French students unable to cope with tricky question - Polidicks

Silly french, we get german-english dictionaries in our exams

We just got out of the Physics and Chemistry exam and there already is a petition because it was "too hard".

[QUOTE=alpha00zero;48034254]And I thought Quebecers had a problem with English.[/QUOTE] well yoooou thought wrong

[QUOTE=alpha00zero;48034254]And I thought Quebecers had a problem with English.[/QUOTE] I thought it was the Quebec government who had the problem with English.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;48033904]Yeah most people refuse to watch movies/shows that aren't dubbed, they'll even refuse to try out subs. Although the people who succeeded the most at learning English are the people who actually did what I told them to do and started watching everything in English.[/QUOTE] Cartoon Network here used to be just dubbed English with no subs and I watched it all the time when I was a kid, even if I really didn't understand the language I understood most of what was going on through the animation's actions and context itself. I suspect this helped me a lot in learning English. The animation in cartoons is usually very good at conveying meanings so even not understanding the language kids are able to understand what is going on. Of course being interested in watching the cartoons is a must.

[QUOTE=Kommodore;48033969]tbf french is the official international/diplomatic language but most english speakers remain monoglot their entire life and completely take for granted that it's the global lingua franca (no pun intended) so there's a bit of hypocrisy and grounds for general forgiveness afaic[/QUOTE] They were in an English exam. If I was in a French exam I think they would expect me to know a word in French that is as difficult as "coping".

The only thing as pathetic as the French's lack of fluency in English would be natively English speaking people's unwillingness to learn foreign languages. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Sobotnik;48034663]They were in an English exam. If I was in a French exam I think they would expect me to know a word in French that is as difficult as "coping".[/QUOTE] You underestimate how shitty English classes are over here. I can guarantee that French students, no matter how much attention they give to the classes, wouldn't learn vocabulary that advanced without learning English through alternatives.

I'm not a native english speaker, isn't cope in that context dealing? like "coping with the situation". "dealing with the situation".

English is such a weird language I feel bad for the people who have to learn it as a second language

Basically the way they teach it is the same way they teach French. They focus on meaningless intricacies of the grammar but neglect oral and written practice in the process.

My flagdog says Sweden but I do live in the UK in case you thought I was being weird and self-referencing my own issues [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] automerge sorry

[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;48034598]I thought it was the Quebec government who had the problem with English.[/QUOTE] Alongside those who follow the beliefs. I heard not long ago that some people in the eastern part of Canada wanted to get rid of the French language in their region because it was an inconvenience to put their signs and menus with both languages. This is how backwards retarded some people are. Americans have their dummies, we have are own kind of morons too.

[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;48034430]What the fuck, scaffolding seems like a pretty specialized word that doesn't come up very often at all in common conversation. It's entirely understandable that they wouldn't know that.[/QUOTE] Should have probably mentioned that was in the third year of a college course that's entirely dedicated to english with about four hours a week of classes solely dedicated to translation. List of words that people had issues translating, in the third year of this course : - Calf (as a body part [I]and[/I] as an animal) - Rickety - Minister (as in a pastor, not the political function) - Guardrail

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;48034890]Should have probably mentioned that was in the third year of a college course that's entirely dedicated to english with about four hours a week of classes solely dedicated to translation. List of words that people had issues translating, in the third year of this course : - Calf (as a body part [I]and[/I] as an animal) - Rickety - Minister (as in a pastor, not the political function) - Guardrail[/QUOTE] Have to admit, I know rickety and guardrail, but I would have trouble figuring out what calf means and I have barely ever seen minister in that meaning.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;48034927]Also feel bad for the people who have it as first language. [/QUOTE] Why? It's very widely spoken and is the de-facto language in a number of scenarios (one of which is air traffic control)

[QUOTE=Trumple;48034743]English is such a weird language I feel bad for the people who have to learn it as a second language[/QUOTE] I think in English more than in my mother language (Slovenian) and it is perfectly valid.

[QUOTE=Trumple;48035014]Why? It's very widely spoken and is the de-facto language in a number of scenarios (one of which is air traffic control)[/QUOTE] I explained why in my post. And honestly, as far as I know, French isn't that useful outside of French-speaking countries. English prevails everywhere.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;48035085]I explained why in my post. And honestly, as far as I know, French isn't that useful outside of French-speaking countries. English prevails everywhere.[/QUOTE] I was talking about English

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;48033571]i guess they gotta cope with it[/QUOTE] your avatar fits so well

[QUOTE=Trumple;48035119]I was talking about English[/QUOTE] Oh my bad, I made a serious mistake right there. Going to remove that.

[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;48034430]What the fuck, scaffolding seems like a pretty specialized word that doesn't come up very often at all in common conversation. It's entirely understandable that they wouldn't know that.[/QUOTE] Scaffolding is a pretty common word, I dunno where you live but its a common element when talking about buildings. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=eirexe;48034729]I'm not a native english speaker, isn't cope in that context dealing? like "coping with the situation". "dealing with the situation".[/QUOTE] It means to emotionally handle or deal with a situation. You deal with a gunshot wound, you cope with the pain. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Loadingue;48034927]Have to admit, I know rickety and guardrail, but I would have trouble figuring out what calf means and I have barely ever seen minister in that meaning.[/QUOTE] Its a protestant thing, we don't refer to protestant preachers as priests but as Ministers. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] Course you probably know that. Sorry.

[QUOTE=_Axel;48034668]The only thing as pathetic as the French's lack of fluency in English would be [U]natively English speaking people's unwillingness to learn foreign languages[/U]. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] You underestimate how shitty English classes are over here. I can guarantee that French students, no matter how much attention they give to the classes, wouldn't learn vocabulary that advanced without learning English through alternatives.[/QUOTE] You can put a large scale of the blame of that on the education system, I personally feel that when we get the option to learn a foreign language it's far too late in the education system. I struggled quite a lot to get a grasp on French when I was forced into learning it as a second language in our education system and what I did learn honestly didn't stick because we only did it for a lovely total of 2 years. Even now I struggle a lot to grasp a new language and I'm forced to have to rely in a mix of what I know and simple English with hand gestures to explain what I mean. Personally I feel if languages were brought in earlier within the education systems and taught for a sizeable length of time we wouldn't have these issues because it'd force a better level of teaching and make the languages taught to be used more regularly. Theres a lot of flaws and this really is one of them, but also like said by some others, when I last visited France I was shocked to see just how much you guys dub, that honestly wont be helping as well.

[QUOTE=Trumple;48034743]English is such a weird language I feel bad for the people who have to learn it as a second language[/QUOTE] If my experience with Spanish is anything to go off of? Oh hell yes. And it would go in reverse, as well. I was taught that Spanish has a very rigid structure to it. English is extremely fluid. Where Spanish goes 1, 2, 3 you can have English go 2, 1, 3 or 3, 4, 2 and generally make sense. Where did the 4 come from? Nobody knows, but it still makes general sense. I could be completely wrong, though. I took one semester of Spanish and ended up failing because I had a nervous breakdown and effectively locked myself in a room for many years of living as a recluse starting on the day of the final exam.

So is this the hot new trend for students these days? Whining about your major exams on the internet? I mean the other day they only did it in private and through spoken word, now the entire world suddenly needs to know it seems.

[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;48034430]What the fuck, scaffolding seems like a pretty specialized word that doesn't come up very often at all in common conversation. It's entirely understandable that they wouldn't know that.[/QUOTE] A lot of words barely come up in common conversation, yet it's easy to remember them just in case. You can teach kids what scaffolding means and how to use it in Elementary. It's basic vocabulary.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;48035825]If my experience with Spanish is anything to go off of? Oh hell yes. And it would go in reverse, as well. I was taught that Spanish has a very rigid structure to it. English is extremely fluid. Where Spanish goes 1, 2, 3 you can have English go 2, 1, 3 or 3, 4, 2 and generally make sense. Where did the 4 come from? Nobody knows, but it still makes general sense. I could be completely wrong, though. I took one semester of Spanish and ended up failing because I had a nervous breakdown and effectively locked myself in a room for many years of living as a recluse starting on the day of the final exam.[/QUOTE] If you think order in English doesn't matter, try Latin.

As an American I can't really enjoy the laugh since by the end of my High School career my second language skills were able to at best allow me to say hi and ask where the market is in Spanish. Although I wouldn't be able to understand the answer to the latter question.

I find it fascinating when some of today's youth doesn't speak English. Here it is taught even in kindergarten, and is a obligatory class even in first grade.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;48035825]If my experience with Spanish is anything to go off of? Oh hell yes. And it would go in reverse, as well. I was taught that Spanish has a very rigid structure to it. English is extremely fluid. Where Spanish goes 1, 2, 3 you can have English go 2, 1, 3 or 3, 4, 2 and generally make sense. Where did the 4 come from? Nobody knows, but it still makes general sense. I could be completely wrong, though. I took one semester of Spanish and ended up failing because I had a nervous breakdown and effectively locked myself in a room for many years of living as a recluse starting on the day of the final exam.[/QUOTE] Everyone I've spoken to actually finds American English a lot easier to learn than UK English for some reason. I think its because ours is based off the older forms of English versus the newer UK forms. [editline]23rd June 2015[/editline] And before anyone jumps me, speed up a southern accent and you get an English accent.

I remember in Secondary school we were forced to learn French the trouble was though no one wanted to. Everyone including me wanted to learn German but our school didn't offer it. Also our French teacher was from Spain and his name was Mr.Madrid.