THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE
Riviera Community
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The Riviera from all angles. The good, the bad, the ugly
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A Closer LookAn inside look. An outside view
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Riviera life from day to day, at work or play
Day to DayDaily life on the Riviera.
Food and DrinkMarket to kitchen and bar to restaurant.
Travel and TransportGetting to, from and around the Riviera.
Serious StuffThe Riviera isn't just sunshine and food. Reality check!
Deciders, expats and our French hosts. The faces behind the names.
The DecidersFrom business to politics, they influence our lives... here's what they look like.
The AnglophonesPeople in the Anglophone community: British, American, Scandinavian, Dutch, and the New Worlders.
Our French HostsHere are the people whose country it is...
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Odds and EndsFrom the mundane to the bizarre. Unclassifiable images.
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The Riviera's anglophone community
Schools, courses, and learning the lingo
Articles about residing on the Riviera
Profiles of Residents
Some Riviera residents and their stories
Visiting the Riviera
Things to see, places to go, old or new
Yachting and Boating
Nautical notes from the Riviera
Doing It in France
Practical information about living in France
Eye on France
Morals, manners, attitudes, habits, laws
Finance, Tax and Business
Banking, money, setting up business
Laws and licensing. Buying and selling cars
Buying, selling, letting and renting, building
Features and Diaries
Feature subjects and diary columns
Eating and drinking on the Riviera
Interior and architectural design, antiquing
Welfare and local health concerns
Outdoors and Nature
Gardening, wildlife, walking, rambling
Keeping pets and animals in France
Sport on the Riviera, from golf to pickleball
Expat living. Articles about the UK and USA
Art, Dance, Film, Music, Photography, TV
History and Traditions
Local history. Origins of French customs
Books relevant to France or the Riviera
Air travel, rail, sea, destination reports
The Riviera from all angles. The good, the bad, the ugly.
The Sea and Coast
The beaches, the ports, the Mediterranean, the boats and yachts.
The places where we live and work. Seen up close or from afar.
Views and Panoramas
The Riviera countryside at its best and worst, from the mountains to the sea.
An inside look. An outside view.
Salt flats, vast sand dunes, flamingos, Camargue horses and bulls.
Riviera life from day to day, at work or play.
Daily life on the Riviera.
Market to kitchen and bar to restaurant.
Getting to, from and around the Riviera.
The Riviera isn't just sunshine and food. Reality check!
The Deciders
From business to politics, they influence our lives... here's what they look like.
The Anglophones
People in the Anglophone community: British, American, Scandinavian, Dutch, and the New Worlders.
Our French Hosts
Here are the people whose country it is...
From the mundane to the bizarre. Unclassifiable images.
Riviera Reporting
The Riviera Reporter. Production, layout, distribution, interviewing...
Images to illustrate our regular photography column.
So why learn French?
Jill Penton-Browne
Jill Penton-Browne asks that question yet again
Surely, many among our enlightened readership will say, that's a no-brainer. Anyone who chooses to live in another country will surely realise that learning the local language is a priority. Not so. I've lived here for thirty years and over those three decades I've met quite a few like – well, let's call them Reg and Vera. They settled in the Var about four years ago and in that time they've managed almost no improvement in their initially almost non-existent French. "We're old dogs," chuckles Reg (they're both in their late fifties), "and we're not up to learning new tricks. We get by easily enough. No problems, really." An unusual attitude? Sadly, no. Our colleagues at French News did a survey of their readers, mainly in the west of France, and found that twenty per cent spoke almost no French and said they didn't want to learn. And not all of them were "old dogs", by any means.
An obvious potential victim
So why, yet again (and briefly), should anyone coming to live in France make an effort with the language? First, look at it from our hosts' point of view, discussed in a following article. The French are deeply attached to their language and irritated if they suspect a foreigner has a negative attitude towards it. I started out here with very schoolgirl French but I always made an effort and quickly improved. However, from the beginning I realised that those I spoke to usually appreciated my good intentions and were friendly and encouraging. A boneheaded insistence on speaking English gets you nowhere.
Secondly, as well as enabling you to make a good first impression on the locals, the rewards of speaking French are very tangible. Once you've got a reasonable basis in the language practical problems – anywhere from the pharmacy through the school office to the service station – are much more easily resolved (that good first impression helps, of course). And another point: this is an area with a lot of dodgy people (that's why we call it la Côte d'Arnaque – the Rip-off Riviera). If you speak little or no French you're like a lamb to the slaughter, an obvious potential victim. You'll make the day of a Nice taxi-driver, for example, if it's apparent that your French is very poor. Finally, there's friendship. Reg and Vera seem to know only other Brits. "We don't feel comfortable with people who don't speak English," admits Vera. She doesn't seem to realise that these same people – living in their own country – wouldn't feel comfortable with her.
Daily life ... a permanent language laboratory
If you're like Reg and Vera, what to do about it? This isn't a consumer feature on language courses but I would stress that just "picking up" French is not all that easy. Most people need some formal help with the basics. I went to a private teacher for a few months which was a great help (several good ones advertise in our classified pages). That being said, if you're living here it's a rather different case from if you're trying to learn in Harwich or Hoboken. Your daily life can offer you a permanent language laboratory. Just get out there and talk. You won't just learn the language but also a lot about what makes the French tick as you note the sort of things they talk about. After a while you'll find they'll begin to include you in the conversation. And supplement your direct social encounters by watching French television. A lot of it's junk (as everywhere these days) but you'll pick up on many things and you'll also find what's on la télé is a popular topic of conversation. "We never miss the repeats of Only Fools and Horses on BBC 1," Reg tells me. A good show, certainly, but he can't share his enjoyment with his varois neighbours.
From Riviera Reporter Issue 127: June/July 2008
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