I thought I spoke fluent French and would have no trouble understanding French at a French speaking Toastmasters international club in Singapore. What I had hoped to learn were the correct technical terms and forms of address for a meeting, so that I could use them without hesitation.
My first setback was on arrival. I was left as the third spectator (in English we would say wallflower) while the president chatted quietly in rapid fire French to the VPE (for non Toastmasters the Vice President of Education is the executive handling paperwork and organisation).
Whilst I thought it would be rude to intrude on a private meeting, I had hoped to accustom myself to the cadence and inflection of french pronunciation. I also hoped to remind myself of frequently used phrases. As the French might say, the cliché. They might also have been using slang (argot) or dialect (patois).
However, I soon found that I was only understand half or three quarters of every sentence. With one sentence in three inaudible, the coherence of the conversation was a guessing game.
French Names
The fact that I did not know the people attached to the names was another stumbling block. Pierre or Peter could not do something or other. Alex or Alexandre would do something. I had been prepared for a few French pronunciations of names. Olivier, as in Lawrence Olivier, was not such a challenge. But it was a surprise that so many names were totally different.
Planned Speeches - Speak Slowly
The planned speeches were hard to follow. Some nervous speakers spoke extra fast. I remembered what we are so often told in Toastmasters training meetings. Slow down. Members of the audience who do not speak your language (English) as a first language will find it hard to follow if you speak too fast. For the first time I was listening to a speaker in a foreign language and really appreciated the problems faced by members of the audience.
To sum up: When speaking to an audience where your language is a second language for members of the audience:
1 Speak slowly. Pause at the end of each sentence.
2 Install a French-English dictionary on your phone - one not dependent on having an internet connection. Download it.
http://www.interglot.com/dictionary/en/fr/translate/drunk
3 Use lots of visual aids.
4 Ask members of the audience to raise their hands if you say a word they don't understand. If you don't wish to stop, an assistant (the SAA at a Toastmasters International meeting) can write the word on the board, or note the name of the person with the query, to be answered at the end.
5 Don't interrupt a speaker. Ask if you may record their speech. Afterwords check the words in the dictionary.
6 Provide a copy of your speech as a handout, including a glossary of technical terms or a translation into the languages of members of the audience.
7 Feedback forms could include a question asking if you used words which the audience wanted translated.
Meeting False Friends
The French use the term faux amis or false friends to apply to words which mean different things in different languages.
For example, the French word for meeting is reunion, which in Singapore Toastmasters means the regular monthly meeting. In English a reunion usually takes place on the anniversary a year later, or several years later, of people who met on holiday, or went to school together.
Argot and Patois
When I returned to Paris after a two or three year break, I was astonished to see Graffiti everywhere with slogans I could not understand. My friends translated. The first word was a rude word. The second word was the nickname of a political personality.
Table Topic - Sloshed, tipsy
In Toastmasters I had a different problem. The topics master read out what seemed a long question: If your husband was ...., would you a) have an alcoholic drink, b) have a non-alcoholic drink, c) take a holiday in Indonesia. Why? I followed everything except the magic, essential word.
My friend Carolyn who is a member of the club, and I assumed was more up to date that I was, admitted she was equally mystified on first hearing the word during the meeting. She had been able to whisper a question to one of her fellow members and get the translation. The word was drunk, or as the English would say in slang, tipsy.
Tipsy Topic
Looking at the English I was surprised by the number of slang words we have for inebriated, with help from Wiktionary. Sloshed matches the initial letter of the French. Other words are: boozy, dead drunk, drunk as a lord, happy, inebriated, merry, p i s s e d, plastered, tight, tipsy, sloshed, sizzled, out of it, s h i c k e r (Yiddish), tight as a drum.
If an English person expects a foreigner to understand all of these terms, any of which we might use in a speech, it is not too much to expect English speakers to grasp one new word in French. soul - a merry soul wearing a hat soûl .
(To print the hat, you press down the key for U, hold it down, up pops a list of the letter U with various signs above. The hat is number one. No good pressing on the guide in the pop up. It is telling you to press the key for 1 whilst holding down the letter U.)
I would have understood words sounding like ivrogne and alcoholique, but not the other words.
Useful Links
1 Singapore French speaking toastmasters club meets monthly. Visitors welcome. Phone in advance to confirm venue. Phoning in advance is a courtesy to ensure the club puts out sufficient chairs, has sufficient catering. They will also want to welcome VIPs and visitors in the opening address, and on the agenda.
2 Meetup French speaking group in Singapore meets weekly. (Others exist in London, England and elsewhere. If none are handy in your country, start your own on Meetup.)
http://www.meetup.com/The-Singapore-Francophiles-Meetup-Group/
http://www.meetup.com/The-Singapore-Francophiles-Meetup-Group/events/222865584/
3 Toastmasters International has French language manuals and manuals in several other language including Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic, Russian, Japanese.
4 French club in Toronto, Canada
http://englishfrench.toastmastersclubs.org/directions.html
5 Experience French, toastmasters club in London, England.
http://experience-french.org
Angela Lansbury
ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold - meaning completing the basic training manual of ten speeches and six more manuals containing 5 speech projects).
My first setback was on arrival. I was left as the third spectator (in English we would say wallflower) while the president chatted quietly in rapid fire French to the VPE (for non Toastmasters the Vice President of Education is the executive handling paperwork and organisation).
Whilst I thought it would be rude to intrude on a private meeting, I had hoped to accustom myself to the cadence and inflection of french pronunciation. I also hoped to remind myself of frequently used phrases. As the French might say, the cliché. They might also have been using slang (argot) or dialect (patois).
However, I soon found that I was only understand half or three quarters of every sentence. With one sentence in three inaudible, the coherence of the conversation was a guessing game.
French Names
The fact that I did not know the people attached to the names was another stumbling block. Pierre or Peter could not do something or other. Alex or Alexandre would do something. I had been prepared for a few French pronunciations of names. Olivier, as in Lawrence Olivier, was not such a challenge. But it was a surprise that so many names were totally different.
Planned Speeches - Speak Slowly
The planned speeches were hard to follow. Some nervous speakers spoke extra fast. I remembered what we are so often told in Toastmasters training meetings. Slow down. Members of the audience who do not speak your language (English) as a first language will find it hard to follow if you speak too fast. For the first time I was listening to a speaker in a foreign language and really appreciated the problems faced by members of the audience.
To sum up: When speaking to an audience where your language is a second language for members of the audience:
1 Speak slowly. Pause at the end of each sentence.
2 Install a French-English dictionary on your phone - one not dependent on having an internet connection. Download it.
http://www.interglot.com/dictionary/en/fr/translate/drunk
3 Use lots of visual aids.
4 Ask members of the audience to raise their hands if you say a word they don't understand. If you don't wish to stop, an assistant (the SAA at a Toastmasters International meeting) can write the word on the board, or note the name of the person with the query, to be answered at the end.
5 Don't interrupt a speaker. Ask if you may record their speech. Afterwords check the words in the dictionary.
6 Provide a copy of your speech as a handout, including a glossary of technical terms or a translation into the languages of members of the audience.
7 Feedback forms could include a question asking if you used words which the audience wanted translated.
Meeting False Friends
The French use the term faux amis or false friends to apply to words which mean different things in different languages.
For example, the French word for meeting is reunion, which in Singapore Toastmasters means the regular monthly meeting. In English a reunion usually takes place on the anniversary a year later, or several years later, of people who met on holiday, or went to school together.
Argot and Patois
When I returned to Paris after a two or three year break, I was astonished to see Graffiti everywhere with slogans I could not understand. My friends translated. The first word was a rude word. The second word was the nickname of a political personality.
Table Topic - Sloshed, tipsy
In Toastmasters I had a different problem. The topics master read out what seemed a long question: If your husband was ...., would you a) have an alcoholic drink, b) have a non-alcoholic drink, c) take a holiday in Indonesia. Why? I followed everything except the magic, essential word.
My friend Carolyn who is a member of the club, and I assumed was more up to date that I was, admitted she was equally mystified on first hearing the word during the meeting. She had been able to whisper a question to one of her fellow members and get the translation. The word was drunk, or as the English would say in slang, tipsy.
Tipsy Topic
Looking at the English I was surprised by the number of slang words we have for inebriated, with help from Wiktionary. Sloshed matches the initial letter of the French. Other words are: boozy, dead drunk, drunk as a lord, happy, inebriated, merry, p i s s e d, plastered, tight, tipsy, sloshed, sizzled, out of it, s h i c k e r (Yiddish), tight as a drum.
If an English person expects a foreigner to understand all of these terms, any of which we might use in a speech, it is not too much to expect English speakers to grasp one new word in French. soul - a merry soul wearing a hat soûl .
(To print the hat, you press down the key for U, hold it down, up pops a list of the letter U with various signs above. The hat is number one. No good pressing on the guide in the pop up. It is telling you to press the key for 1 whilst holding down the letter U.)
I would have understood words sounding like ivrogne and alcoholique, but not the other words.
Useful Links
1 Singapore French speaking toastmasters club meets monthly. Visitors welcome. Phone in advance to confirm venue. Phoning in advance is a courtesy to ensure the club puts out sufficient chairs, has sufficient catering. They will also want to welcome VIPs and visitors in the opening address, and on the agenda.
2 Meetup French speaking group in Singapore meets weekly. (Others exist in London, England and elsewhere. If none are handy in your country, start your own on Meetup.)
http://www.meetup.com/The-Singapore-Francophiles-Meetup-Group/
http://www.meetup.com/The-Singapore-Francophiles-Meetup-Group/events/222865584/
3 Toastmasters International has French language manuals and manuals in several other language including Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic, Russian, Japanese.
4 French club in Toronto, Canada
http://englishfrench.toastmastersclubs.org/directions.html
5 Experience French, toastmasters club in London, England.
http://experience-french.org
Angela Lansbury
ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold - meaning completing the basic training manual of ten speeches and six more manuals containing 5 speech projects).
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