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Help with French please

(19 Posts)
Aka Wed 22-Jan-14 20:47:31

I've been asked to contact someone in France on behalf of a community band who will be visiting that country in June. As many of them are elderly they are concerned about their accommodation and do not wish to be put up in communal college-tyoe dormitories, which is where they stayed last time they visited albeit 30 years ago. I'm priming myself with all the necessary vocabulary and trusting my basic grammar will suffice (shades of the policeman in 'Allo, 'Allo) . The word / concept which is eluding me is the word for dormitory itself as I find my dictionary totally useless and confusing on this word.
Eg
Principal Translations/Principales traductions. dormitory n, US (university dormitory résidence universitaire nf. dormitory n, UK (school dormitory), dortoir nm

Please help [comfused]

Aka Wed 22-Jan-14 20:47:55

confused

Anne58 Wed 22-Jan-14 21:00:53

nous ne voulons pas un dortoir

"we do not want a dormitory" in French

ffinnochio Wed 22-Jan-14 21:00:56

Dortoir is dormitory Aka.

Anne58 Wed 22-Jan-14 21:02:11

nous aimerions chambres séparées

"we would like separate rooms" in French

Agus Wed 22-Jan-14 21:03:06

Aka. It's dortoir.

Anne58 Wed 22-Jan-14 21:04:39

nous aimerions rencontrer des hommes beaux

"we would like to meet some handsome men" in French

Aka Wed 22-Jan-14 22:08:21

Thank you all. I rang up earlier and got his answering machine, which threw me a but, but I managed to leave a message, I think it was on the lines of 'I have the two British earmen in the sill at the poloce station, I will return them to you as soon as pissable' hmm

Soutra Wed 22-Jan-14 22:13:53

I am reminded of the wonderful Gerard Hoffnung's mistranslations from foreign brochures such as "French widow in every bedroom affording amazing prospects"
Or the French one about "Nous voudrions un matelot dans chaque chambre". grin (if anyobdy is wondering it was meant to be a mattress in each room)

grannyactivist Wed 22-Jan-14 22:14:05

phoenix I'm sorry, it just has to be said: Oooh la la!

Aka Wed 22-Jan-14 22:23:33

My daughter, au-pairing in France, knowing her employer didn't like her children imbibing additives in their food, once picked up a 4-pack of yoghurt and asked the shopkeeper 'il y a les preservatives dedans?' blush

Anne58 Wed 22-Jan-14 22:25:12

Les hommes doivent être riches

The men must be wealthy grin

Agus Wed 22-Jan-14 23:00:13

So, what we have here then is handsome, wealthy sailors with flavoured condoms? Yes, I can see how that would work. grin

Nelliemoser Wed 22-Jan-14 23:03:14

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? Mais nes't pas dans un dortoir. J'aime les hommes tres gentil!
Please feel free to correct any mistakes I stopped learning it about 50yrs ago.

Anne58 Wed 22-Jan-14 23:10:25

J'ai la peinture de la madonna tombé avec les gros seins

I have the painting of the fallen madonna with the big boobies grin

Mamie Thu 23-Jan-14 05:17:40

Reminds me of the (probably apocryphal) EU mistranslations.
Frozen semen : un matelot surgelé
Les agriculteurs français vis à vis le marché commun : French farmers live to screw the Common Market
Il faut profiter de la sagesse normande : We must all learn from Norman Wisdom.

I did once pick up a leaflet about forest fires which was hilariously mistranslated and a friend told us the the German version said, " Do not throw hot women out of the car".

absent Thu 23-Jan-14 06:14:51

La vie en rose – the pink aeroplane?

Anne58 Thu 23-Jan-14 10:19:17

I have a book called "Lost in Translation" which has some very funny ones from signs, hotel and restaurant translations around the world.

Sort of similar but not quite, |I bought a friend of mine an enamel sign for her kitchen:

www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Hard-Work-Kill-enamelled/dp/B003ATF5YO

feetlebaum Thu 23-Jan-14 10:35:50

The Ambassor's lady wife, at an outdoor function, fanning herself, said to the gentleman beside her "Ah! Que je suis en chaleur!"

En chaleur = on heat...