Audio Lesson 3.1 'Waouh' vs 'Oh la la'

In Audio Lesson #3 Claire states: "Ouais, je la vois. Waouh, elle va trop vite!" This sentence made me think of a couple of questions. 1. Why did Claire say "Ouais" instead of "Oui"? 2. Why did Claire say "Waouh" instead of "Oh la la"? In school French classes I was always taught that "Oh la la" is equal to "Wow". But I don't think my teachers were entirely correct. Whenever I've used "Oh la la" with my French-Canadian speaking friends, they laugh a bit, they say that "Oh la la" is a funny word that is not often used in serious situations when some one wants to say something like "Wow that's exciting" or something like that. Is 'Waouh' common? and when does one use 'oh la la'

Hi there, in regards to your first question: "Ouais"and "qui" both mean the same, but "ouais" is more colloquial. "Waouh" is commonly used to say "Oh wow" or "that's exciting". Your friends are right that you wouldn't really use "oh la la" in a very serious situation. You might say "oh la la" when your friend tells you that he has a new girlfriend (when you might say "hey,hey that's good news" in English).