Columnist Michael Kilian once wrote, “There are some nice French-speaking people in the world. They live in Belgium.. They live in Switzerland. They live in Haiti. THey do not live in France.
In France, it’s illegal for a Breton to give a child a Breton name.
Why tragic, Chikuku? My father didn’t speak English at home, and didn’t speak it in school until 3rd grade. He never passed his language on to me (because he didn’t want his wife and kids to understand the arguments he had with his sisters). If I moved to a non-English speaking country, married and had a family, I’d expect the kids to grow up learning the local language. But, then, this not being the US of A, they’d probably grow up learning two or three.
My mom has been kicking herself for not teaching us to speak Hungarian. Sadly, I don’t think any of my brother’s children are going to learn that language either.
Or a university in Wales. The Breton language has nothing to do with French and is most closely related to Welsh. You can, in fact, get a surprisingly long way in Brittany by speaking basic Welsh (although Breton feels about three hundred years out of date and the written form, to Welsh eyes, takes some getting used to.) It’s like the way French as spoken in the Channel Islands is, to somebody from France, like a hangover from the days of the Sun King three or four hundred years ago. One of my French teachers at School came from Jersey: his spoken French helped us get into 17th century playwright Moliere as it was essentially contemporary…
margueritem over 13 years ago
Donna knows all the tricks.
hawgowar over 13 years ago
If a cabbie in Paris does not know you speak French, you’ll feel like strangling him before you are halfway across the city.
However, seeing Mona and Donna in bathing suits is worth the bad French.
Tantor over 13 years ago
What-A-Bikini. I’m coming too
luckylouie over 13 years ago
Baslim – It works in Quebec, too. If you want a Quebecois to speak French, speak English. If you want him to speak English, speak bad French.
The missing M. Smokey over 13 years ago
Jer ne say qwa.
runar over 13 years ago
Columnist Michael Kilian once wrote, “There are some nice French-speaking people in the world. They live in Belgium.. They live in Switzerland. They live in Haiti. THey do not live in France.
In France, it’s illegal for a Breton to give a child a Breton name.
runar over 13 years ago
Why tragic, Chikuku? My father didn’t speak English at home, and didn’t speak it in school until 3rd grade. He never passed his language on to me (because he didn’t want his wife and kids to understand the arguments he had with his sisters). If I moved to a non-English speaking country, married and had a family, I’d expect the kids to grow up learning the local language. But, then, this not being the US of A, they’d probably grow up learning two or three.
cybergal29 over 13 years ago
My mom has been kicking herself for not teaching us to speak Hungarian. Sadly, I don’t think any of my brother’s children are going to learn that language either.
runar over 13 years ago
If you’re a Breton, and you want to study your own language and culture, you have to leave home and go to Trinity College in Dublin.
bubujin_2 Premium Member over 13 years ago
Is Donna suggesting a picnic is better than dining aboard a flying aircraft? “Plane” air. Geesh, just go and get her to stop speaking English as well.
AgProv over 13 years ago
Or a university in Wales. The Breton language has nothing to do with French and is most closely related to Welsh. You can, in fact, get a surprisingly long way in Brittany by speaking basic Welsh (although Breton feels about three hundred years out of date and the written form, to Welsh eyes, takes some getting used to.) It’s like the way French as spoken in the Channel Islands is, to somebody from France, like a hangover from the days of the Sun King three or four hundred years ago. One of my French teachers at School came from Jersey: his spoken French helped us get into 17th century playwright Moliere as it was essentially contemporary…