In reply to Sacha ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 7/9/06 12:44, in article ,
"Rhiannon Macfie Miller" wrote:

Cat(h) wrote:
Mike wrote:
"Uncle Marvo" wrote in
message ...

That and ratatouille (which nobody apart from me and probably Ms
Puce can pronounce)

:-)



As a wild guess, how about rat - a - two - lee ??

Very approximately: Ra-ta-too-yeuh

I say 'ratatooee'.

Rhiannon

Not bad. There's more of a touee at the end of it, though, with the
'ou' bit barely audible. Or a 'twee', if you prefer with a touch of
an 'ou'. ;-)

Spot on. You are now an honorary Frenchperson :-)

On 8/9/06 09:52, in article , "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:

In reply to Sacha ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 7/9/06 12:44, in article ,
"Rhiannon Macfie Miller" wrote:

Cat(h) wrote:
Mike wrote:
"Uncle Marvo" wrote in
message ...

That and ratatouille (which nobody apart from me and probably Ms
Puce can pronounce)

:-)



As a wild guess, how about rat - a - two - lee ??

Very approximately: Ra-ta-too-yeuh

I say 'ratatooee'.

Rhiannon

Not bad. There's more of a touee at the end of it, though, with the
'ou' bit barely audible. Or a 'twee', if you prefer with a touch of
an 'ou'. ;-)

Spot on. You are now an honorary Frenchperson :-)


I start with advantages - born in Jersey and with a French ex sister in law
and French nieces, many French friends, lots of sailing and other trips to
France etc plus having started to learn French when I was 4! I would add 6
months living in Belgium but I can imagine the French reaction to that! ;-)

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

I would add 6
months living in Belgium but I can imagine the French reaction to that! ;-)

I spent a weekend in Belgium last year - I speak French but I found them
very difficult to understand.

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border in
Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to anything I
have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb so I didn't
have to speak too much!
--
Judith Lea

Rhiannon Macfie Miller wrote:
Cat(h) wrote:
Mike wrote:
"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...

That and ratatouille (which nobody apart from me and probably Ms
Puce can
pronounce)

:-)



As a wild guess, how about rat - a - two - lee ??

Very approximately: Ra-ta-too-yeuh

I say 'ratatooee'.

That's the Northern version, I'm a Southerner :-)

Cat(h)

On 8/9/06 11:21, in article , "Judith
Lea" wrote:

I would add 6
months living in Belgium but I can imagine the French reaction to that! ;-)

I spent a weekend in Belgium last year - I speak French but I found them
very difficult to understand.

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border in
Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to anything I
have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb so I didn't
have to speak too much!

I was living in a small hamlet just on the very edge of the battlefield of
Waterloo. It was in 1970 so a very long time ago now but I don't remember a
problem with understanding them. We were the only English there, so perhaps
I just got used to it. I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more 'sensible'
than that of the French!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Sacha writes
On 8/9/06 11:21, in article , "Judith
Lea" wrote:

I would add 6
months living in Belgium but I can imagine the French reaction to that! ;-)

I spent a weekend in Belgium last year - I speak French but I found them
very difficult to understand.

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border in
Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to anything I
have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb so I didn't
have to speak too much!

I was living in a small hamlet just on the very edge of the battlefield of
Waterloo. It was in 1970 so a very long time ago now but I don't remember a
problem with understanding them. We were the only English there, so perhaps
I just got used to it. I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more 'sensible'
than that of the French!

Isn't the French a relic of counting to base 20?

ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
combined base 4, 12 and 20.
--
Kay

On 8/9/06 14:34, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
snip

I was living in a small hamlet just on the very edge of the battlefield of
Waterloo. It was in 1970 so a very long time ago now but I don't remember a
problem with understanding them. We were the only English there, so perhaps
I just got used to it. I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more 'sensible'
than that of the French!

Isn't the French a relic of counting to base 20?

ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
combined base 4, 12 and 20.

I'm sure you're right, Kay but it's all Greek to me. ;-)

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In article ,
K writes:
|
| ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
| mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
| combined base 4, 12 and 20.

Babylonians, actually. They were great astronomers, and that is why
our times and angles are mostly based on subdivisions of 60.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more
'sensible'
than that of the French!
Sacha

I'm still learning the language and am just about there with the numbers
now. A few months ago I made quite a blunder in the local bricolage store
though. I'd stacked 16 fencing stakes on my trolley and the lady on the
checkout asked me how many I'd got. My mind went blank, then I thought 17 is
dix-sept and 18 is dix-huit so therefore 16 must be dix-six. So I said "J'ai
dix-six" - and got the most peculiar look back. She repeated the question
and I pointed at the stakes and repeated "J'ai dix-six" and I got another
weird look, so she got out of her chair came round and counted them herself
then exclaimed "Ah! Seize!". It wasn't until I got home that I twigged why I
got such a strange look - when she asked me how many, I was in effect saying
"They are dead!".
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

Sacha writes
On 8/9/06 14:34, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
snip

I was living in a small hamlet just on the very edge of the battlefield of
Waterloo. It was in 1970 so a very long time ago now but I don't remember a
problem with understanding them. We were the only English there, so perhaps
I just got used to it. I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more 'sensible'
than that of the French!

Isn't the French a relic of counting to base 20?

ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
combined base 4, 12 and 20.

I'm sure you're right, Kay but it's all Greek to me. ;-)

Having 20 different numbers before you start with the next unit up
instead of 10. We still use base 14 and 16 for weight - counting from 0
to 15 oz before we lump them together as 1 lb and start again from 0 ozs
for example.
--
Kay

Nick Maclaren writes

In article ,
K writes:
|
| ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
| mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
| combined base 4, 12 and 20.

Babylonians, actually. They were great astronomers, and that is why
our times and angles are mostly based on subdivisions of 60.

I'm sure you're right. This is a distant memory from school history
lessons, when I was much more interested in spotting relics of base 60
in our number systems than in remembering unfamiliar names of places
'somewhere near the med' ;-)
--
Kay

In article , Judith Lea
writes

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border
in Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to anything
I have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb so I
didn't have to speak too much!

My dad was fluent in that, in the war. We thought he was joking when he
used to tell us he could speak Walloon, when we were young. Apparently
some sort of dialect?


Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 8/9/06 20:07, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
On 8/9/06 14:34, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
snip

I was living in a small hamlet just on the very edge of the battlefield of
Waterloo. It was in 1970 so a very long time ago now but I don't remember
a
problem with understanding them. We were the only English there, so
perhaps
I just got used to it. I do recall thinking that their numbering system of
septante and nonante for seventy and ninety was a great deal more
'sensible'
than that of the French!

Isn't the French a relic of counting to base 20?

ISTR the Phoenicians counted to base 60. I still find that
mind-boggling, despite having grown up with a monetary system which
combined base 4, 12 and 20.

I'm sure you're right, Kay but it's all Greek to me. ;-)

Having 20 different numbers before you start with the next unit up
instead of 10. We still use base 14 and 16 for weight - counting from 0
to 15 oz before we lump them together as 1 lb and start again from 0 ozs
for example.

Ah, thank you and now I see. Why on earth didn't I have a maths teacher
like you? Then I wouldn't have given up at 14!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 9/9/06 00:54, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Judith Lea
writes

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border
in Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to anything
I have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb so I
didn't have to speak too much!

My dad was fluent in that, in the war. We thought he was joking when he
used to tell us he could speak Walloon, when we were young. Apparently
some sort of dialect?

http://www.optimnem.co.uk/learning/f...oon-french.php

I had no idea that it had anything in common with Jerriais which,
unfortunately, I don't speak.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In article , Janet Tweedy
writes
In article , Judith Lea
writes

We spent last Friday night in a lovely old hotel on the French border
in Northern France and heard Walloon French, Wow, different to
anything I have heard before - mind you the food and wine were superb
so I didn't have to speak too much!

My dad was fluent in that, in the war. We thought he was joking when he
used to tell us he could speak Walloon, when we were young. Apparently
some sort of dialect?


Janet

It is a dialect but also much more, there are some words that do not
exist in French - I loved the intonation, it was a bit like the Welsh.

--
Judith Lea