There is a widespread myth among my acquaintances that the French judge you by the way you speak French. I like French very much and have been learning it for over a year, but I'm afraid that if I will become fluent one day, my accent, which falters all the time, might create some huge barrier if I'll attempt to speak to the French. To what degree is this myth a reality, and how accepting are the French toward foreigners who try to speak their language? Sorry for bringing up stereotypes, but it bothers me, and from what I know myself, such limitations do exist in certain other cultures...
A question about foreigners speaking French
trying to speak french is always very much appreciated. What we french people usually can't stand is when english-speaking people talk to us directly in English, as if we were supposed to understand oral english, as if France was an English-speaking country.
You don't need to speak french at all to visit us, but just being respectuful and being aware that you are not in your english-speaking country. Just ask people "I'm sorry, do you speak English?" and most people will be able to help you kindly in English. Sometimes they couldn't (remember that most of us never practice English in their everyday life, and have strong difficulties to understand spoken English, expecially when it is quick and with a strong accent), in that case try someone else, but always being polite and respectful (very important thing).
concerning speaking french, for English speakers who learn it being adults it is almost impossible to really became fluent, or without any foreign accent. Usually English speaker tend to have a very strong accent when speaking french, which make it very difficult to understand (adding often many gramatical or conjugasion errors), which can lead to misunderstandings. but anyway trying to speak the language will always make you more accepted than speaking directly English as if you considered to be in your own country.
When you will speak french, most people will correct you if you make obvious gramatical or conjugaison mistakes, but that not a problem, they don't do that to humiliate you but to help you to improve your knowledge of the language, (we even correct ourselves among french speakers when someone makes a mistake)... so don't take it bad.
You don't need to speak french at all to visit us, but just being respectuful and being aware that you are not in your english-speaking country. Just ask people "I'm sorry, do you speak English?" and most people will be able to help you kindly in English. Sometimes they couldn't (remember that most of us never practice English in their everyday life, and have strong difficulties to understand spoken English, expecially when it is quick and with a strong accent), in that case try someone else, but always being polite and respectful (very important thing).
concerning speaking french, for English speakers who learn it being adults it is almost impossible to really became fluent, or without any foreign accent. Usually English speaker tend to have a very strong accent when speaking french, which make it very difficult to understand (adding often many gramatical or conjugasion errors), which can lead to misunderstandings. but anyway trying to speak the language will always make you more accepted than speaking directly English as if you considered to be in your own country.
When you will speak french, most people will correct you if you make obvious gramatical or conjugaison mistakes, but that not a problem, they don't do that to humiliate you but to help you to improve your knowledge of the language, (we even correct ourselves among french speakers when someone makes a mistake)... so don't take it bad.
As a tourist in Paris/Île-de-France I never experienced this, I stayed there for about a month doing a course. I also never noticed this kind of behavior in the French people I met here, but I guess that doens't count much. And my French has an obvious accent (although a Brazilian accent may not be so marked as an anglophone accent, just like in Portuguese a French accent has a lower-profile than an Anglo one).
Instead, I experienced more than once the arrogance of the natives in Paris when I addressed to them in French.
This has never occured in other parts of France.
I guess, by my personal experience, that this stereotype fits only to Parisians.
This has never occured in other parts of France.
I guess, by my personal experience, that this stereotype fits only to Parisians.