2007-09-11 13:43:43 · 21 answers · asked by kitty 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I promise you than i'm french, i can show my identity card, i can speak french with you, and my horrible accent is a prove for my identity, i'll sing you my anthem (la Marseillaise) lol
plus i know all my genealogy since 1750 ;)
Try to touch the french prides as Zidane (i hate him), our language....
* Issander is maybe wrong cause i allways say sh!t, the person could usualy say merde as i do
* onetwothree is right but if the person know than une marseillaise is a girl who live in Marseille, she/he will need to know than that come from the soldiers from Marseille who sang this song when they was on the road to Paris on july 1789 just before the Bastille day (prise de la bastille).
The personn will need to know what was the bastille (it was a prison) and ask where in paris you can visit it, if the person don't know than the bastille was distroyed since long time (so, impossible to visit it, there are build on ) and than the bastille day is the 14 july, it is bizarre
2007-09-11 15:42:50 · answer #1 · answered by French Ingrid 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know exactly what you mean and why you are asking your question. There are plenty of people on this website who say they are French to gain an advantage over others, and give translations which they got from a search engine but most of the time are wrong. Sadly some genuinely French persons also give answers with serious errors or spelling mistakes. So nationality is not a proof of one's accuracy. My eldest grand-daughter is French and she speaks the language beautifully and without accent, but her spelling is atrocious. Her little sister only speaks English because she came over when she was only three and has forgotten her French, but she is really French and has a French passport.
I also know that some people do like to make others think that they are French because they think it is going to impress, or to make themselves sound interesting.
You have been given plenty of suggestions for testing someone that you can talk to face to face, but if you want proof of someone's knowledge on this website, it is only by getting to know French well yourself that you will be able to detect who are the liars.
If what you really want to know is if they are genuinely French born, ask to see their identity card (which everyone has in France) or their passport .
2007-09-11 20:53:22 · answer #2 · answered by WISE OWL 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Look up tongue twisters in French. Ask a reliable person how to say it. Now when these people can't pronounce all the words as told to you by your reliable friend, then they are "lying". Just like testing if someone really is Dutch: Say the word "eight-hundred eighty eight". In WWI, people were tested using this to see if they were really Dutch. Only Dutch people could say it perfectly.
2007-09-11 13:57:27 · answer #3 · answered by bryan_q 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can't take a person at their word then stay clear of them. What would be so terrible about them saying they were French anyway? maybe they have ancestors that it traces back too. If this is the only reason you feel the need to test and embarrass someone then you will succeed but what would you really gain from it?, NOTHING.
2007-09-11 13:59:40 · answer #4 · answered by painterlady 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Ask them to speak the language. This is what I do to people who claim to be Welsh..if they say "Oh, but I can't speak it", it shows them up for what they are...not proper Welsh people.
The same would be true for a Frenchman, however a Canadian or a Belgian could speak fluent French as can french teachers.
2007-09-12 01:46:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one lies and says they're French!
But I guess you could say something disparaging about Johnnie Halliday.
I have to add, there are plenty of native speakers of French who aren't "French". Three in my home alone. None of them would ever claim to BE French.
2007-09-11 13:53:37 · answer #6 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask them to speak French.
2007-09-11 13:48:49 · answer #7 · answered by xoɟ ʍous 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Believe it or not...nursery rhymes. Look up a few French nursery rhymes and ask him/her about them. I took a language class a few years ago at WVU and my prof told us that when someone is trying to find out if another person is an actual native speaker (you know...to make sure they aren't spies or whatever), quiz them over nursery rhymes from their culture.
2007-09-11 13:58:41 · answer #8 · answered by wendy p 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ask them what the French National Anthem is called.
--"La Marseillaise"
What does the name mean...
--That's the name given to the people from the city of Marseille.
How does it start (the lyrics).
--"Allons ! Enfants de la Patrie !
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
.
2007-09-11 13:55:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Invite them out for a feed of snails and frogs legs.lol
2007-09-11 14:54:27 · answer #10 · answered by mailliam 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋