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How good is your French accent?

frenchmeter.com

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Re: How good is your French accent?

#71

Post by Mikeb85 »

teekert wrote: post #31
joeblau wrote: post #27

Funny Story: I was traveling from Portugal back to the U.S. through Charles de Gaulle Airport and my Dad gave me 4 Euros. I went to this little bakery and the man behind the counter asked me what I wanted in French. I mustered up as much throat as I possibly could and said croissant which was apparently good enough for him to go off on this long answer to what I ordered. I looked at him blankly and said "Sorry man, t…

The French are very proud and protective of their language. I have a similar experience, I was asking Je cherche le croissants (or something: I'm looking for croissants), I got a blank stare until my friend made a very theatrical overly french "Croissants!" hand waving and all, then the supermarket guy understood. I know of no other language that invented new words when computers came to the market (ordinateur) or wh…

And yet there's tons of little anglicisms in French: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicisme#Liste_d.27anglicism...

Re: How good is your French accent?

#72

Post by fluxquanta »

rconti wrote: post #23
haberman wrote: post #20

It's too easy. I got 100% on "Bonjour," but I definitely do not sound native to French people. I know this because last year I took a hike in a french gorge and greeted people with "Bonjour" but they often answered me back in English. But I'll take the flattery. :)

I almost spit out my beer at "answered me back in English". My favorite language story is from when I was studying in eastern France (Strasbourg). I went across the border to the train station in Kehl, Germany, as I reasoned that train tickets inside Germany (I was on my way to Berlin) would be vastly cheaper than trying to buy the same ticket with an origin in Strasbourg. Anyway, I know a little bit of German, and s…

My best language story is growing up in rural New York state helping my father install satellite television systems.

One time when I was about 16 or 17 I was sent to do an installation at a dairy farm; specifically in the small trailer near the barns where a couple of Mexican migrant workers lived (the farm owner being nice enough to get them a TV subscription, I guess). In this area of the country there aren't a whole lot of Spanish speakers, so I'm guessing that the guys who were hanging out in the trailer just assumed the goofy looking white kid would have no clue what they were saying if they spoke in Spanish.

Little did they know that I studied Spanish in school for the better part of a decade (and actually paid attention/practiced), so I could understand most of what they were saying, and it was not good. It was a lot of complaining about the farm owner (who did not speak Spanish) and about how this "trash was not an excuse for better pay and working conditions". They definitely sounded bitter about their situation.

So when the time came to activate the satellite receiver I had to use their telephone to call the provider to turn it on, for fun I asked, "Puedo usar el telephono?" I have never seen anyone get more quiet and solemn this quickly. Neither of them said another word the rest of the time I was there, presumably in fear of me ratting them out (of course I didn't).

Re: How good is your French accent?

#73

Post by gerbilly »

Sakiina_ wrote: post #48
teekert wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The French are very proud and protective of their language. I have a similar experience, I was asking Je cherche le croissants (or something: I'm looking for croissants), I got a blank stare until my friend made a very theatrical overly french "Croissants!" hand waving and all, then the supermarket guy understood. I know of no other language that invented new words when computers came to the market (ordinateur) or wh…

That's interesting... I've had positive experiences when I've visited. I've heard from a lot of Americans that they are treated rudely, even when they attempt to communicate in limited French. I had several years of it, though I was rusty when I went to France, but despite my mistakes I felt I was treated very warmly and they seemed to enjoy indulging my attempts to use the language.

The rudeness may not have anything to do with accent, but with manners.

For example when you enter a store in France you are expected to say "Bonjour" upon entering, and "au revoir" upon leaving.

In north america there is no such custom, so we just walk into stores and do our thing and it bothers no-one.

If you do the same in a smaller shop in France, it's slightly rude.

It's not your fault for not knowing that. Also it's not ok for the shop owner to be rude in response to that, but of course some are.

Re: How good is your French accent?

#74

Post by melvinmt »

brian_cloutier wrote: post #46
teekert wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The French are very proud and protective of their language. I have a similar experience, I was asking Je cherche le croissants (or something: I'm looking for croissants), I got a blank stare until my friend made a very theatrical overly french "Croissants!" hand waving and all, then the supermarket guy understood. I know of no other language that invented new words when computers came to the market (ordinateur) or wh…

Turkish also did, the word was originally brought into Turkish as "Kompüter". But that didn't sound nearly turkish enough, so it was replaced with Bilgisayar, or "knowledge counter". Turkey has an official government body which regulates the Turkish language and naturalizes foreign loan words. It used to be much more active but people generally still listen to it, why copy the sounds of a foreign word when you can co…

And, don't forget "Yüz Kitap".

Re: How good is your French accent?

#75

Post by robertnn »

melvinmt wrote: post #70
teekert wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The French are very proud and protective of their language. I have a similar experience, I was asking Je cherche le croissants (or something: I'm looking for croissants), I got a blank stare until my friend made a very theatrical overly french "Croissants!" hand waving and all, then the supermarket guy understood. I know of no other language that invented new words when computers came to the market (ordinateur) or wh…

Every time I meet a French person my go-to sentence to show off my French is: "à quelle heure le garage est fermé?", only to be met with the same blank stare. I then ask if I pronounced it wrong and they say (in English): "no I understand, but which garage do you mean?".

I had to look it up. That's a very useful sentence... ;-)

Re: How good is your French accent?

#76

Post by zeveb »

gerbilly wrote: post #73
Sakiina_ wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting... I've had positive experiences when I've visited. I've heard from a lot of Americans that they are treated rudely, even when they attempt to communicate in limited French. I had several years of it, though I was rusty when I went to France, but despite my mistakes I felt I was treated very warmly and they seemed to enjoy indulging my attempts to use the language.

The rudeness may not have anything to do with accent, but with manners. For example when you enter a store in France you are expected to say "Bonjour" upon entering, and "au revoir" upon leaving. In north america there is no such custom, so we just walk into stores and do our thing and it bothers no-one. If you do the same in a smaller shop in France, it's slightly rude. It's not your fault for not knowing that. Also…

> For example when you enter a store in France you are expected to say "Bonjour" upon entering, and "au revoir" upon leaving.

> In north america there is no such custom, so we just walk into stores and do our thing and it bothers no-one.

Maybe not in New England, but in other parts of America it's standard to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' to the properietor.

Re: How good is your French accent?

#77

Post by wibr »

grondilu wrote: post #22
cpa wrote: post #15

I'm french so I had to try it out! Although I got 90-100% on all words, I was able to get 50+% on most words doing what I think is a strong (but totally understandable) american accent in french. That was fun!

I'm French as well. When I saw the title of this post, I thought it was about how French you sound when you speak English, not how well you can speak French. The thing is, there are a lot of very educated French people who, when they speak English, have an extremely accentuated French accent. Typically scientists and politicians. It's like they don't make any effort whatsoever or think that the French accent is some…

I think an accent is perfectly fine (everybody has some kind of accent), as long as it doesn't significantly increase the effort for others to understand you. From my experience listening to some French people speaking English, you actually have to remind yourself that they are speaking English and not French. They might use English words and grammar, but it sounds like French, flowing from sentence to sentence with the typical melody.

Re: How good is your French accent?

#78

Post by jkaunisv1 »

GuiA wrote: post #59
grondilu wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm French as well. When I saw the title of this post, I thought it was about how French you sound when you speak English, not how well you can speak French. The thing is, there are a lot of very educated French people who, when they speak English, have an extremely accentuated French accent. Typically scientists and politicians. It's like they don't make any effort whatsoever or think that the French accent is some…

I'm French, and speak American English natively (i.e., when people meet me they think I'm American and when I tell them I'm French it takes them a bit of time to believe me - "you mean, you have french parents but were born here?" etc.). Most people don't realize that a language's accent is a physical thing. Your throat, nose, tongue behave differently when speaking different languages. If you're French, you can't sp…

I usually get the impression people aren't really trying to match an accent. They're just trying to pronounce the letters and syllables as they would in their native language. Hence the stereotypical cringe-inducing "bonn-joor!" or "watashee wah soo-miss-oo dess-oo". Maybe it's because they haven't heard enough native pronunciation of the words (just like I mispronounce words I've only ever read in a book).

When I speak foreign languages I sort of subconsciously imitate characters I've heard speak in movies or shows. I'm always kind of worried my Japanese will sound like a mix of Naruto and Miyazaki characters.

As for regional accents, I find that's more a matter of knowing the little differences in certain words, like extending or shortening syllables, or rather strongly altering the key vowel (eg. Québecois 'nawn' vs. Parisian 'nohn' for 'non'). As you said, has a lot to do with mouth shapes.

For a lot of regional accents, I find you can fake things by transposing certain vowels. eg. for Australian transpose all the eh's (eg. get, head) into i's (eg. git, hid) and using soft r's (git me a beah mate). Whereas in my limited experience New Zealanders have a sharper change from e's to i's - it's almost "geet me a beah". And of course knowing the local slang - adding 'mate' to the end of your sentences just sounds more Australian.

Re: How good is your French accent?

#79

Post by a_c_s »

err4nt wrote: post #29
haberman wrote: post #20

It's too easy. I got 100% on "Bonjour," but I definitely do not sound native to French people. I know this because last year I took a hike in a french gorge and greeted people with "Bonjour" but they often answered me back in English. But I'll take the flattery. :)

They probably enjoyed the chance to use their english with a native english speaker while appreciating that you initiated the interaction with consideration to them. Here in Canada we have a french region, and if you walk into a mechanic's shop and say: “Hi! Does anybody speak english here? Can you fix my car?” They will help you, but if you make an attempt like: “Bon Jur. Can you fixé le car for moi?” They will be a…

In Paris were much friendlier to me once I started using French, rather than English, to ask if they spoke English.

Re: How good is your French accent?

#80

Post by haberman »

jobigoud wrote: post #62
haberman wrote: post #20

It's too easy. I got 100% on "Bonjour," but I definitely do not sound native to French people. I know this because last year I took a hike in a french gorge and greeted people with "Bonjour" but they often answered me back in English. But I'll take the flattery. :)

> I took a hike in a french gorge and greeted people with "Bonjour" but they often answered me back in English Have you considered the fact that they might have been foreign tourists like you? A French hiker would not greet you in English unless he clearly heard you speak in it on the way in, and even then. (am French).

It's possible! Their English sounded French-accented to me most of the time, but that could just be a bias on my part since I was in France. I guess it will be hard to know for sure.
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