Re: Hello to you all!

| -----Original Message-----
| From: BP Jonsson
| Subject: Re: Hello to you all!
|
| At 03:20 2002-03-02 +0100, Christophe Grandsire wrote:
| >Well, in this case, we are really a rarity :)) . Moreover,
| it's not in the
| >French mind to say rude things directly to the face of a
| foreigner. French
| >people rather wait until s/he is out of sight and begin
| laughing at the person
| >between themselves.
|
|    Yeah, and I've overheard them: "Quelle attire, et il parle
| Français comme les Negres!" (Never mind the spelling!)
|    Of course I hoped a big African would jump out of a door
| and punch that person down, which alas did not happen...

        "How quaint, they are speaking French to a Black woman"? (I don't'
speak French.)

        If that's correct, I find it a bit surprising.
        In college, one of my honors class teachers was from Africa. He was
Ewe, from the central-west coast (the southeast area of the Ashanti region).
I don't remember the country.
        Anyway, he grew up speaking English and some French, since he grew
up in a British colony that was next to a French colony. When he was
visiting France, he enjoyed the countryside, but said something to the
effect of, "...and then there was Paris. But in France....".
        He said that in southern France (Marseille?), one of the locals told
him that regardless of what anyone in Paris says, anyone who speaks perfect
"textbook" French is actually from one of the old colonies. The Benedictines
enforced perfect pronunciation with a ruler, and so they are not influenced
by slang and colloquialisms.

______________________________________
Mike Karapcik   *       Tampa, FL
Network Analyst *       USF campus
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Research Center
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