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There's sort of an uncanny valley sort of situation, in my experience (as an anglophone canadian with the french of a 3-4 year old): If you're clearly a foreign
by cmyr 8y ago
There's sort of an uncanny valley sort of situation, in my experience (as an anglophone canadian with the french of a 3-4 year old): If you're clearly a foreign visitor, and you're speaking bad french, it's often appreciated and maybe found slightly charming. But once you get to the point where your french is reasonably good, but you have an obvious accent, then (some) people (might, sometimes) be more inclined to be a bit snooty about it.
- jnbiche 8y agoPrecisely. If you try a few tourist phrases, or very basic French, it will be mildly appreciated. But if you speak fluent French with a bit of an accent, particularly in the big cities, you'll frequently be met with arrogance and attempts to switch to English, even if your French is far better than your interlocutor's. That said, in small towns and villages, this doesn't happen as much. Seems to mainly be a phenomenon in Paris and other large cities. Also, in Quebec this is never an issue. As long as you speak fluently, Quebecois are happy to speak with you in French.