July 12, 2025
Je ne sais pas comment parler
Je ne sais pas comment parler parce que je ne sais pas beaucoup de français. C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas mal avec français à l'école mais maintenant c'est très difficile pour moi. C'est trist. Merci pour lire :)
I don't know how to talk because I don't know a lot of French. It's annoying because I wasn't bad at French at school but now, it's very difficult for me. It's sad. Thank you for reading :)
Je ne sais pas comment parler
Though the syntax is perfect, I think this is not what you meant.
I guess this is an attempt of straight translation from "I don't know how to speak", but in French this expression will only retain the concrete meaning of "I don't know the way how to". So, this looks like you have a physical problem or something and you wonder how to adjust your physical organs in the correct way to produce language... "Je sais comment siffler, mais je ne sais pas comment parler" : I know how to whistle but I don't know how to speak.
We would rather say simply "j e ne sais pas parler", which is rather vague.
In the end "Je ne sais pas parler Français" might be what you are looking for, or "Je ne peux pas parler français.".
"Savoir" is referring to what you know
"Pouvoir" is a more neutral and factual incapacity :
"je ne peux pas parler français" : simple fact, "I can't"
"je ne peux pas parler français parce que je ne connais pas la langue" : "I can't because I don't know"
"je ne peux pas parler français parce que ça me fait mal à la bouche" : "I can't because it hurts my mouth"
Je ne sais pas comment parlerpeux parler Français par ce que je ne sconnais pas beaucoup de françaisassez bien la langue.
I had to infer here
"I cannot speak French because I don't know the language enough". If this is only a question of vocabulary : "Je ne peux par parler français parce que je n'ai pas assez de vocabulaire.".
btw I chose "je ne peux pas" here instead of "Je ne sais pas", because the second part of the sentence contains the "je ne sais pas" information.
Note also that in french we have two verbs "connaître" and "savoir" that could translate to "to know"... I have the feeling that "savoir" is usually used on practical and physical things ("Je sais jouer de la guitare", "je sais monter à cheval"), while "connaître" would be dedicated to theoretical and brainy-brainy things ("je connais le solfège", "je connais toutes les races de chevaux). When it comes to language : "je sais parler suédois, mais je n'y connais rien au norvégien."
"Je sais parler français, mais je ne connais pas la grammaire de cette langue"...
C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas mal avecuvaise en français à l'école, mais maintenant c'est très difficile pour moi.
Or maybe "frustrant" instead of "énervant".
And well... It is absolutely normal, the things you don't use you just forget. There are so many things I simply forgot despite the love I had for it...
C'est triste.
I think a language is just like a bicycle... The fact that you had lessons as a child or a teenager will be invaluable in your new studies. The logic is still here, waiting to be reactivated, and now you have a more mature brain... So, I think you you'll have great joy and efficacy learning that language anew... If you manage to overcome the difficulties and frustration of the beginning.
Hold on :)
Merci pour lire :)
In French that would be "Merci d'avoir lu mon texte." (thanks for having read my text), Or more synthetic "Merci de m'avoir lue.". In this second form "m'" stands for "me".
July 14, 2025
Thank you so much for your corrections and kind words! I also must say your English is so good...slightly embarrassing as you used the word "efficacy" and I, a native English speaker, didn't know what it meant haha :)
July 14, 2025
Thank you for your nice comment :)
Funny, I have the feeling my English is rather average. It is most probably due to the fact that I only see how crippled I am whenever I want to say something : don't know the tenses, don't know the post-positions... So most of the time, things are not flowing and I have to bend my sentences towards something I know how to write.
July 15, 2025
Well, you're English seems pretty incredible to me and you use words in a lovely way and you just speak so well. I know what you mean though, it's hard to see the positives sometimes but you're amazing at English. How did you learn English?
July 15, 2025
The first layer I got in high school, which gave me enough basis to communicate later with other foreigners in pubs. The beer was the necessary catalysis back then, as it gave me enough confidence to humiliate myself massacring the language of Lewis Caroll (fuck Shakespeare !). I think, the pub is really where I started to use and learn the language, although I wouldn't have been able to do so without the invaluable bootstrap I got in the school. After that, I spent some years in science, in fields where most of your colleague are foreigners and all the publications and material has to be read and written in English. That being said, the number of native speakers being low, we never spoke a nice and beautiful oxford English, but resorted to our own variation of globish.
I left science 10 years ago, but I still communicate on a daily basis with my wife and cat, none of them being near masterisation of the french language yet... The cat shows some progresses though.
As for the rest, you probably noticed I am an incurable graphomaniac...
July 15, 2025
Wow, that's awesome! You're such a funny storyteller :)
I wish the cat all the luck in the world! Thank you so much for telling me about your language journey :)
Je ne sais pas comment parler
No need for "comment" here, "ne pas savoir" already conveys that idea
Je ne sais pas comment parler parce que je ne sais pas beaucoup de français.
C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas mal avecuvais en français à l'école mais maintenant c'est très difficile pour moi.
to be good/bad at [+subject] = être bon/mauvais en...
C'est triste.
Merci pour lired'avoir lu :)
With a verb, you're forced to go for "merci de"
You're thanking us for a past action, so the past infinitive would be used here => merci d'AVOIR LU
July 12, 2025
Thank you so much for your corrections and for explaining them! :)
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Je ne sais pas comment parler Je ne sais pas No need for "comment" here, "ne pas savoir" already conveys that idea Je ne sais pas comment parler Though the syntax is perfect, I think this is not what you meant. I guess this is an attempt of straight translation from "I don't know how to speak", but in French this expression will only retain the concrete meaning of "I don't know the way how to". So, this looks like you have a physical problem or something and you wonder how to adjust your physical organs in the correct way to produce language... "Je sais comment siffler, mais je ne sais pas comment parler" : I know how to whistle but I don't know how to speak. We would rather say simply "j e ne sais pas parler", which is rather vague. In the end "Je ne sais pas parler Français" might be what you are looking for, or "Je ne peux pas parler français.". "Savoir" is referring to what you know "Pouvoir" is a more neutral and factual incapacity : "je ne peux pas parler français" : simple fact, "I can't" "je ne peux pas parler français parce que je ne connais pas la langue" : "I can't because I don't know" "je ne peux pas parler français parce que ça me fait mal à la bouche" : "I can't because it hurts my mouth" |
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Merci pour lire :) Merci With a verb, you're forced to go for "merci de" You're thanking us for a past action, so the past infinitive would be used here => merci d'AVOIR LU Merci pour lire :) In French that would be "Merci d'avoir lu mon texte." (thanks for having read my text), Or more synthetic "Merci de m'avoir lue.". In this second form "m'" stands for "me". |
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Je ne sais pas comment parler parce que je ne sais pas beaucoup de français. Je ne sais pas Je ne I had to infer here "I cannot speak French because I don't know the language enough". If this is only a question of vocabulary : "Je ne peux par parler français parce que je n'ai pas assez de vocabulaire.". btw I chose "je ne peux pas" here instead of "Je ne sais pas", because the second part of the sentence contains the "je ne sais pas" information. Note also that in french we have two verbs "connaître" and "savoir" that could translate to "to know"... I have the feeling that "savoir" is usually used on practical and physical things ("Je sais jouer de la guitare", "je sais monter à cheval"), while "connaître" would be dedicated to theoretical and brainy-brainy things ("je connais le solfège", "je connais toutes les races de chevaux). When it comes to language : "je sais parler suédois, mais je n'y connais rien au norvégien." "Je sais parler français, mais je ne connais pas la grammaire de cette langue"... |
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C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas mal avec français à l'école mais maintenant c'est très difficile pour moi. C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas ma to be good/bad at [+subject] = être bon/mauvais en... C'est énervant parce que je n'étais pas ma Or maybe "frustrant" instead of "énervant". And well... It is absolutely normal, the things you don't use you just forget. There are so many things I simply forgot despite the love I had for it... |
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C'est trist. C'est triste. C'est triste. I think a language is just like a bicycle... The fact that you had lessons as a child or a teenager will be invaluable in your new studies. The logic is still here, waiting to be reactivated, and now you have a more mature brain... So, I think you you'll have great joy and efficacy learning that language anew... If you manage to overcome the difficulties and frustration of the beginning. Hold on :) |
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