Senegalou in English and spanish

[mélodie]

T G  I F   As they say in the States, T hanks G od I t's F riday !!!!

We have to decide what's we're going to talk about, haven't we ?
As I said to Salwa yesterday it could be an opportunity to promote Senegal and may be attract some English speaking forumists.
Besides for some of us it would be a goog practice.
 I don't use my English so often in my present work and eventhough I spent a couple of years in England ( but that was 30 years ago !!!!!) I do lack practise and tend to forget lots of words and idioms.
how do you see it ? Do you think we have to explain what can be found in this forum and it's "spirit" ?
And please eventhough you English is not that fluent feel free to join...

[Supukandja]

Thank you Melodie,

Ok, so let's speak English! (excuse me for the bad level!)

Personnaly, I learned as an "au pair" girl en London, 22 years ago! and when I travelled in Australia and Asia, but this was long time ago. 

Now I try to help my children to learn and it's lot of fun.

I like to see movies in (V.O.) original version.

.... what else?

[althenee]

But you are so good speaking that english language, both together!!!

I feel shame !!!! 

[ALERO]

Don' t be ashame,althenee !!

Most of us are "non english mother language people" which means that we gonna do mistakes !!!

The purposes of this topic are, for the ones who wish, to improve their english and, aswell, to enable english speaking people to fell free to ask question about Senegal.

I think we are all interacting on the forum to help people with their questions and to give them our feeling and experiences on different subjects.

[salwa]

to enable english speaking people to fell free to ask question about Senegal.

for differents questions, of course, differents topics please


pfiou it's not easy to speak english. How to ameliorate it ?

[mélodie]

If you happen to visit our forum and moreover this topic you might want to know whom we are, what we want to do ...The common point between all of us is thet we all have a liking for Senegal.
Some of us live there, some in France and travel quite often for pleasure , or they have worked in Senegal for a while or  because they have relatives there and quite a few are mixed couples .
You can benefit from their experiences and will save time and energy  to sort out some of the many questions you might have.

IF No one join us , well it'll mean practising a little bit and improving from day to day.

a
Are they many English tourists in Senegal, and how fluent are the "local". I must admit Ihaven't met a lot in Saint LOuis.
What about you elsewhere in Senegal ?

[nono]

Hello everybody.

I think you're going to laugh with my poor english. I must to improve it urgently.

Witch is funny, it's now i meet many persons .......  italian

[ganesh46]

Hello everybody.

I think you're going to laugh with my poor english. I must to improve it urgently.

Witch is funny, it's now i meet many persons .......  italian

every days i work with english speakers (native speakers or not) bur my favourite language now is spanish!!
my english is becoming worst from day to day.
may be here, it ll give me an aportunity to practice more!

[mélodie]

I had told Salwa that I would have a little chat in English every day and I was about to forget...
I would be a shame not to carry on for a few weeks at least.
For the time being it could be not a bar but an English pub 
I don't know whether you have that kind a place but here in Marseille there is a "café" Ithink this is called the ferry where every friday it's "English Speaking only". This is becoming very fashionable . I've never been there but i'll try one of these days.
I'm trying to organize a couple of days in London using a low cost flight but London is quite an expensive place;

[ALERO]

Hi mélodie,

I will not be able to come to your special place in Marseille for the moment but let's have a chat here for the moment.

It is maybe easier for me bceause I am speaking, reading and writing english every day even if I am not fluent in it.

[mélodie]

I knew you would come to the bar!!
That's my problem, in my present job I don't practise at all.I now work in the continuous education dpt and deal mainly with French students whereas é years ago I worked with regular students and there were coming from all around the world.
I read a lot in English though and my favourite writer in David Lodge. Do you know him ?

[ALERO]

I don't know David Lodge. What are his books talking about ?

For me, the best way to learn or improve a foreign language is, of course, to practice regularly and, if possible, to live in a country where they speak the language

[mélodie]

Yes that's right. I lived in England for  2 years but that was ages ago and at that time I had an English boyfriend and it helps .
David Lodge is very Bristih ! Witty, hillarious,
He is or maybe was a University Faculty and  most of his books  take place in universities .I will prepare a summary of some of his books and will give it to you. too tired now but I'm sure if you start reading one you will read all of them in sucession.

[mélodie]

Alero if you start reading D Lodge's books you're gonna be crazy about him ( providing you like the Bristish sense of humour, peculiar I must admit but so subtle and funny..)I've read about 15  of them , the last one 2 weeks ago but it was in French (la vie en sourdine)
So I would advise you to start with "nice work" and then may be "Paradise news"
What I got on the net about the Nice work


"The book describes encounters between Robyn Penrose, a feminist university teacher specialising in the industrial novel and women's writing, and Vic Wilcox, the manager of an engineering firm. The relationship that develops between the unlikely pair reveals the weaknesses in either character. Robyn's academic position is precarious because of budget cuts. Vic has to deal with industrial politics at his firm.


The story is set in the fictional city of Rummidge, a grey and dismal fictionalised Birmingham. It is part of the same series as the novels Changing Places, Small World, and Thinks .... In Nice Work, Philip Swallow is still head of the English Department from Small World and thus is Robyn Penrose's boss. Morris Zapp makes a cameo appearance in the last part of Nice Work, to add a plot twist where he tries to arrange for Robyn to have a job interview at his American university, Euphoric State (a fictionalized UC Berkeley), in order to stop his ex-wife from being a candidate for an open faculty position. ..

What kind of books do you like reading ? Who's your favourite writer(s)?

[ALERO]

Thank you mélodie !

The next time I am going back to Europe, I will buy some of his book and I will let you know my feed back.

It is Christmas soon. Did all of you write a letter to Christmas Father ????