Before we arrived, we had it from several reliable (we thought) sources that most people we'd encounter in Lausanne would speak English in addition to French (the dominant language in this part of the country). That has not been our experience so far. People from cafes to government offices speak French to us. If they speak English, they are not letting on.
To be fair, we are initiating conversations in French and trying our best to speak to them in French. So perhaps they know English but are trying to humor us, or perhaps people feel as nervous about speaking English (which would be a third langauge for many people here) as we feel about speaking French.
Starting with our first day here, we've had to do all kinds of important tasks in French (and by important, I do not mean ordering food in restaurants, which we can handle reasonably well).
For example, we needed cell phones. Now, most of you have had the experience of purchasing a cell phone in the US. And, if you are like me, you find it a confusing and painful process even doing it in your mother tongue. Imagine doing this in a foreign language! Did we need a plan focused mostly on Switzerland, or will we need to call other countries? Did we want to pay in advance? How do we pay when our minutes are up?
We made our way to the cell phone store (which, interestingly, is also the post office) and, fortunately, the clerk at the store was very, very patient (she had relatively few customers as most of Switzerland seems to be on summer holiday) and we got it figured out. We were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. After all, we had managed to get cell phones!
Alas, then we got home and plugged them in and realized all the instructions were in German.
All I can say is: thank goodness for Google Translate!
[Note from Mark: I can't help intervening here to say that Ami is dramatically understating her ability to speak French. She's a pro! She handled the cell phone transaction without serious difficulty, and she has communicated effectively in French in lots of other situations as well. So don't let her fool you into thinking that she's struggling to communicate here.]
French is a fun language. And, I do think our ability to communicate will improve. Here are some of our favorite French phrases so far:Voila -- used in all kinds of ways like "here you go" or "there it is."
Prochain arête -- next stop (very handy when riding the bus or train).
Glace -- ice cream.
Chien -- dog. This is particularly good to know as the people of Lausanne deeply love their dogs and take them everywhere (including parks, shops, cafes, grocery stores, and on the bus and train -- though dogs need their own tickets).
One of our most important tasks this week was to find out how to get a parking permit. When driving around we noticed that parking is either metered or there are signs that indicate permit parking. In addition, we noticed that most cars parked in permit areas had a blue cardboard sign they put on their dashboard (the parking permit). After driving a few places and being unsure if we could legally park or not, we were determined to get our very own parking permit.
Mark and I decided to start at the central tourism office. Surely, they would know what we needed. With confidence (and in English!), they directed us to the police station down the street. The officers behind the desk (in very fast French [which Ami understood and responded to!-MC]) said we needed to go to a different police station. We returned to the tourism office for more advice, and this time they suggested that we go to the main tourist office, in the train station. We found our way there, and I tried, in very poor French, to describe to the agent what we were looking for.
After a few confused moments and some back and forth which included pointing to a map and doing some sign language, the agent said "le disc!" And from behind her desk pulled out the blue cardboard parking permit.
"Le disc!" I cried.
Success! And, to boot, it was one of the very few things we have encountered here for which there was no charge.
Another kind of cultural encounter: We of course hope that Christopher and Matthew learn things living here that they wouldn't learn at home. So far, though, the main cultural practice they've noticed and want to emulate is smoking. The Swiss have one of the highest smoking rates in Europe, and the boys have noticed. (The Swiss also have one of the longest life expectancies in Europe. Other aspects of their lifestyle must compensate for the smoking. Almost as noticeable as all the smoking, for example, is how little obesity we see here.) I guess the lesson is that, when you go for cultural enrichment, you can't control which parts of the culture your kids will pick up. Let's hope they also learn some French.
No comments:
Post a Comment