It's all about politeness!

As the Wednesdays go by, my English gets richer…

Interesting interactions

Even though the library is a quiet environment, one can still hear many things: employees chatting on the phone with members, volunteers talking to each other, etc. I heard many interesting things while I was busy looking which books were late. For example, I overheard a volunteer lady speaking to Aude, mentioning a “gentleman” to whom she spoke earlier. The sentence “I beg your pardon” is very commonly used among English-speakers. Every now and then, people I barely know call me “my dear”. In this English-speaking “community”, everyone is so courteous, so affable! I believe those interactions will help me to adapt myself to English-speakers, as they can guide me as in how to connect with them better.

The Anglophone culture

The huge difference between an Anglophone and a francophone environment is definitely this familiarity peculiar to the second one. In both, people greet each other by their first name but the politeness of the Anglophones is very noticeable. People interact with each other in a very cautious way: it shows that it is important not to sound rude.

To show politeness, English-speakers put all their efforts into interaction. The other day, Aude greeted a new member in a very well-mannered and attentive way. She said, “Welcome to our library, thank you for joining us!”

The dress code seems to be very “library-like”, very proper: no crazy, colorful outfits as I’ve already seen at another library (a French one). What left me wondering is that I haven’t seen anyone take a break: they must love their job…

Some new words!

I’ve been offered coffee from the “coffee pot”, said with a delightful British accent! It is the name British people give to our regular coffee machine. I have also been called an “old hand” by a lovely lady called Denise, a volunteer at the library. It is an expression that refers to someone who has given long service in something (she was referring to the long time I have living in Canada). These new expressions will most certainly serve me in the future to enrich my vocabulary and to chat with English-speakers around the world.

To conclude this update about my English-learning journey, I must say: I’ve already rented four DVDs!