to make sure I got his instructions correctly, I repeated in English: 200 meters to the right…? He looked at me with surprise and then said: “no, a droite” to which I interpreted once more with “turn right?” He scratched his head and then responded in English, “200 meters straight”.
Later I learned from my fluent French-speaking friend Joy that ‘a droite’ sounds the same as to go straight as to go right. She said it was important that you watch the hand signal that went with the words to understand if the speaker was meant to say ‘right’ or ‘straight’. I shrugged my shoulders - as though French was easy enough without the same sounding words!
Wondering around France without skill in the native language is like getting lost in the land of the deaf and the mute. I could hear the sounds around me but was totally unable to comprehend what people were saying. At any given point anyone would have sold my soul to the devil in plain earshot and I would have smiled back totally clueless. And when I mumbled whatever little French I had taught myself, no one understood me. I had to either gesture wildly or point my way around restaurants if not to resort to talking in English. And so with much frustration I ended up avoiding situations where I have to be in conversation with anyone.
It adds to the experience, however of being in a different city. I certainly taught me to take my language classes more seriously. And then guess what? Sometimes, when worst case scenarios strike, my Italian (which is about a level better than my French) had been able to bail me out of situations. Besides, dov’e la stazione de metro is far easier to pronounce than its French counterpart and I do not even have to pretend I have an accent!