Re: Jennifer Saunders Fan Club

gerardM Lun 20 Fév - 10:55

Three old men were sitting around and talking. The 80 year-old said, "The best thing that could happen to me would just to be able to have a good pee. I stand there for twenty minutes, and it dribbles and hurts. I have to go over and over again."
The 85 year-old said, "The best thing that could happen to me is if I could have one good bowel movement. I take every kind of laxative I can get my hands on and it's still a problem."
Then the 90 year-old said, "That's not my problem. Every morning at 6:00 am sharp, I have a good long pee. At around 6:30 am I have a great bowel movement. The best thing that could happen to me would be if I could wake up before 7:00 am.

gerardM Lun 20 Fév - 11:03

gerardM Lun 20 Fév - 11:04

gerardM Lun 20 Fév - 14:09

MurielB Lun 20 Fév - 21:56

gerardM a écrit:
Three old men were sitting around and talking. The 80 year-old said, "The best thing that could happen to me would just to be able to have a good pee. I stand there for twenty minutes, and it dribbles and hurts. I have to go over and over again."
The 85 year-old said, "The best thing that could happen to me is if I could have one good bowel movement. I take every kind of laxative I can get my hands on and it's still a problem."
Then the 90 year-old said, "That's not my problem. Every morning at 6:00 am sharp, I have a good long pee. At around 6:30 am I have a great bowel movement. The best thing that could happen to me would be if I could wake up before 7:00 am.

dribble=trickle

Hi Gérard ! Growing old is very difficult !

gerardM Mar 21 Fév - 10:51

There were these two elderly people living in a Florida mobile home park. He was a widower and she was a widow. They had known one another for a number of years. Now, one evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?"
After a dramatic pause and precisely six seconds of 'careful consideration,' she answered. "Yes. Yes, I will."
The meal ended and with a few more pleasant exchanges and they went to their respective places.
Next morning, he was troubled. "Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'?"
He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory. With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her.
First, he explained to her that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of her, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?"
He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart."
Then she continued, "And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

gerardM Mar 21 Fév - 15:40

MurielB Mar 21 Fév - 22:19

gerardM a écrit:
There were these two elderly people living in a Florida mobile home park. He was a widower and she was a widow. They had known one another for a number of years. Now, one evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?"
After a dramatic pause and precisely six seconds of 'careful consideration,' she answered. "Yes. Yes, I will."
The meal ended and with a few more pleasant exchanges and they went to their respective places.
Next morning, he was troubled. "Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'?"
He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory. With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her.
First, he explained to her that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of her, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?"
He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart."
Then she continued, "And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

Jennifer Saunders Fan Club - Page 8 Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQcaxBv7UvqdnhBJs_kTN8Ukv8DgBWB-nKtdPlBS9cBBIniaNvM

To propose is another verb in that case. Anyway remembering the name of the one who had asked you is very important !

gerardM Mar 21 Fév - 22:44

Muriel,

Il y a plusieurs mois, j'avais écrit quelques mots pour dénoncer la fausse idée que toi et moi avions concernant "to propose" qui -selon un de mes profs (Français) d'Anglais- était un faux ami à éviter à tous prix car signifiant "demander en mariage" ou "faire des propositions".

Il n'en est rien !!!

Voici ce que dit mon dictionnaire Hachette-Oxford :

propose
A vtr
1 (suggest) proposer [change, course of action, rule, solution]; présenter [motion]; proposer [toast] (to en l'honneur de); to propose doing proposer de faire; to propose that proposer que (+ subj);
2 (intend) to propose doing ou to do proposer de faire;
3 to propose marriage to sb demander qn en mariage;
4 (nominate) proposer [person] (as comme; for pour).

B vi faire sa demande en mariage (to à).

C proposed pp adj [action, reform] envisagé.

Le coup de la demande en mariage correspond au cas B et est tout à fait spécifique, "to propose" a de nombreuses autres significations, tout comme le français "proposer" !

MurielB Mar 21 Fév - 22:53

Gérard I remember quite well what you wrote about "to propose" a few months ago. I my case I am so influenced by what I have learnt that when I want to translate the verb "Proposer "into English, "to suggest" comes to my mind. I know perfectly that I am wrong.

gerardM Mar 21 Fév - 23:00

Muriel,

MurielB a écrit:... I have learnt...

If you want to use American English, your spelling is "learned" Very Happy

I don't like that a French person can teach English!
I know there's the Brexit but there're enough English-language natives to have excellent teachers in France though France rediculously demands French diplomas to teach!! Sad

However, I know of a French person who taught French in Australia and who kept sayingf French people frequently said "Diantre !" LOL scratch

MurielB Mer 22 Fév - 9:37

Ok Gérard I should have written "Learned" but I have written "learnt" for so long that it is difficult for me . You need to have so many qualities to be a good teacher : native speaker in the language you teach, fluent in the language your students speak, pedagogue, strict enough to maintain the discipline, able to act the clown otherwise the pupils complain that the classes are boring.....Do you think it is possible ?

However, I know of a French person who taught French in Australia and who kept saying French people frequently said "Diantre !" LOL

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 11:40

MurielB a écrit:... Do you think it is possible ?
...

Teaching needs many qualities, OK but why strike out the quality #1 fluently/perfectly speak the language they have to teach?
I've got oodles of examples of poor and wrong knowledge French teachers taught me in English (needing years to detect then years to fix)!! Aren't there any British teachers wishing to teach the French a correct language?
Shall I write about pronunciation?

My math teacher was very good at math, and so was my physics.

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 15:11

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 15:11

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 15:12

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 15:18

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 15:36

Why did I get divorced? Well, last week was my birthday.
My wife didn't wish me a happy birthday. My parents forgot and so did my kids. I went to work and even my colleagues didn't wish me a happy birthday.
As I entered my office, my secretary said, "Happy birthday, boss!" I felt so special. She asked me out for lunch. After lunch, she invited me to her apartment. We went there and she said, "Do you mind if I go into the bedroom for a minute?"
"Okay," I said.
She came out 5 minutes later with a birthday cake, my wife, my parents, my kids, my friends, & my colleagues all yelling, "SURPRISE!!!" while I was waiting on the sofa... naked.

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 16:49

MurielB Mer 22 Fév - 16:50

gerardM a écrit:
MurielB a écrit:... Do you think it is possible ?
...
Teaching needs many qualities, OK but why strike out the quality #1 fluently/perfectly speak the language they have to teach?
I've got oodles of examples of poor and wrong knowledge French teachers taught me in English (needing years to detect then years to fix)!! Aren't there any British teachers wishing to teach the French a correct language?
Shall I write about pronunciation?

My math teacher was very good at math, and so was my physics.

Gérard I don't feel I was very influenced by my teachers, even at university. I feel that when I was younger, what I learnt i did it on my own or thanks to the friends I spoke or wrote to . It is the same now, I love listening to YouTube videos, talking to "café polyglotte"people or write on this forum.

MurielB Mer 22 Fév - 17:05

don't you think that horizontally Learning is better ?

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 17:09

Muriel,

Weren't you led to wrong "directions" due to poor speeches by an "English" teacher?

I was:
- base of pronunciation never taught
- for the future tense, I was taught "I shall xyz, you/he/she/it will, we shall, you/they will" then it was "will for the affirmative form, "shall for interrogative form-I&we"
- 2001 was taught me to be said twenty-O-one immediately pointed out as wrong by my American girlfriend
- "propose" as a false cognate
- etc I don't keep a list

Similarly in German:
- umlaut never used with a capital letter, add E behind instead - a young German colleague never heard about this
- nominative - genitive - dative - accusative was the order in declinations
- etc.

Twisted Evil

I got several native teachers and they were wonderful experiences and improvements, especially with Norma who gave me individual lessons in American for years; she headed her own language company and was the official subcontractor of big French companies such as IMERYS, VINCI, etc. even with intensive 2-week-teaching.

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 17:14

MurielB a écrit:don't you think that horizontally Learning is better ?

Muriel, I don't know what "horizontally Learning" is, is it learning from bed, with a native partner LOL?

MurielB Mer 22 Fév - 17:46

Gérard "Horizontally Learning" is a made-up word. sorry it is not very clear; I think that the era of the all-powerful schoolteacher who solemnly delivers a Stream of knowledge
to be absorbed by pupils is over because it is much better to improve thanks to mutual help.

gerardM Mer 22 Fév - 22:06

Thanks Muriel.
"Horizontally learning" is now clear... but why isn't it "horizontal learning"?
Did you make up the expression yourself?
"Horizontally learning" is weird to my eyes as there's an adverb with a noun... an adverb usually goes with a verb; an adjective goes with a noun.

In business and computing, we often speak about Vertical stuff meaning Top-Down or Top-To-Bottom; "Horizontal" thus means cooperation, exchanges between similar level agents.

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