How do you say 'rusty' as in out of practice en French?

Language Corner
1
The subject says it all? How do you say "My french is ok, but I am out of practice"?

2
trying to style your inability?

no idea but it will be interesting to hear some french speakers responses

3
I'd say something like:

Mon français est ok, mais il a été quelques années (depuis je le parle couramment).

4
Ma francaise est un peu ... comment on dit ... Rusty?

5
Mon français est un peu rouillé.

http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/rouill%C3%A9

Mon français est plutôt bon, mais je ne l'ai pas mis en pratique depuis un long moment.

J'ai acquis un bon niveau en français, mais je manque de pratique, d'exercice, depuis un certain temps.

etc.

/Paul

6
I would say:

J'avais atteint un bon niveau, mais je suis un peu rouillé depuis que je ne pratique plus.

Mon français était plutôt bon il y a 10 ans, mais depuis, je manque de pratique.

7
I just asked my French OH if you can use rouillé both literally and figuratively and he said you can (sorry, don't know if anyone who posted is a native French speaker or not, so was just confirming!).

8
Sorry NAT but your sentence is not structured correctly.

You wrote:

My French is ok, but he was a few years (since I speak it fluently)

The most polite sentence suggested in this thread, would be Faltrad's.

9
By the way, if you want to be more colloquial and still polite, you can say:

J'ai appris le français il y a longtemps mais j'ai beaucoup perdu.

10
I forgot to type the 'y', Mais il y a été quelques an - but it has been several years. (and it would have been "he has" been, not "he was", that would be "il était".).

11
It doesn't work either. One would say cela fait quelques années déjà .

Every time you have present perfect in English, that means trouble when translating into French. It's more likely to be present tense, and often one uses another verb or idiomatic expression.

12
Mon français est ...

.... so là là là?

yes, but, je ne parle plus ... how do you say ...?

... you're out of practice?

yes.

d'accord. on va boire une bière ensemble?

oui. c'est une bonne idée!

tu vois, ça revient, ton français.

13
and there is always the old classic 'je parle anglais comme une vache Espagnole' - does the trick.

14
How about a more colloquial:

"Mon français, c'était OK il y a quelques années, mais maintenant ... bof" ?

15
J'ai appris le français, mais après plusieurs années, j'ai besoin de plus de la pratique

16
That sounds strange.

après plusieurs années of what?

plus de pratique (without la )

But in a daily conversation, why not. As a teacher, I tend to go for nicer French. But perhaps it's just me.

17
Yes but the mistakes illustrate the point better, don't they?

18
1) "rouillé" is the best option and the most common one

2) "ankylosé" which means stiff (ex. not moving a leg for a long time) can be used also by extension. Not very common but I've seen it here and there in some books.

19
I think about this all the time, if someone asks you if you can speak a language, what is a funny, yet informative answer? You don't want them to switch to english, but you equally don't want them to expect philisophy back from you.

In french i often use "Je me débrouille" and then depending on the situation you can add on a funny/serious kicker - in the bar - if i have to etc etc.

20
"Je parles français comme une vache espagnole"

(no, I did not just made it up)