[idoubtit]

> french relies heavy on vernacular, sayings and expressions.

It's more than that. There's a growing divergence between the spoken French and the written French.

Où irions-nous ? Nous hésitâmes... (written French)

On allait où ? On a hésité... (spoken French)

Writings from the XVIIth century bare little difference to most modern novels. Of course, some words have evolved (e.g. "caresser" was akin to "praise", now it's more like "pet" or "fondle") but the grammar and the vocabulary is mostly identical.

Centuries ago, the langage spoken was already different from what was written. I think the main difference was that there were many local variations, like shown in the Littré dictionary (1870s). The uniformization came with WWI, then the modern communication.

[dirktheman]

Yes, they don't teach you the "on a...", "faire le truc avec...", "ouais" and "ca marche" at school, altough everyone uses this. I just wish schools would prepare you a little better for the difference between writing and speaking. My daughter learned to say "chouette, c'est jolie!" in her french class, which is preposterous and almost akin to saying 'Jolly gay, old chap!' in English today.

[pmezard]

> My daughter learned to say "chouette, c'est joli !" in her french class, which is preposterous and almost akin to saying 'Jolly gay, old chap!' in English today.

Don't be so harsh. I would not be surprised to hear a child (~6/8 years old) say that, assuming some kind of polite/policed family background.

> Yes, they don't teach you the "on a...", "faire le truc avec...", "ouais" and "ca marche"

Imagine us watching Stringer Bell from "The Wire" for the first time. Or listening to pop or rap. Or chatting with native speakers.

We just have more exposure.

[lqet]

> Imagine us watching Stringer Bell from "The Wire" for the first time.

I tried to watch "The Wire" without English subtitles 10 years ago. No chance. I could barely make out individual words. After a season with subtitles, it just clicked.

[tsukurimashou]

Pandemic, we got pandemic!