I thought I had the French numbering system worked out.
Even the nineties.
I’m currently working in a travel and tourism office in France.
I am now thinking of having a t-shirt printed with the legend ‘YOU CAN’T SCARE ME, PART OF MY JOB INVOLVES ME ASKING FRENCH PEOPLE FOR THEIR POSTCODES’
In case you are unfamiliar with the French postcode system, and are wondering what this sounds like I will use 94440 as an example. They will start with the ninety-four, this will then be followed by the four-hundred, they will then finish with the forty.
It looks easy when I type it like that, doesn’t it?
Now imagine that being delivered at a speed slightly faster than that of a bullet exiting a gun. Then throw in thick regional accents, beards, mumbling, sandwiches, pipes and dogs excitedly yapping while you try to decipher what has just been said to you.
I love it when people from Belgium come in. Because then when I ask them for their postcode, they simply say ‘Belgium’ and then I can just go on the computer and click on the box that says ‘Belgium”. Except it’s in French so it says ‘Belgique’.
I think it’s the best way to hammer home the numbers. You just need to make sure you’ve got some painkillers handy when you finish your shift – for your headache.
And the French are lovely. If I’m ever slightly dubious of what they’ve just said, I’ll hold up my little pad and ask them if it’s right. If it’s wrong they’ll correct me. And if it’s right they’ll look at me with a slightly fond look, as if they want to pat my head.
Or give me a sweet.
Yes, pretty much exactly like you would with a dog that’s just learned a new trick.
Another part of my job involves me taking their email addresses down via the telephone. I’ve mastered that fine art with relative ease – I pass the phone to my French colleagues.
Mr Mum: The 'joy' of a stay-at-home dad 
Ahh, French postcodes (and numbers more generally). I bet it’s like a dream come true when the Belgians walk in and you don’t have to decipher them. Given all the changes they’ve been making to the French language in recent years (dropping accents and the like), I’m almost surprised the Swiss logic of ‘septante’ (instead of ‘soixante-dix) etc. hasn’t caught on!
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A lot of people I talk to about this would prefer that! I do love this job, but it really is in at the deep-end stuff, I think if I hadn’t been living here for two years it would be impossible. It’s also a massive plus that I generally deal with people on their holidays, which usually = happy people!
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You have my utmost admiration! I can hardly understand all of the American accents, and I was born here! My dad was from Australia and never really lost his accent, and while Mum was born in Baltimore, her parents were from Germany and also learned English with British accent. As a result, when I am either nervous or want to be VERY precise I do tend to sound as if I came from London. My in-laws live in the Deep South, and there are times when my long-suffering husband has to translate what I am saying and then go back and tell ME what *they* are saying.
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I feel your pain – sometimes when I am talking to my in-laws my partner has to do the same, not all the time, but often. I see their brows furrowing and then she has to become the go-between!
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AH! I forgot! I give people our house number as “one-two-one-two-four”. They can write is as I say it and that’s that. When I took German classes I was supposed to say “twelve thousand, one hundred and twenty four”. I don’t think of it that way, and really had to try hard to get it straight. I’m obviously not good at planning ahead.
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I wish everyone said it like that, because THAT is a system I can understand easily đŸ™‚
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