There are certain expressions in french that describe an emotion or situation better than their english equivalents. For example, in english if you bumped into someone you would say 'i'm sorry' or 'my bad', if someone stubbed their toe you might say 'watch out' or 'you ok?' if a friend is doing something risky you might tell them to 'be careful' or 'watch out'. In Benin there is one expression that wraps it all together. 'faire doucement' directly translated 'make/ do sweetly.' Much easier and a better description of the emotion you're trying to convey. Of course not everyone speaks franglais here in Vermont. In fact, nobody does except me. So when I tell people to 'faire doucement' it only leaves them confused. Even if they spoke french, in France to 'faire doucement' is bedroom talk, so they might actually be offended.
Other phrases that have popped out of my mouth are 'ou bien' directly translated 'or well' is a phrase that is used to emphasize a statement, sort of an add on at the end, 'you know what i mean' or 'isn't it'.
'en va voir' we shall see.
And the cream de la cream of all language problems I've been having. I walked into the general store down the road with a friend of mine, and keep in mind this is a place where people know me and see me on a regular basis. I then went up to the deli and asked for a boneless chicken breast. The guy behind the deli asked me to repeat myself, which I thought was odd because I thought that I hadn't been mumbling. So I did and he went about his business and then my friend turns to me and says 'You know you were speaking french the first time right?' I hadn't even noticed.
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