Blah-blah of the Anglophones

[Olivier]

The only thing now is how you developed your PERFECT anglais.

lol you wouldn't say that if you could hear me speaking English ;-) But I do feel comfortable in written language, that's right. You know, you can't be a serious software developer if you can't read English. I've been reading documentations, articles, tutorials, books and Internet forums in English for years. And of course I had studied the language at school first...

[Chauve-Souris]

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Yeah, I've gotten very comfortable reading French, in only(?) a year, but I still have to work at it when I write. And speaking is completely out for me, as I can't get any practice at everyday français here where everyone speaks only English and Spanish.
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Anyway, I'm glad WE are talking, as everyone else seems to have flown north for the summer. Well, the place will be abuzz in a couple of months when saison-2 hits the tube, hein?
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[manson]

speaking french is difficult ! lol i don't manage it :P
and writing french ! arg what a problem for me ! i'm bad in french despise i'm french :(:(

Coup de gueule: Je ne suis jamais déchiffré comment prononcer "août"....

août ... this word is stupid ! cause it use lots of letters and you only say " out "

stupid french tongue

[Chauve-Souris]

...it use lots of letters and you only say " out "....stupid french tongue

Say, thanks, Mansonito!
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I'll remember to just ignore the "a" and pronounce the rest like a ricain. I sort of knew that, but when I say it it never feels right. Even when I write it, it feels wrong. Strange word, indeed. I guess the month is named after Emperor Augustus of good ol' Roma, so one must acknowledge that the anglais "August" is a bit more faithful to the original (not that he deserves to be honored much....)
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Geez, Mans, you sure don't like français. It's really nice in some ways, so try to enjoy it already! At least keep it handy for charming the anglophone women (pant, pant).
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[manson]

anglophones women love french speaking people ? lol
why don't i live in the unated states !!!

and about the month " aout " , i prefer the word " august " , you're right more faithful ! and less strange !



ps :

Say, thanks, Mansonito!

Arg ! my god, what was this " mansonito " ?!? :sm10:

[Olivier]

Strange word, indeed.

It is, because you don't say the "a" (you normally should), but you do pronounce the final t (which you shouldn't!). As you said, the word comes from the Latin name Augustus. This etymology also explains the presence of the circumflex accent. Such an accent comes from an "s" which was dropped. But it generally remains in the corresponding English word, for example:

forêt => forest
maître => master
huître => oyster
côte => coast
coût => cost

anglophones women love french speaking people ?

Yes, of course! If you have the same accent as Maurice Chevalier, you definitely have a big advantage ;-)

Say, thanks, Mansonito!

That's a nice nickname ;-)

[manson]

forêt => forest
maître => master
huître => oyster
côte => coast
coût => cost

wow, you must have deeply studied english ! but it is interesting ! i like the links between two different tongues

( i didn't know there was a accent on this word " côte " ^^ )

That's a nice nickname ;-)

O_O ok ok , i allow you to call me mansonito but i'll find a stupider nickname for both of you niark niark

[Chauve-Souris]

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Aw, c'mon, Mansonito is just Spanish for "Little lovable Manson". Basically a compliment!
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But the big thing today is that an airliner from Paris creamed its landing in Toronto and ended up in a ditch by the freeway, and the first guy to hop out of the wreckage and talk to the newsmen was a chap named Olivier! My first thought was that this might be our beloved, erudite Olivier (or Olivito?) but the above postes indicate otherwise. Anyway, he indicated that, although unhurt, he didn't particularly enjoy the experience. Understandable, hein?
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Tu amigo,
El Murciélago (pero Murciélagito?) :sm35:
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(I hope Clementita and Tchouckita don't see this....)
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[Chauve-Souris]

forêt => forest
maître => master
huître => oyster
côte => coast
coût => cost

wow, you must have deeply studied english ! but it is interesting ! i like the links between two different tongues

Ah, oui, those "links" are called cognates, and they make life a lot easier for people trying to speak each other's languages.
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But, beware of FALSE COGNATES! -- words that look similar, but have different, sometimes embarrassing, meanings. If you tell an anglophone woman that she has nice bras you're in trouble, because you just commented on her soutien-gorge.
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librairie =/= library
actuellement =/= actually
coin =/= coin
envie =/= envy
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...and hundreds more pitfalls like that.
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Another good example -- if an anglo waiter says to a franco woman that he has a fresh napkin for her, he probably won't get much of a tip....
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...And "you must have deeply studied english", yes, Olivier has deeply studied EVERYTHING! What a guy!
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And finally, you don't even have to speak English with a French accent, you can say to an anglo girl, in straight French: "Your favorite cow eats dog biscuits with a rusty shovel.", and she will fall right into your arms. It's scary, I tell you.
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And it works the other way, too. Anglo men are highly susceptible to French-speaking women. "It's the language of lovvvvvvv, babyyyyy!"
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[manson]

Aw, c'mon, Mansonito is just Spanish for "Little lovable Manson". Basically a compliment!

thanks for the compliment
but I don't speak any word of spanish , i chose italian at school . ( so i can't understand the meaning of " El Murciélago (pero Murciélagito?) " )

and about the false cognates you was speaking about, i think in french we call them " faux amis "

the first example you gave can be very usefull , i'll remember this if one day i go to live in an english speaking country in order to charm anglophones women :bise: ( arf these new smileys are funny )
( don't say at the beginning of a conversation that she has nice bras , i think i'd remember )

[Chauve-Souris]

... so i can't understand the meaning of " El Murciélago (pero Murciélagito?) "

That means "The Bat (or Little Bat?)
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I don't especially enjoy Spanish, but I am surrounded by it here in the southwest. This "ito" and "ita" suffix is good to know, because it displays relationships between people. It is used in just about the same situations as where francos use "tu" and "toi", i.e., with children and lovers. But the Spanish don't use it as much between same-sex adults, unlike the way "tu" is used between casual friends, on this forum, etc.
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I like knowing bits of a lot of languages, like the numbers, and greetings, yes and no, etc. Certainly, as a European, you can appreciate the advantages of knowing how to say "where is the bathroom?" in a lot of different languages. (arf?)
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[manson]

hey so i can call you ... el Murciélagito ... difficult to say !!!

I like knowing bits of a lot of languages, like the numbers, and greetings, yes and no, etc.

yes you're right it 's always usefull and furthermore , speaking a foreign language is very interesting ! But i prefer english because of all the colored expressions there are ! i find them more beautiful than their meaning in french .
( to keep my spirits up , a see of unknown faces, etc... )

Certainly, as a European, you can appreciate the advantages of knowing how to say "where is the bathroom?" in a lot of different languages. (arf?)

here you're wrong ! i'm european and i don't know how to speak spanish, deutch ( i'm learning this language alone, with songs of rammstein ), polish, etc... i don't know all the countries which composed the european union !

if you travel in europe, you can be understood knowing only speaking english !
for me, the europe is just a word , it doesn't change anything ! but i'm young and i have all the time to change my mind

[garooob]

I don't speak any Spanish, despite the fact I live in the southwest, too. As we all know, I took French in high school. At the time, I thought that would be more useful, being close to Canada. I never expected to live next to Mexico!

[Chauve-Souris]

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Yeah, you know, ricains often say, "Gee, people in other countries all study and speak English, but most Americans don't bother to learn a foreign language!" Well, it doesn't work in the other direction. We can spend a lifetime learning one or two foreign languages and that only avails us in a few limited parts of the world. 'Tain't fair!
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I think yanks should drop their linguistic inferiority complex and just enjoy being blessed with already knowing the "lingua franca" of world affairs. For me, learning français is just a lot of fun, and not expected to yield a lot of practical results.
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As a demonstration of my "impractical" approach to the subject, I am planning to re-learn Latin next -- not exactly a tourist's language, hein?
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[manson]

latin !?! 0_o ohh ! that's really courageous !
i don't know in the united sates , but in france , pupils can choose to learn latin at the beginning of the middle school , then they can carry on at the high school .
I personally chose not to learn latin cause i had enough difficulties with the français !! ( difficulties which didn't disapear yet ;P )

but I didn't know some americans were interested by latin ! i though itwas just a language loved by european teachers ! i was wrong

[Chauve-Souris]

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Latin is considered by yank educators as a good introduction to language-study in general, a good jumping-off point for studying any of the Romance languages, and a good way to understand and appreciate the English language. Lots of us took it in our last year of collège and the first year of lycée. Then for the remaining two years one takes a live language like French, Spanish, Italian, etc. Then in the University you take a couple of semesters more of some language. Phew!
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I like latin for the last-named reason -- appreciating English, plus science, literature, etc., etc. Besides, when I get my time machine working, I'll probably want to make it to a few shows at the coliseum....
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[Chauve-Souris]

...And an added advantage is that it (GIMP) can handle .PSD format, so it can exchange files with GIF Animator without losing the layers and stuff...

Well, I'm still enjoying the GIMP, but I am disappointed to find that GIF Animator refuses to import .PSD files from the GIMP. GIF Animator specifically offers to input .PSDs, and lists them promisingly in its input dialog, but when I try to it simply says that it is unable to open them (sob, sniff). I have no way of knowing whether it's GIMP's fault or GIF Animator's fault.
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Drat! GIF Animator's drawing tools are feeble compared to the GIMP's, and it is painful not to be able to use the latter. Or to use it I have to transfer the results in a series of flat JPGs or GIFs. (Fortunately, I CAN transfer stuff with transparencies intact that way.)
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Olivier et al: Any suggestions?
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[Olivier]

Olivier et al: Any suggestions?

Err, maybe GIF Animator can only import single-layered .psd files?
Btw, did you see that you could create animated GIFs directly from the GIMP? Create a multi-layered picture, save it as GIF, and GIMP presents you with some options to create an animated file.

[Chauve-Souris]

Err, maybe GIF Animator can only import single-layered .psd files?...

No, GIF-A can import its own multilayered .psd files. I've done some more testing and found that the GIMP can import its own multi-layered (ml) files and GIF-A's ml .psd files; GIF-A can import its own ml .psd files, but not the GIMP's.
I found that when GIF-A's input dialog looks at .psd files in their folder, it shows its own files with an extensive specification text and even offers a nice thumbnail of it. When it looks at the GIMP's .psd files it produces neither of those things. So I can only conclude that the GIMP is not including some sort of header information in its .psd files.
(I did all this testing with a background level and three layer-objects, and made sure they always showed up in the programs' displays as such.)
Meanwhile, I can't get into the GIMP's English discussion forum because Yahoo! keeps failing to get its "group membership" verification e-mail to my inbox. Geez, I've always had trouble with Yahoo! software -- endless loops, impenetrable "groups" , etc. My ISP might be rejecting them as SPAM.

...Btw, did you see that you could create animated GIFs directly from the GIMP? Create a multi-layered picture, save it as GIF, and GIMP presents you with some options to create an animated file.

Yeah, I looked into that, but the GIMP offers nothing so elegant as GIF-A's multi-image animation features.
Geez, if I could just solve this compatibility problem, I could enjoy the best features of both. If I ever get into the GIMP forum I'll probably solve it immediately, although I was able to search in it and could find no discussion of the problem.
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Thanks very much, Olivier -- I'll let you know what I find out (if ever...)
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[Olivier]

Can't GIF Animator import animated GIFs (produced by the GIMP)? And what are these features from GA that you miss in the GIMP?

[Chauve-Souris]

Can't GIF Animator import animated GIFs (produced by the GIMP)?...

Yes, but they would be a series of flat images. I wouldn't be able to obtain component objects, move them around, redistribute them among the images, etc.
For instance, if I wanted to change a few pixels from some layer-object, I couldn't do it in one place. I would have to change those pixels repeatedly in each of the images in which the object was used -- and keep them all precisely identical to each other.
I met with this problem with my earliest animated .gifs, where I ignorantly had not also kept copies of GIF-A's own files (.uga) which preserve the layers, etc. What a job to change anything!
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...And what are these features from GA that you miss in the GIMP?

-- Adding something (like my little "pb" monogram) to all of the images in a file, and in the same location in all, with a single click of the mouse. And later to be able to move the monogram around and try different locations in all of the images, with a single click.
-- Easy adding and removing of an object in different images, and instant previewing to observe the result.
--One click optimization in all images at once, and identically in all images.
I could go on for Ko's like this. GIF Animator is one heck of a well-designed application, and that comes from a career QA programmer, moi.
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Incidentally, I finally got into Yahoo!'s "groups", but I had to establish an e-mail account with Yahoo! to do it. I just thought you would like to know that for my first and last name I used "Pierre LaBête" (arf, arf?) Actually, that's fairly close to my real name.
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On the testing front, I downloaded some GIMP .psd files from the 'net and found that GIF-A could preview and open them okay. I then opened one in the GIMP and then IMMEDIATELY, without changing anything but the filename, saved it as a .psd. Sure enough, GIF-A couldn't preview or open it. Sure sounds like a GIMP ver.2.2 bug to me! I'd sure like to solve this, instead of abandoning GIF-A for something that is not its own fault.
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Thanks for your interest....
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[Chauve-Souris]

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Ooooh! Ooooh! My copy of "Code Lyoko 2, L'Aventure Continue" has arrived at last. (Sorry, Clem...) Like vol.1, it is a Hachette "mang'anim" -- not really a manga, but more like what our Gallic brethren would call a BD. ...Reads left-to-right, in color, etc.
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Episodes included: "Créature de Rêve" and "Crise de Rire". As before, the best thing about it is the occasional full-page illustrations, very nicely drawn and printed. And, as before, I am not about to open it more than 90 degrees, to make sure the pages stay in place.
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A nice 'souvenir' of CL.
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[Chauve-Souris]

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Yay! Olivier has registered, at last!
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Welcome, o sage one!
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[Chauve-Souris]

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CLEM!
This is YOUR month. Bon courage!
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(Stp, keep us posted...)
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edit: Oooops!

Coup de coeur: j'ai pas bossé pour rien toute l'année et mon rêve se précise. J'ai été admissible à mon concours :

Yay! Fantastic! Fabulous! Brilliant!
(The only bad part is that now you have to get all dirty in that obstacle course test. (erf, erf))
Anyhoo, as stated above, "Bon courage, and keep us posted!"
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[Clem]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
I didn't tell you about my results because I thought it was on 13rd of september. But yesterday, a friend called me in order to say to me that my results were on line. So, I was surprised.

Now, as you said, I must train because there's the obstacle course test and some oral exams (4) between the 27th of september and the 21th of october. So, I must work
But, it's really "encouraging"(?) to see that I'm not stupid .
For this exam, we were 2 000 and now we are only 250 candidates.

Maybe, I will have a job this year and I will realize a dream

Tanhk you very much for your support