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Show 'FRENCH POLICE SPEAK ENGLISH Tourist Now Has Tough Time Trying To Practice Tongue By WILLIAM Pntr (Copyright. 1922, by The Standard-Examiner) Standard-Examiner) PARIS. Nov. 25. About tho last ' reason lor b-nrnlng French has disappeared, dis-appeared, it was said crossing the Hare lr 1'opera a few minutes ago.1 and alter dodging the innumera bio 1 taxicaba Which whirl past there on two wheela I fetched up on the side-1 walk In front of Thomas Cook's tourist i agency and was just preparing to ' dodge the boys who yell. "Guide, sir"' Or try to sell you Illicit postcards, when I'll have to take a fresh br-at!i before I can tell you. Thero was a policeman standing there and pinned to his cape was a gaudy red and blue i shield on which was neatlv lettered "English spoken " Ami so. as 1 just said. It's hardly worth while for Americans to learn j French any more. I f rourse, there are plenty of people in Paris who can speak French If you Insist, but up to rx.w the average tourist If he wanted want-ed to get any practice In the language had just about one resort to hunt a policeman . ALL SPEAK ENGLISH Anybody else you tried your French on was apt to answer you In English, alwaya fl painful occurence. Some-times Some-times their English la no better than' your French, but they seem to think it Is. You land In a hotel and discover that not only the clerk at tho desk, but the waiters, elevator boys, chambermaids cham-bermaids porters and bell hops all are fluent, to dl.verso degrees. In English If you are strong minded and glaro ' at the m uncompromisingly when they use your language you may succeed in biffing them back into French, but generally you do not. Any snop you visit la sure to have English speaking clerks even If thero Is no "English spoken" sign In the window. The obsequious person who greets you at the theatre door and insists on escorting you to the box office, speaks English. Ho speaks it constantly con-stantly all the way Into the auditorium, auditori-um, until you finally slip him two francs for his unsolicited services. About the only large group of French, it seems, who don't sp lak Enpllsh are tho so-called educated classes, but tho tourist has little to do with them. Tho policeman haH been the chief practice ground for our conversational French. Paris policemen have little I to do, and are always ready to enter Into conversation on any subject. Gen- orally they don't know what you want to find out, such as which bus you must take to get where you're going. I It usually happens that they have just been transferred to this post from Homo other quarter. They pull a little lit-tle guide book out of their pocket, and thumb It Intensely while they speculate. specu-late. In a somewhat aimless way as to some of the buses that "might take you there." But all the time you ar ffrttlng practice In determining that all tho policemen on all our favorite cornera shall talk to us in our own language. So that's that. And If you want any French lessons you'll have to find a teacher and pay for them |