=__________=;;;

[askerian]

it's amazing the kind of emails I get just because i'm french. So, yeah.

1) I assure you, if I can write fanfiction and you don't notice until you read my profile, it means that you do NOT need to dumb down your feedback for me. I'm 24, kiddy-talk sounds just a leeeetle bit patronizing here. It is also not necessary to ask me if I understand what you mean every two lines. (though it's still easier to read at a ten-year-old level than to translate OMGGRAMERWHUT and netspeak.)

2)Bilingual means that I actually UNDERSTAND BOTH. I swear it does. =__= So, no, you do not need to translate every sentence in your email. Write in either one -- I swear I didn't forget THAT much french. (yet.)

3)No, I will not help you with your homework.

4)"Is (...) really different in France?" How should I know? I've never left France once in my life, except for very short trips that skimmed Switzerland and Spain borders. As for my personal, social-and-politics-and-all-that opinions -- I'm a hermit. I don't know if other people share my views IRL. Internet doesn't count; it's easy to surround yourself with like-minded individuals.

5)On that note, I haven't written anything in french for over two years and I don't get involved in the french naruto and GW fandoms because 1) they're too small and 2)... they're too small. Also I don't know enough people there to make it worth it. *lazy, y0* So, uh -- comparison between the english and french fandoms? not a clue. XD

6)No, i'm not speshul just because i'm French. I assure you, there are lots of french people who aren't cool at all. My coolness is entirely personal. ;p

On that note, it was surprising!! (except not) that when I met zania and her sister, they looked like they could have been french. Except, you know, they were from Texas or something. *molestmolest* I do not look "french", there is no "french race". I look like a caucasian girl, and when you see me, that's all you can tell -- that i'm neither black nor asian nor arab nor Indin nor... you get the point. I do not look Swedish or Italian -- France is just a random melting pot of whiteness. I could walk past you in the street anywhere in the States and until I talk, I garantee you won't know. (of course the second I talk it's gonna be blindingly obvious because OMG OWW the accent. I can't get rid of that accent. People tell me a french accent is sexy, but I find it embarrassing -- especially when I know how to spell a word perfectly and I can't remember how the hell you pronounce it. And what the hell is it with that "TH" sound?? argh. ...Ah well. :p)

So. I doubt the reminder is necessary to you people, but I just felt like sharing. Because, really, WTF. It's amazing the kind of emails I get sometimes. XD

Comments

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

th th th th. ... i sound like a wheezing snake.

^_^; That's about right, yeah. I felt kind of the same way doing Japanese 'r's, up until I got it right in an actual word a couple times and realized that, 'hey! this sounds exactly like it should!'

So, from my experience? If it feels absolutely and utterly unnatural, but sounds about right, it's right.

Ja, -n
(Can be polite in one language and humiliate himself in two more! ^_^)

[askerian]

but i can't tell what sounds right. T_T the only references i have are songs. *cries*

[stripedpetunia.livejournal.com]

For the record, English spelling is retarded. Utterly. You can never hope to really get pronunciation cues from it.

But the 'th' in 'thing' is pronounced... like a wheezing snake. XD 'th' in 'this' is done the same way but with voicing. Like, you gotta make your vocal cords vibrate while you do it. 'THing' is like 'S' as 'THis' is like 'Z'. I can't make it make any more sense than that in writing, I'm sorry. :D

And at least you don't speak French with an English accent. Now THAT is ugly. :(

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

*points* What she(?) said. Especially about the spelling, 'cause the dictionary makers tried to regularize everything and it only worked about half the time, and even then we spell most new words like they were spelled in their original language. (Vocabulary Vikings! Yeah!)

But what can you expect from a language that was made up by soldiers trying to seduce barmaids?

Experimenting, I've noted the following - the edges of the tongue should be curled up a little at the sides, so that there's a loose seal against the teeth of the upper jaw everywhere -except- the very front/incisors. It's not very extreme, just enough to get that little gap. Keep still for an unvoiced 'TH' but move your tongue back and down a little for a voiced one - same motion as for 'l', just a different configuration.

Ja, -n

[stripedpetunia.livejournal.com]

The vibration is from the vocal cords moving. Try pronouncing both while touching your throat. :D

[toki-usagi.livejournal.com]

And SINGING that sound is even more difficult. I hate English, and I've been speaking it for my entire life. Stupid consonant combinations that nobody can form unless they've been using them for their entire lives...oh wait, not even everyone who's been doing that can use them correctly. Woops!

It's a language that's half Germanic and half Latin-based. With a little bit of pure nonsense thrown in for good measure. *strangles the English language*

[complexphoenix.livejournal.com]

O.O

Noooooo! That's my native language you're strangling! Please, please spare it, it's the only language I know!