Life in France

Mistaken identity

When Bill and I speak French it’s clear that we’re not native speakers and it will probably always be like that. Even when we get to the point that the words flow as easily as they do in English there will still be slight nuances that will give us away. We’ve been mistaken for German, Italian, English, Irish, Canadian, and Romanian but never American. I was thrilled with the latest guess, Moroccan, because the people we know who moved from Morocco to Carcassonne sound to us as if they’ve always lived here. That made me wonder where most of the immigrants to France come from and the government’s Office of Statistics had the answer.

Half-timbered houses in Chartres

Blog reader Sandy asked us if we experienced the “international feeling” she has in Montpellier where she was having a dinner party that included these guests: “2 Swedes, a Czech, and an American”. If we had such a gathering in Carcassonne those nationalities might be Algerian, Moroccan, and British, based solely on our observations but still just as diversified. Having said that, if the invitees all lived on our street we’d hear only native French spoken.

But what are the official numbers? For that there is the government’s L’Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) that says about 10% of the people living in France were born somewhere else. (For comparison, that number is around 14% in the US.) And where were these new French residents born—in rounded percentages?

  • 47% in Africa: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
  • 33% in Europe: Portugal, Italy, Spain
  • 15% in Asia
  • 5% in the Americas and Oceania
Brantôme

Those numbers didn’t surprise us since it’s representative of the largest weekly gathering that we attend with lots of our fellow residents: the Saturday market. Interestingly those countries are also from where much of the fresh produce that we buy there originates if they aren’t grown in France.

While we’re looking at INSEE statistics, let’s see where our fellow 31,000 Americans live. There are 13 administrative régions in the country and as you might suspect the one that contains Paris has the highest number of US-born residents—15,500 in the Île-de-France of which 9500 live in the capital. Most other régions have between 500 and 700 of us while down here in the south we’re a bit more numerous:

  • Auvergne et Rhône-Alpes 3600
  • Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur 2500
  • Occitanie (that’s us) 2400
Lunch on the Dronne River

Even knowing that we are not alone in not being native speakers, I still watch videos with enticing titles like “Sound More French!” “Impress French Speakers”, and “Improve Your Accent”. I agree, however, with the conclusion that I’ve seen on several websites; that is, as long as you’re being understood, don’t worry about the accent. It just means that you speak more than one language!

Photo notes: The top featured photo is the sculpture “Hermaphrodite endormi” by Le Bernin located in the Louvre. The waterwheel in the first paragraph is in Avignon.

14 thoughts on “Mistaken identity”

  1. I love your comment about your neighborhood French speakers. In our building, I think we are the only Americans, and perhaps the only non-native French speakers. While I make mistakes in every elevator chat, the neighbors are kind and helpful with my awful, but slowly improving, French.

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    1. Hi Sandy, happy to hear that your neighbors are much like ours, “kind and helpful” and we could all probably add “patient”! 😊

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    1. I’ve heard a number of people comment that French spoken with an English accent (all English speakers) is “adorable.” 🤷🏻‍♀️

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  3. Hi Bob, I am very encouraged by your post as I am trying relentlessly to improve my French on a daily basis here in the Dordogne region. I first learnt French at boarding school in Ireland where it was often beaten into me by a very severe priest. I didn’t enjoy it much at the time but some of it stayed with me and I say a very well enunciated ‘Hail Mary’ – which I concede is of limited practical use😳Perhaps good for my soul. I read and watch French as much as I can but struggle as a retiree with limited contact with French prople. We attend a local French-English speaking conversation group in an American owned bookshop in Perigueux and like you have been impressed by the range of nationalities- here it is American, English, Dutch, British. I confess I am a little shocked by the number of expats who are not troubled to learn much French which is an issue in this region. Is that an unfair feeling? French people (doctors, officials)have told me it irritates them. So I press on with occasional humiliations. I once asked for chouettes instead of chaussettes in a shop😳🤣Part of the joy of learning a language- it’s my second go as I lived and worked in Brazil for several years and my husband is Brazilian. Wishing you the best as always and thanks for a thought provoking post! Bonne Journée! Gary

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    1. Hi Gary, Thanks for your kind words. Like you, we try to immerse ourselves as much as possible in the French language yet when we’re not with friends and neighbors we still speak to each other in English. If we were working every day it might be easier but we’ll take the tradeoff of being retired and putting in the extra effort to get us to that language level we might all want to achieve. We’ve all made those chouettes/chaussettes types of mistakes–some of mine have been really embarrassing–but I figure that it simply gives the native speaker something to laugh with you about later.

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    2. Gary, I tried Duolingo for quite a while and have just started Coffee Break French. Wondering what podcasts and online resources you find helpful. Always looking for new tips.

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      1. Hi I follow Élisabeth on YouTube and find this Belgian born teacher living in French to be very practical:

        I listen to FranceInter as much as I can on their app but perhaps not as much as I should!
        I subscribe to the TF1 app and try to watch TV news and a daily drama or soap opera with subtitles. I also have a list of French songs and use YouTube to watch with words in English and French – everything from Edith Piaf to Stromae who is my favourite. I hope that helps, kind regards, Gary

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  4. The general sense of humor required for making mistakes in French and laughing them off is a happy theme here this morning which I am delighted to see. If we give in for fear of embarrassing ourselves we are doomed to never learn.

    As for the French people I speak with regularly, most assume I am “anglaise” due to the high concentration of that nationality in our area. The question I have asked a few French friends is whether or not they can hear the “American” in my accent or the “English” in my husband’s and the answer is usually no – they can’t hear the difference. But we live rurally – in a more cosmopolitan area they might well be able to hear it. The converse is that I have trouble identifying French regional accents. All a part of the interest and fun!

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    1. Love your positive attitude, Katherine! I’m out of my language comfort zone daily but all you can do is forge ahead and hope that your conversation partner will understand you and find those errors “charmantes” 🦉🧦

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  5. A very timely article and comments for me today! We (my husband and I are American retirees) have settled in the northern part of the Gard (Barjac) and now that we have the tasks behind us of finding a house, buying a house, having our goods shipped and received, opening a French bank account, buying a car – I am turning my attention to learning French! I started with Duolingo in the States before we left and while it helped me build some vocabulary I found it did nothing for my speaking! (maybe that’s just me). This morning I started Coffee Break in French in earnest and have committed to spending at least an hour a day listening to the lessons and trying to improve both my speaking vocabulary and pronounciation. These are the days I wish I had learned French with my daughter, who we sent to a French school in Philadelphia starting in kindergarten (I acknowledge I will never speak or understand as well as she does, but she did get a head start!).
    Thank you for encouraging me to speak in French as much as I can – people here have been extremely kind and patient. I’m trying to start with small, manageable goals and hoping in the long run it will pay off!

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    1. Hi Nancy, I’m right there with you on making that daily commitment to studying. Most mornings I disappear into what our neighbor calls a “petit salon” for French lessons and citizenship questions with the reward that later in the day in that same room that we call a “den”, Bill joins me for an apéro 😁 Hang in there and I bet that you’ll see proof in daily conversations that it’s worth the effort!

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