I speak Toulousain

I still cannot conjugate the subjunctive. I forget that certain verbs must be accompanied by etre instead of avoir till after I've already uttered the broken phrase. Saying, "I've never seen/done that" is a constant pain in my butt, because I always flub it even though I know how it is supposed to go. In short, I'm not fluent... STILL!!! After four years of French at Sewanee, a semester in Aix-en-Provence, two years of French in high school, and this entire year here, and I'm still not fluent. Tant pis. I DO speak Toulousain though.

What I mean, is that I've picked up little things that they don't teach you in school. I've learned little ways of saying things so that I sound more french even if my phrases aren't correct. And I certainly feel more at ease with the language.

Afin (ah fen) means thus. The people here (and maybe elsewhere in France, I don't know) have shortened it to 'fin. They use it to help lead from one point to another. For an American, it's comparable to us using the word 'so' while telling an anecdote.

b'ais oui (bay wee): I've been told that this way of saying 'mais oui' has evolved from one hesitating just before saying the word oui and then not pronouncing the 'm' in 'mais' so that the movement from the closed to the open mouth actually pronounces the 'b' sound. This little phrase of agreement is most often (and ironically) used when one is emphasizing their point of view. For example, "You don't think it is really going to rain tomorrow do you?" "Mais (B'ais) oui (translation: Oh but yes!) , it will rain tomorrow, just look at the weather! There is 99% chance!"
**my friend Marie says that it could also come from "bah ouais" (bah weh). In France, instead of saying "um", they tend to say "bah". So perhaps the "bah" is the hestitation sound, followed by the more laid back way of saying oui (wee), aka ouais (weh)...either way, I've heard bah weh and bay wee here in Toulouse and I like it lots !!!

Voila (vwah la or wah la --- it's said both ways here) means "lo and behold/see here/see there/ta da/told you so/ as i said..." It means a lot of different things. I've learned that the French use it as a verbal filler kind of like afin ('fin) when trying to tell you something. It they arrive at a point and are hesitating upon moving to the next or feel lost for the moment, they will say "Voila" as a way of emphasizing and summing up what they were saying and giving themselves a moment to remember where the conversation was headed.

et alors (ay ah loor) means 'and so'. It is used exactly like afin and voila.

tch tch - this is a sound, not a phrase. This sound is the equivalent of "no, no" and it is used on kids and pets to dissuade them from getting into whatever trouble or mess they were headed toward.

Attention (ah ton see on) means "pay attention/be careful/look out/" and of course a host of other things as well. The prevailing idea of the word is to grab someone's attention to tell them something, so in that way perhaps the best translation is the militaristic call "Attention!". I've used this phrase to tell N. to be careful eating her hot food, to warn someone before running past them on the escalator, to grab the attention of an elderly person on the bus to an open seat....it's a great word!

C'est ca (say sah) means "that's it". I use this phrase to confirm, to correct, to question...it's like the chameleon phrase. For example, if a friend emails me to ask if we are indeed meeting at 8, I email back this phrase meaning, "yes, that's the correct time." Or, if I am not sure how to send a package at the post office, I can describe what I think the procedure is and end my description with "c'est ca", which is a way of asking if I'm correct or not.

I'm sure there are little things I'm forgetting, but those are the principle things that come to mind when I think of the progress in French that I've made this year.

~Tam in Toulouse