Missing out on things (was Re: Checking into

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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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>May I add also that some of the information can now be obtained in a
>limited form in Spanish.

Yes, but the hotel security staff, the police, the nightclub managers,
the merchants, etc. are not necessarily going be bilingual, and the
cleaning lady is just as likely to cross herself, close her eyes and
start praying as she is to volunteer to translate for you. If you don't
speak English, you had better pair up with someone who does.

And, as an aside which has little to do with DLV but will forever haunt
me, if you ever go for the "Montréal Experience", you'd better damned
sure hope that you or your "partner" speaks French.

-denise


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(This posting was entered by Denise McCracken, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: kumiko yvonne watanabe
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>if you ever go for the "Montréal Experience", you'd better damned
>sure hope that you or your "partner" speaks French.

oui, tres bien, merci


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(This posting was entered by kumiko yvonne watanabe, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Hollye Merton
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>>if you ever go for the "Montréal Experience", you'd better damned
>>sure hope that you or your "partner" speaks French.

>oui, tres bien, merci

Margeth went for the Montreal Experience! No french necessary. The doc
spoke English. LOL


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(This posting was entered by Hollye Merton, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Kina
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Bonjour a tout. Montreal is one of my favorite cities. Most people
there will help you out, especally if greeted with a little French, like
Bonjour or Bonsoir depending on daytime or nightime. Then state that you
are Americain and then explain in English what you want and you will
almost always get a response in English. Not necessarily so in the
countryside outside of Montreal, where the Quebecois insist on tu parles
en Francais. Bonne chance et bonjournee! Kina.


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(This posting was entered by Kina, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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>>if you ever go for the "Montréal Experience", you'd better damned
>>sure hope that you or your "partner" speaks French.

>oui, tres bien, merci

(accents removed because they won't go through the list)

Je suis tout a fait serieux. Apres la chirurgie, nous etions seul toute
nuit avec une infirmiere qui n'a pas parle un mot d'anglais, et nous
n'avons pas su que pour appeler s'il y avait eu une urgence.

-denise


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(This posting was entered by Denise McCracken, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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>Margeth went for the Montreal Experience! No french necessary. The doc
>spoke English. LOL

In a way, you were lucky. You missed the jokes that the nurses were
telling about you in French. I could almost understand them doing that,
because they didn't think that I could understand and therefore were not
hurting my feelings, but some of them were being a$$holated in English,
and I made a major complaint to Brassard. He told me later that there
were some changes made, and that problem solved.

The problem is, the nurses around the recovery house didn't speak much
English, some none at all. Usually, if someone tried to ask for
something, they would be handed a Fleet Enema(tm). This resulted in an
incident in which my room partner messed her bed and had an emotional
breakdown. I tried to speak for her after that.

We went shopping on the first day there, on the train, and when we got
back to the station, it was closed, and we waited an hour in the
freezing cold and snow for a taxi. When one finally arrived, the others
said to forget it, the driver didn't speak any English, and I ran as
fast as I could through the snow yelling, "No, tell him to wait! I can
talk to him!" We might not have gotten another cab. I told the driver
to take us to "Van Shemeen days eel yal", and he gave me a dirty look
and said, "Eel yal, eel yal". I'm sure that he had an attitude because
he knew what that place was, but without someone there who could at
least pronounce a few words, we would have been looking for a cardboard
box to spend the night in.

I'm not fluent in French or a native speaker, but I'm really glad that I
knew enough to get around.

-densie


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(This posting was entered by Denise McCracken, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Hollye Merton
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It is always good to learn the language of a country you intend to
live in or travel about in. On the other hand, to me, surgery did not
constitute a situation to go to such extreme.

I took French when I was very young, but I do not remember much other
than counting to ten and your basic si vious plais, etc. I did not plan
on going out on the town while there and, besides, I paid in American
dollars. LOL

I did spend a week in Montreal before at a IEEE show and had no problem
finding people who spoke English although I did try to learn while I was
there. I even went through little China! Of course I didn't hear much
French or English there.


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(This posting was entered by Hollye Merton, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: annie
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>It is always good to learn the language of a country you intend to
>live in or travel about in.

In Margeth's case a good thing to remember might be:

"Avez-vous Galiano?"

(ducking, running, hiding ...) :)


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(This posting was entered by annie, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Denise McCracken
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> "Avez-vous Galiano?"

Toujours, pour vous, mais, vous le reconnaitriez ?

The drunker I get... the better you taste.....


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(This posting was entered by Denise McCracken, an external user of MyDLV.)