"I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." - Isaac Asimov

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[NB: Due to a washing machine accident, 4 weeks of French quotes have been lost. But more will be forthcoming, so.]

Quotes:

[Written] Je ne mange pas de lunettes

En France, pour mon petit déjeuner, je mange du pain, du fromage de chèvre, et du Coca Cola.

Le passé composé... There are 6 past tenses in French. There are past tenses which the French do not use. Or do not use that often. They were used in the 18th century.

Sometimes I give a lecture... It takes 2 hours. I explain the mechanism of [the] accent.

I hear a lot of students. 'French language. So romantic. I feel very nice when I hear it'... Linguists have made it, so that it sounds very nice when pronounced... They have worked in such a way that it is not rough.

'J'ai perdu une douche'. You lost a shower. It's possible.

[On my objecting to 'Je suis Keiko'] You do not do poetry... Un peu romance.

I don't like to learn by hurt (heart)

[Me: So you can dîner dîner?] No. I understand your logic.

[On there being no word for supper] We don't have supper. It's linked to the season. When night falls at 5pm in the afternoon... During Winter and Fall people sleep earlier... When it is Summer... You eat something extra... and you eat an extra dessert later.

[On going beyond mono-syllabic responses] 'Tu aimes chocolat?' 'Oui' 'Tu habites à Bedok?' 'Non' How you want to learn French? Impossible.

[On leur petit amis] XXX, en générale, tu as payé ou il a payé? [XXX: Il payé] YYY, en générale, tu as payé ou il a payé? [YYY: Il payé] (Il a payé)

[On his outrageous French accent] I don't do it on purpose... Because I look Asian, there are some students who think there is something wrong with me. I'm not really French... If he's ang moh, people think it's a guarantee... 'If he's Asian, he has no French accent'

There's a stock exchange for flowers in Paris.

New York is very developed... You go to Oklahoma or Arizona, the No Man's Land.

There's always a bit of romance in the French video. I don't know why. They play with it, they juggle. (videos)

[On drilling] Passé composé with the verb avoir became for you such an easy thing... You never forget. I hope. At least not so early, not so easily.

[On il a -> a-t-il] Très simple. French language cheat a bit.

[On L'Académie française] You have to have a Nobel prize. Even if you have a Nobel prize, you need something on top of that... To be granted entry to the French Academy... Somebody who has written many books.

[On Devenir] Hulk... [Student: The green guy]... Devenir. [Me: Incredible?]

[Student: Je née mille neuf cent.] You look young... Who is your plastic surgeon. (Je suis née)

Tu as étudies à Saint Joseph Institution? [Student: Non! {Je ne suis pas} Garçon!]

XXX. [XXX: Shit...] Tu as née quel an? [XXX: Dix-neuf] Dux-neuf? Ooh la la.

XXX. [XXX: My god]. Ne 'my god'. 'Ahh!!!'

People tell me - French language is so romantic... 'Le français, son romantique'... Actually, *slight spit* I don't think so... it is pleasant to hear. It doesn't make the people romantic.

I always use this metaphor... You're in the year 1000, when nobody reads or writes. You're in this peaceful village... Suddenly, you have these strangers, when they come, they look so terrible, so fierce. The sound of their language is so crude... 'I'm scared of them'. The year 1000, nobody knows who is who. You hear their voice, their accent is rough... [You think that if the language sounds nice,] the people must be nice... Réalité... When you meet some high class British people *imitates accent* When they speak like this. 'These people, so arrogant'... You are influenced by the sound of the voice... That's why French people are so romantic, some British people are so high in the air.

La fête Nationale. En France, most of the people just want one more day to sleep... In the stadium, they just record. Every year they change one digit. It's the same.

[On La fête Nationale] Pas militaire... 'All our soldiers are strong!' No, no... Pas 'Oh! Wow!'... To show the strength of the country, it's not through the army. C'est obsolète... I hope there are no military people in this class. It's not a good image. If you go to the army, it means you cannot do anything else. [Me: *sotto voce* Sounds familiar] If you are a general, maybe you're a bit smart.

[On patriotism] Display French flags... Bien sûr, they are not my friends. I will try to avoid them... à Paris, you bring your little Singaporean flags, c'est bizarre... They disagree with this.

Who is it? [Student: Monsieur Claus] Le Père Noël... He still has a Finnish name, because he came from Finland... Santa Claus is not Finnish. He's American. Coming from Coca Cola.

In France, we have this sentence. If ever anyone asks you and you have to stay home... 'Je ne veux pas être une victime commerciale'

[Student: Restaurant Français. Au restaurant français] Avec un petit ami français? [Student: Oui] No wonder she loves French

Now I want to go bay'yond the meaning (beyond)

Elle me regarde. Nice... Elle me parle. Even better.

Téléphoner quelqu'un. En français, doesn't exist. If it exists, it's wrong.

[On l'impératif] It is not compulsory to have a strong tone of voice... If I say *soft voice* 'Oh, look at the bird outside', it is not a command... It is just a strong [piece of] advice.

Some students: 'Oui, oui, d'accord.' Le cour fini, 'Eh. Did you understand anything?'

[Me on 'Ne fumez pas': If you want to be rude, can you say... *writes* 'Ne fume pas'?] You can say something else also.

Slimming century (sanctuary)

[On 'no smoking'] To show to our teacher that we had started learning, we did this *adds a w*

L'esprit du contradiction... That's quite French... I would go further. It's very Latin... En Italie, en France, en Espagne, en Portugal... It's a national sport. Breaking the rules is good...C'est pourquoi les Anglais détestent les Français, détestent l'Italiens... Les Grecs détestent les Anglais... Je n'éxagère pas.

C'est important pour toi, Saint-Valentin? [Student: When is it?] She pretend not to know (pretends)

[On pronom objet direct et pronom objet indirect] Do not be terrified. It is much more simple than Chinese... You can do Chinese, you can do this.

[On regional accents and the proper prounciation of très bien] In Paris... If you want to pronounce it properly, people will ask you, 'Do you come from the countryside?]... If you go to Canada, people speak... Old French.

Immigrants tend to be very conservative in their roots... Although it is a Muslim country, the Chinese people in Malaysia are very keen in their roots (about)

You look like an office worker. [Me: That's because I *am* an office worker]

[On speaking Japanese in school] It's a good way of ostracising all the China freaks who hate Japan because of what happened long ago. [Me: I thought PRCs don't go to ACS] They don't. These are Singaporeans... They call us disloyal. [Me: Disloyal to what?... None of you were alive at the time]

[Teacher: Hier soir] I heard 'Jesus'

[Teacher on going for supper at Newton: Tu as payé deux cent dollar?] Gratuit. Je suis femme.

Maman jour. [Teacher: La fête des Mères]

[Teacher: Ça va?] Okay.

[Student 1: Quelle est ton problème] I want to be healthy [Teacher: *Points to 'Je suis trop grosse'*]... Je bois l'alcool. De vin. [Teacher: De vodka.] De vodka. [Teacher: De whiskey] De whiskey. Everything.

Je neh'm pas (n'aime)