I am actually fully bilingual eng/fr, went to school in french, but have a particular regional Canadian accent. Whenever in France, everyone responds in English anyways. They don’t like the accent at all. On my first trip to Paris, after ordering a beer at a bar in the latin quarter after checking into my hotel, an older woman sitting at the bar as a customer turned to me and said “Vous parlez mal”. i.e. You speak badly. I’ll never forget the horror in her eyes as I spoke.
In my year learning French at school, I befriended someone in toulouse and we’d have quick occasional video chats. The face she made while i was talking made it seem like i was doing nails on chalkboard. She visibly squirmed a bit.
My teacher on the other hand noticed I pronounced certain words in a toulousian accent and was pleased. Apparently it’s a nice accent. It’s too bad i didn’t keep going. Could have visited France and terrorized the locals by forcing them to listen to me speak.
I was stationed in Germany with the US military once, just 30 minutes from the French border. My American coworkers visited Paris and complained that everyone there were snobbish assholes. Every time they tried to ask someone for directions, they got ignored at best and insulted at worst.
My wife and I went to Paris a few times and we had the complete opposite experience. We both took several years of French in high school, so we had an extremely basic knowledge of the French language (thanks, American public schools! 🙄) and we tried to speak to people in French.
Every time we spoke up, they would notice us struggling and immediately switch to English for us. And then they were very helpful. Turns out, my coworkers were just speaking English to French people and expecting a response in English. Which insulted a lot of French people, so they ignored them.
TL;DR: Speak the local language as best you can and French people can be very nice and helpful. Just assume they’ll speak English and you’ll get some rude responses in kind.
French is my first language, Parisians were still assholes who switched to English because they didn’t like the way I spoke French.
Everyone outside Paris was cool, but I totally get the stereotypes about Parisians. I don’t entirely blame them, living in a city that gets that much tourism must suck, but I am still salty at the guy working in a pizza place who served our party entirely in broken English despite us only speaking French to him.
I’ve had an experience where I simply asked a french cashier if they spoke english and she threw a fit. Spoke to me in French and mixed my items with the next customer’s.
I had shitty American school French when I went to Paris and I did my best, and nearly everyone said they didn’t speak any English which I knew was a fucking lie. I have since decided not to speak French. I’ve still got Dutch, German, Korean and a little bit of Norwegian on top of English. France is the only country in Europe I don’t want to visit again. Rural France was better but I still don’t plan to go back.
Me studying French so
that I can refuse to speak itI immediately get a response in English whenever I attempt to speak itI am actually fully bilingual eng/fr, went to school in french, but have a particular regional Canadian accent. Whenever in France, everyone responds in English anyways. They don’t like the accent at all. On my first trip to Paris, after ordering a beer at a bar in the latin quarter after checking into my hotel, an older woman sitting at the bar as a customer turned to me and said “Vous parlez mal”. i.e. You speak badly. I’ll never forget the horror in her eyes as I spoke.
In my year learning French at school, I befriended someone in toulouse and we’d have quick occasional video chats. The face she made while i was talking made it seem like i was doing nails on chalkboard. She visibly squirmed a bit.
My teacher on the other hand noticed I pronounced certain words in a toulousian accent and was pleased. Apparently it’s a nice accent. It’s too bad i didn’t keep going. Could have visited France and terrorized the locals by forcing them to listen to me speak.
I was stationed in Germany with the US military once, just 30 minutes from the French border. My American coworkers visited Paris and complained that everyone there were snobbish assholes. Every time they tried to ask someone for directions, they got ignored at best and insulted at worst.
My wife and I went to Paris a few times and we had the complete opposite experience. We both took several years of French in high school, so we had an extremely basic knowledge of the French language (thanks, American public schools! 🙄) and we tried to speak to people in French.
Every time we spoke up, they would notice us struggling and immediately switch to English for us. And then they were very helpful. Turns out, my coworkers were just speaking English to French people and expecting a response in English. Which insulted a lot of French people, so they ignored them.
TL;DR: Speak the local language as best you can and French people can be very nice and helpful. Just assume they’ll speak English and you’ll get some rude responses in kind.
French is my first language, Parisians were still assholes who switched to English because they didn’t like the way I spoke French.
Everyone outside Paris was cool, but I totally get the stereotypes about Parisians. I don’t entirely blame them, living in a city that gets that much tourism must suck, but I am still salty at the guy working in a pizza place who served our party entirely in broken English despite us only speaking French to him.
I’ve had an experience where I simply asked a french cashier if they spoke english and she threw a fit. Spoke to me in French and mixed my items with the next customer’s.
I had shitty American school French when I went to Paris and I did my best, and nearly everyone said they didn’t speak any English which I knew was a fucking lie. I have since decided not to speak French. I’ve still got Dutch, German, Korean and a little bit of Norwegian on top of English. France is the only country in Europe I don’t want to visit again. Rural France was better but I still don’t plan to go back.
😐
Hmmm
That’s pretty much why I am studying it.
I was told my pronunciation was fine but what gave me away as an American was how long I took to say bonjour.
Now i wonder how long you take to say bonjour
I’m hoping they draw it for about 5 seconds like I do.
Normally, at about 10 feet away I try to make eye contact and smile/nod during approach, then I’ll verbally greet at about 5 feet away.
This was something I learned while working at a resort and it stuck with me. By American standards, this is considered fast and early.
you’re telling me the opening sequence of Beauty and the Beast is culturally accurate!?
If they’ve made eye contact, yes.
Bong-sewer!
Clearly that man is Italian
Me, understanding that my superpower is that I feed on sarcasm and eye rolls.