Ah my accent

[Teamedup]

I'll never lose it, in spite of my best efforts.

Today I had to go out and there was a woman in the waiting room with me and very bavarde she was too. I went in for my appointment and she was waiting for something at the receptionists desk when I got out. She frowned and said. Well, I must add that she was a rough woman with very rough french and I mean rough. So she said, 'you aren't savoyarde are you?' She was shaking her head. Then told me that I should get a good savoyarde accent like her. 'It would improve your french' she said.

And for the first time since I have lived here. I didn't mind my little english accent, in fact I found it  quite mignon as people have told me over the years that is is.There is no way I want to ever sound like that woman.

The receptionist, a portuguese lady's jaw looked astounded as I was being told all this, and I have no idea as to whether the woman started on her when I had gone.

[Iceni]

I am learning - veng for wine, peng for bread, senkanter for fifty, oh, veng for 20 just to confuse me and my latest - bowtang - (beau temps) - good weather.

Mind, I have a good cockney accent so put the two together and you have someone who will be unintelligable in both

[Will]

Quite so Di, people tend to forget about regional variations. I remember that when I was working on the Cote d'Azur I found it much easier to make myself understood than when we moved to Normandy. Now, when we visit friends in the Gard the regional accent means they sound very distinctive, and I still find them easier to follow, not just the 'vang, pain' etc but also, as you say, the numbers, which I always have trouble with at home. Maybe I should go to Belgium where they have 'huitante' rather than "quatre vingts".

We had an exercise at our so-called 'advanced' French lesson today where we had to fill in the blanks from selections of words that sound the same - e.g. sans, sens, sang, s'en; sent etc. That was interesting.

Though, in all seriousness, I know I'll always be un anglais, so I'm pleased to have an accent and I hope the local French like it as much as I like the French accent in English (I think most of them do). Even if I am conscious of sounding like the gendarme in Allo Allo most of the time....

[Teamedup]

I love that south western accent much more than ordinary french and I'm pretty sure that I would have picked it up quite easily.

Today I'm quite happy with my little english accent though.

[letrangere]

May '78 and I'm in a phone box in Annecy trying to make a reverse charge call home to my parents.  My French at the time was good O level+ and up to that point I hadn't had any problems with basic communication whilst travelling around.  But could I understand a word the local operator said?  I still shudder at the thought of our mutual frustration, I also rate it as one of my strongest, "I-hate-France-and-everything-French-moments" that we all experience occasionally (don't we?).  Later at Alliance in Paris as an exercise on regional accents we had to listen to a tape and answer questions.  The chap in Pau getting excited about his rugby was a synch compared to the incomprehensible mec in Savoie wittering on about l'alpinisme.

M (still happy to sound like Jane Birkin)

[letrangere]

Further on subject of accents, TV5 this morning was showing a programme from Canadian TV, how about that accent Quebecois?  A French friend once told me that this distinctive twang was a result of original Canadian settlers moving from provincial or rural France and bringing with them their peasant accent(!).  Is this true?  M

[SaligoBay]

So they say, Margaret.  Apparently they sound funny because they still use words that are considered archaic nowadays in France.  Like calling a car a "chariot", things like that.   And all women are "blondes".

 

[Will]

It's just as bad in Normandy. A car is a 'bagnole' And I wouldn't like to write down what women are called in certain circles...

The Norman farmer next door (paysan et fier d'être it says on his favourite T shirt) has two brothers in Quebec, and he finds the accent incomprehensible too.

[SaligoBay]

I thought "bagnole" was pretty much nationwide, Will?   Just motor/banger/wheels, non?   They certainly use it dahn Sarf ere.

[Will]

I'm sure you're right, SB, though lots of people appear never to have heard the term, and are rather bemused by it - after all there are quite a lot of places called 'Bagnoles something-or-other'. I checked The Complete Merde and it's listed there.

[letrangere]

I think bagnole is quite a commonly used familiar term.  Several French friends refer to my rusting heap of metal on four wheels as ta belle bagnole.  I always think of chariots though as trolleys at the supermarche that require liberating with Euro 1 coins.  Actually, I quite like the Canadian accent.  It makes me think, "now here's someone who sounds worse than I do!"  M

[Tourangelle]

Oh no MWJ, I can't believe you sound like Jane Birkin! That woman is a disgrace, or else she does it on purpose, she still says la disque, there's no excuse, she must have been here over 20 years!

[Richardbk]

[quote]I love that south western accent much more than ordinary french and I'm pretty sure that I would have picked it up quite easily. Today I'm quite happy with my little english accent though.[/quote]

There is south west and south west. In Toulouse and main towns it is quite easy to understand - the real accent is with the famers and village locals. This is much more problematic, but there again most French from other regions can't understand it either.

We recently stayed a few days in Lyon. At the hotel the receptionist asked where we were from - on replying from Toulouse, she remarked - ah that explains your 'petit accent'  

regs

 

Richard

[Teamedup]

Tourangelle Jane Birkin must have been in France 30 years, not twenty. And my excuse, apart from being completely without any gift for language, english included, is that I have never had a french lover. As that is the way, so they say, to get to grips with french

[chicfille]

[quote]Tourangelle Jane Birkin must have been in France 30 years, not twenty. And my excuse, apart from being completely without any gift for language, english included, is that I have never had a french lov...[/quote]

I can vouch for that! A friend and I arrived in France for a year thinking we'd wow the locals with our impeccable university-taught French. But no! Couldn't understand a thing (but we were whizzes with the subjunctive). Then we acquired a collection of French friends, all male which was a definite advantage, and our language skills suddenly improved no end! I married one of them, have become pretty much bilingual, and am told on a good day that my 'petit accent mignon' has all but gone. But now I want it back!

[Tourangelle]

[quote]Tourangelle Jane Birkin must have been in France 30 years, not twenty. And my excuse, apart from being completely without any gift for language, english included, is that I have never had a french lov...[/quote]

Teamedup, of course, now I think about it you are absolutely right, more like thirty years. Charlotte Gainsbourg must be getting towards 30. In that case no excuse for her, several French lovers, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Doillon, somebody else I'm sure ... I do think that some people are naturally better at languages than others, but surely if you are good at music you should be good at languages... then again Jane Birkin? Good at music? Not so sure...

For myself, I agree with Chicfille, the French husband definitely helps!!!

[Will]

It might be even longer than 30 years - that heavy-breathing song, with Serge Gainsbourg, was recorded in 1969.

[benson]

 Why is it that when I speak french I have no french accent at all but when speaking english I can do a pretty good french accent?!?!

Round here we ask for  a 'grand creme' in the cafe if we want a large white coffe but in Paris they had no idea what this was 'cafe au lait' is what was required!

[Teamedup]

I thought that a grand creme was pretty universal these days. It is the different names for bread that get me when I am travelling.

[Chrissie]

Our French teacher in the Uk played us a recording of someone from the southwest of France (where we now live) and when we all exclaimed at the accent said " In France we say 'Il a le soleil dans le voix'".  Rather nice I thought, but we still have problems!

Chrissie (81)

[Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie]

"In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language".

- The Innocents Abroad

A Mark Twain quote

http://www.twainquotes.com/French.html

[letrangere]

Thanks for reminding us of that terrific quotation.

I think I need to take a French lover, for linguistic purposes only, of course!  Hubby has always been fully supportive of my language studies up to now, perhaps he'll be considerate enough to turn a blind eye to this method of fine tuning my skills!

M

 

[SaligoBay]

Excellent idea, Margaret, but you'd have to promise to teach him everything you learn! 

I used to try really hard to do the accent to the best of my limited ability, but I don't think French people noticed much difference between me trying and me not trying,  so I just gabble now.   I use the subjunctive wherever possible, it distracts them from the accent.  

But apparently I roll my Rs in an interesting way. 

[Miki]

"....But apparently I roll my Rs in an interesting way"

Would you mind rephrasing that SB, I am having trouble getting my head around it!

When I say Rouen or Royan, I roll my R's, either too short or too long and it's guaranteed that I will be corrected by some smarter than I French fellow, so and, here's a tip, I rush it and put my hand across my mouth and I think I get away with it much better...

[Coco]

Isn't it strange how we all like and can understand the SW accent?  When we have French visitors staying with us they ask how we manage with the language and we invariably say that we can understand our Parisian visitors perfectly but that the local Normans are not so easy to understand.  The Parisans can always understand this but tell us that we are lucky not to be in the SW or we wouldn't have a chance of understanding the language.  They're always amazed when I say that we have no problem with it at all.

I'm quite a good mimic and after we'd been here for about 9 months a local told me that I was picking up a Norman accent.  Feeling very smug I said "merci monsieur"   "Ah non madame, pour une dame ce n'est pas bon.  L'accent Normand n'est pas sexy!"   Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

If I'm really trying hard to put on a good French accent I  speak French with an English "French accent" if you get my drift, ie "I will say zis only once" and believe it or not it actually seems to work!!!

Although years ago our art teacher told us she had spent a year in France and she had the most plummy English accent you could imagine, and spoke French with the same accent and she said that she was constantly asked to repeat what she had said because it was so "mignon".  So perhaps I'll just stick to "Home Counties French"!!!!

Some Breton visitors we had last year had the son-in-law from Montreal staying with them and spent the whole trip taking the mickey out of not only his accent but his antiquated way of speaking.  What I found weirder was listening to what seemed like a perfectly normal Frenchman telling  how his favourite way of spending an evening was going to an ice hockey game, drinking beer and eating hotdogs and popcorn.