Martinique - Do you Speak English ?

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by MacG

THERE, they do not speak French ........

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????

[MacG]

Ma fell deoc'h reiñ un tamm skoazell, krogit e-barzh. Mar karfec'h reiñ hoc'h ali ha netra ken, grit 'ta e pajenn ar gaozeadenn.

This would be more likely .........

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

It's "Ça va ?" meaning "you're OK?"

The very formal way would be would be " comment allez vous?" or "comment vas tu?" meaning "How do you do?"

Ahhhh... Common tally vu... I can do that... and Cafe Holay...
But I'm definitly more comfortable with the Latino languages...

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by MacG

Ma fell deoc'h reiñ un tamm skoazell, krogit e-barzh. Mar karfec'h reiñ hoc'h ali ha netra ken, grit 'ta e pajenn ar gaozeadenn.

This would be more likely .........

Revise your geography: Brittany is NOT in the South West of France

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

Revise your geography: Brittany is NOT in the South West of France

Ahhh..... but it is SW of Holland...

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Ahhh..... but it is SW of Holland...

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by kvidal

I ... hope that you can alleviate my fears of Martinique... We don't speak French and I don't want to spend the entire month in St Lucia. I am open to any suggestions. Anybody have any advice they'd like to share. We would truly appreciate it!

I really would like to sail up to St Pierre and hike up Mt. Pelee, and then down the coast and eventually go to St. Lucia for the tail end of the trip... Sharktattoo

Hi Sharky - And welcome to Cruisers Forum! Others have commented on the necessity of spoken French. Most cruisers consider ourselves ambassadors to the countries we visit, so a (very) few words will certainly help, & will help your enjoyment as well.

We LOVE Martinique, & used to hang out there a lot in the 80s. You can find more recent info here, & info on St. Lucia is here. Mt. Pelee is great, but clouds often cover the top so while hiking will give you exercise, the view is usually best at the trail-head parking lot. But don't miss the volcano museum in St. Pierre, or Gorge de la Falaise, on the slopes of Pelee. The drive along the spine of the island, through the rain forest, is delightful (& cool!) with some excellent views & there are some nice botanical gardens up there to visit.

[MacG]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

Revise your geography: Brittany is NOT in the South West of France

You are pretty hopeless, this is Euskara ........Basque ............

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by MacG

You are pretty hopeless, this is Euskara ........Basque ............

I thought it looked a bit odd - but knew it wasn't Norman French.....that's our national language . No idea what Breton looks like - the language probably has 25 words for Peasant .

No one speaks Norman French over here of course - although not quite a dead language, another 20 years and it may be as good as.


I seem to (vaguely!) recall that French wasn't the national / universal language of France until the very late 19th Century - and that only acheived after concerted effort from Paris.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

Your french sucks... I wonder if any body in France can understand you...
Best keeping it in English you'll have more success...

putain! don't they teach creole or pataios at school in france,incase it damages the pure language.......................salope!

[lrclough]

We're currently at anchor in Ste Anne, around the corner from the Le Marin which is a much more scenic local than Le Marin. This is our fourth day here. A couple anchored nearby goes back and forth between Ste Anne and St. Lucie year around.

As noted earlier, with a few basic French words you can get by, the restaurants are great and there are great walks and beaches. Here you can walk or taxi south to a wonderful undeveloped beach.

Get Chris Doyle's guide to the Windwards, plus Kathy Parsons' book French for Cruisers if you're concerned about language (it includes a specific phonetic pronunciation guide for every component of the entire book)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by atoll

putain! don't they teach creole or pataios at school in france,incase it damages the pure language.......................salope!

I dunno if the French Schools still do it, but when learning English the children had a choice of learning English....or American!

Back in the 70's was kinda weird hearing a Frenchman speaking English with an Amercian accent!......and not half as sexy as hearing a French woman speaking English - with a French Accent! Oooh La La ......my suspicion is that me speaking French does not have quite the same effect on the opposite sex .

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by MacG

You are pretty hopeless, this is Euskara ........Basque ............

OH NO it's not: I know I'm a Basque !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from Urrugne south of St Jean de Luz
and you put some Gaelic from Brittany here that you copy and paste from a page in Breton in Wikipedia... hahahaha

Thank you for the laughing

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I dunno if the French Schools still do it, but when learning English the children had a choice of learning English....or American!

.

This is news to me !
In my time , early sixties, it was only British English that we have at school in France...
Perhaps they change it later but I'm not so sure

[MacG]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

OH NO it's not: I know I'm a Basque !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from Urrugne south of St Jean de Luz
and you put some Gaelic from Brittany here that you copy and paste from a page in Breton in Wikipedia... hahahaha

Thank you for the laughing

Where did I laugh?
If it' s from Wiki, care to share the link?