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tyresiasWherever I am, Francophones ask "d'où vient ton français/accent?" (Where does your French/accent come from?) I pick up the dominant accent around me and subconciously melded it to my own. I've tried very hard NOT to do that but the longer I'm exposed to a singular accent the harder is becomes to maintain mine.
I was born in Ottawa but went to a school with French (from Northern France) teachers. When in France in '90 people asked if I was from Belgium or Switzerland. When in Québec that same year people asked if I was from France.
Domi (my fostermom) has a STRONG accent Marseillais and Patrick (my fosterdad) has an accent from Lagarde. When I returned from Toulon it became clear quickly I had acquired a Provençal-ish accent.
I was one of a dozen Francophones in Vancouver and Lanciano. No 2 people had the same accent in either places. This might sound bizarre to most people but it took a long time for me to grasp why no one could place my "accent" or why I couldn't accurately describe it. No one, even in my family, has the same accent as me. If you can't pin it to a geographical location, why should I?
"Il est de nul part et partout, tout comme moi."
(It's from nowhere and everywhere, just like me.)
I was born in Ottawa but went to a school with French (from Northern France) teachers. When in France in '90 people asked if I was from Belgium or Switzerland. When in Québec that same year people asked if I was from France.
Domi (my fostermom) has a STRONG accent Marseillais and Patrick (my fosterdad) has an accent from Lagarde. When I returned from Toulon it became clear quickly I had acquired a Provençal-ish accent.
I was one of a dozen Francophones in Vancouver and Lanciano. No 2 people had the same accent in either places. This might sound bizarre to most people but it took a long time for me to grasp why no one could place my "accent" or why I couldn't accurately describe it. No one, even in my family, has the same accent as me. If you can't pin it to a geographical location, why should I?
"Il est de nul part et partout, tout comme moi."
(It's from nowhere and everywhere, just like me.)
