Mistakes you're making in French
The Earful Tower: Paris
Oliver Gee
4.8 • 794 Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2018
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week's podcast episode is with YouTube superstar Geraldine from Comme Une Francaise.
We discuss over 30 minutes the following five points, not to mention a little about where she lives in Grenoble, why she calls her channel Comme Une Francaise, and I retell the story about how I accidentally called all the French guys "My darling" when I moved to France.
Here are the mistakes you're probably making.
Falling for false friends
If you want to talk about preservatives, don't just say the same word in a French accent. That means "condoms" (preservatifs).
Translating literally from English
Don't translate literally. If you want to say "Well done", don't say "bien fait", that means something completely different.
Pronouncing the French words incorrectly (sometimes to hilarious effect)
Be careful of your pronunciation. For example: The French word canard means duck, but the worryingly similar word connard means bastard. You'll surely make your waiter laugh.
Falling for the cultural faux pas
Never hug a French person, they might have a heart attack, says Geraldine. You've gotta know when to kiss cheeks (always), and it's good to know
Making subtle mistakes that will embarrass you later
You've gotta master tu and vous, for example, and you need to know when to avoid swearing. And if you're at a more advanced level, you need understand textbook French, otherwise it might harm your chances of getting a job.
Now, these are the five tips in brief. There are much more in-depth explanations in the chat, which you can also listen to below.
As for Geraldine, she has featured in a few Patreon-only Walk Shows.
Sign up as a flaneur on Patreon to watch the 30-minute versions of these walks (and to see the upcoming ones live!)
And buy my new guide book here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Airful Tower listeners, it's another Monday in Paris. |
| 0:02.3 | It's another episode of your favorite Paris-based podcast hosted by an Australian. |
| 0:07.7 | It's the Airful Tower. |
| 0:08.7 | And this week, well, I was inspired by the story. |
| 0:11.0 | Did you hear about President Macron? |
| 0:13.1 | France's president was in my country, Australia, talking to the Prime Minister. |
| 0:18.2 | And for some reason, he called the Prime Minister's wife delicious. |
| 0:23.2 | Bit of a faux par there, Macron. And with that in mind, I got thinking about the difficulties |
| 0:28.0 | of speaking in a different language and the guest this week on the Eiffel Tower is Geraldine |
| 0:34.0 | from Comunfrancise, the popular YouTube channel. |
| 0:42.0 | And she's talking about, you know, the other way around what we're doing, what people are doing wrong when they're speaking French, and also some of the kind of cross-cultural errors that |
| 0:48.5 | people are making both ways. |
| 0:50.2 | So that's the chat today. |
| 0:51.6 | Listen to that in a second. |
| 0:52.9 | But first, I can't believe that I forgot to mention that last week, but my guidebook to Paris has come out. The Earful Tower is 150 things to do in Paris. So, yeah, it's arranged by Aeron Disman. It's got a little bit of a tip, hidden secret restaurant bars, everything you want to know in every Aaron Disman of the city. It took me ages to do. It is available for sale. |
| 1:12.9 | All the information's on the site. |
| 1:15.0 | And the PDF is |
| 1:16.7 | free if you sign up as a flanoa Patreon. |
| 1:20.0 | So something to consider doing today. |
| 1:23.0 | But let's get on with the episode. Hang around |
| 1:24.6 | at the end for a bit of extra news, |
| 1:27.0 | a review, and what's coming |
... |
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