tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post7922452817514326816..comments2024-01-19T11:05:43.355-05:00Comments on Polly-Vous Francais?: Dumbing Down my French AccentPolly-Vous Francaishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12667479743723002691noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-45522552315830469212008-10-30T08:20:00.000-04:002008-10-30T08:20:00.000-04:00Oh, I would have been furious. Dumb down a major t...Oh, I would have been furious. Dumb down a major talent/achievement so some guy can find you more "sexy"? Puh-leaze. If you've got it, flaunt it-- *that* is really sexy.maitressehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02626737113043652183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-35984498880231747812008-10-17T10:25:00.000-04:002008-10-17T10:25:00.000-04:00I got a similar comment a few times, and I also to...I got a similar comment a few times, and I also took it as the highest compliment. My local Indian takeout thought I was Canadian, people sometimes assumed I was a very dedicated English student, and once on the metro some men spent 20 minutes trying to guess where I was from. Some of my foreign ex-coworkers are fluent but still never grasped the accent, so I say congrats and keep goingAnnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00453088612750813102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-86171110163873808402008-10-13T17:02:00.000-04:002008-10-13T17:02:00.000-04:00So you can't really win...So you can't really win...Iota https://www.blogger.com/profile/08507184283437057648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-91446908241123066392008-10-12T12:27:00.000-04:002008-10-12T12:27:00.000-04:00Thank you for the phonetique site.Thank you for the phonetique site.Starmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12386841450183061541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-25858288936666205932008-10-12T11:30:00.000-04:002008-10-12T11:30:00.000-04:00Truth be told, I've said to many of my French frie...Truth be told, I've said to many of my French friends -- both men and women -- who are learning English that they shouldn't try too hard to lose their accent, because the French accent in English is knee-weakingly sexy. So I guess it works both ways?doomed to be fabuloushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703595287431021585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-20370968590613974062008-10-11T17:39:00.000-04:002008-10-11T17:39:00.000-04:00My take, unfortunately, is that it was the old Par...My take, unfortunately, is that it was the old Parisian "put 'em in their place" ploy. Parisians pride themselves on being able to identify French accents from the provinces within 50km, all of which, of course, are inferior to Parisian. A hint of American would have meant that you were non-French, and therefore more mysterious.<BR/><BR/>I learned French in Paris as a child and now don't get a chance to use it much. When I do, however, I get asked if I'm <B>Belgian</B>! (which I take as a compliment, though we'd all rather be from Paris)Rougaroohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09136613101522935505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-14159813217981785792008-10-11T13:36:00.000-04:002008-10-11T13:36:00.000-04:00Accents are interesting, aren't they! I'm from Ca...Accents are interesting, aren't they! I'm from Canada, yet I originally learned my French in the south of France. When I began my career as a French Immersion teacher, I started working with mostly people from Québec. Over the years, my accent has transmogrified somewhat to a Québecois one. It's now at the point where in France, I'm told that they can hear "some" Québecois, but it puzzles them when I say I'm not from Québec. In Québec, I'm told that I have more of an "international" accent, that it sounds like I'm a native French speaker from somewhere in Europe, but not France. I myself think that I pick up the <BR/>accent of wherever I currently am - and this happens in English too!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-10402934795324031892008-10-11T11:17:00.000-04:002008-10-11T11:17:00.000-04:00Yeah, I get that all the time: "y'all ain't from '...Yeah, I get that all the time: "y'all ain't from 'round her ear ya!"<BR/><BR/>I think I will answer "Merci." <BR/>hee.Going Like Sixtyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17735447776871695507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-57139273285944634792008-10-11T10:21:00.000-04:002008-10-11T10:21:00.000-04:00P.s. I am editing so it more clearly expresses wha...P.s. I am editing so it more clearly expresses what he said (it in French).Polly-Vous Francaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667479743723002691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-72329474903484209352008-10-11T09:39:00.000-04:002008-10-11T09:39:00.000-04:00Oh I wish.Maybe I expressed it poorly, but the guy...Oh I wish.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I expressed it poorly, but the guy *definitely* wasn't saying that my accent was sexy! Au contraire, he was telling me that my accent in French lacked the requisite foreigner's charm because it was presque sans accent. He told me I needed more of an American accent...Polly-Vous Francaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667479743723002691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-28906206730601456812008-10-11T08:20:00.000-04:002008-10-11T08:20:00.000-04:00I get that all the time: "Tu parles presque sans a...I get that all the time: "Tu parles presque sans accent," along with the occasional, "T'as un très petit accent, c'est mignon." I'm completely with you; I would love nothing more than to be able to pass for French (even though that will probably never happen). But to have worked so long, like you, to be told that my American accent is "cute?" (Unfortunately I haven't made it as far as 'sexy'). Ah, the things they never taught us in school.Diary of Whyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10944615463613105859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28165993.post-68851720668786726312008-10-11T08:18:00.000-04:002008-10-11T08:18:00.000-04:00When my Polly visited France whilst living in Swit...When my Polly visited France whilst living in Switzerland for 5 years, her accent was always pegged as Swiss. Her CH car sticker as well as her rolling Swiss accent added to further confusion. She would insist she was American, but having begun learning French at 4 years the accent was not American, but Swiss. Now she is back and I hope her former lovely accent of Indre-et-Loire will return.<BR/>BTW, I'd kill to be called sexy by an "attractive-enough" French businessman! Heck, I'd speak Klingon if it got me that complement!!! Lucky you.Priscillahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06608220774640074166noreply@blogger.com