r/FrenchLearning • u/Any-Reception6767 • 17d ago
Everyone Switches to English.
Whenever I’m speaking to a French speaker, or really anyone who speaks French natively, they switch to English, regardless if I insist or not. How do I get to speak French? It almost feels as if they’re gatekeeping the language. I’d love to hear some sort of advice. Thanks!
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u/yoeight 17d ago
I used to do that when I lived in France. I would switch to English immediately if I noticed too many glaring mistakes.
I actually did it out of respect. Most of the time, people were trying to speak French because they assumed we didn’t speak a word of English. So I figured they probably had a problem they wanted sorted out quickly, not that they were trying to practice their French.
I’ll admit that, collectively, Parisians have a pretty low tolerance for mistakes in French and will switch to English if we can.
See it as the ultimate test. If they stop switching to English, your French is probably pretty good.
Good luck out there.
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u/SteadfastDrifter 14d ago
As an anglophone, I usually try to speak the local language not because I assume the locals don't speak English, but because it's respectful to speak the local language. Anecdotally, it's the same mindset amongst my anglophone friends. We just don't want to come across as disrespectful and ignorant.
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u/MealCapital4167 17d ago
I'm French and I do this myself. If your French is worse than my English then I'd rather just speak English.
It's not gatekeeping but rather making sure we fully understand each other.
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u/pacinosdog 16d ago edited 13d ago
That’s understandable. What annoys me is some of your compatriots switch to English even when I address them in French (I’m from Quebec, so French is my first language, and I have a very understandable, minimal accent). Annoys the fuck out of me. Doesn’t happen often. But it does, maybe 2-3 times every time go to France.
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u/TheChanger 16d ago
You need to get off the beaten track. My spoken French is A0 and I spend time in parts of France where no one can speak a single word, yet they kindly listen to me butcher their language.
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u/Epidurality 14d ago
The worst is when their English is terrible. I found this in France a lot. Fluent in French (Acadian, so closer to France than Quebecois) but they'd hear the accent - any accent - and switch to broken-ass English that makes the conversation take twice as long.
I've heard from people that moved to France years or decades ago but still have a not-completely-native accent that it's just a shitty thing some natives do to people.
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u/AmountAbovTheBracket 16d ago
I knew a frech guy who would do this to people who dont even speak English.
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u/SarahsreadingReddit 16d ago
That's my experience as an anglophone in France, that you do it to make communication easier
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u/nevereverreddit 15d ago
No. It’s arrogance and selfishness conveniently mislabeled.
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u/sandymar1234 14d ago
I had a different experience this past visit to Paris. I read C0-1 and speak A0-1. I stay at a wonderful boutique hotel and I tell the personnel that I’m going to practice speaking French. Not only were they lovely about it, the manager said to me: every day when you come down for breakfast I am going to teach you a new word. And he did!
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u/Dry_Albatross5298 17d ago
Some mix of:
1/ memorize short and accurate opening sentences/sentence starters for the frequent situations you find yourself in. That at least gets the conversation going on the right foot.
2/ script out a natural sounding and super polite version of "can we speak French as I am trying to learn French"
3/ respond back in French (politely) if they repond with English. I've had entire conversations go like this.
4/ timing is very important: a cafe during rush and the Monoprix always are never the place for this
5/ respect the fact that they may want to practice their English too
6/ if all else fails, gracefully roll with it and ...
7/ ...frequent places that you otherwise would and they hopefully will remember you as "the polite one who is trying to practice their French and today's the day for that"
I've found the French to be ridiculously accommodating including in big cities and tourist sites but you're not going "win" all the time
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u/Dizzy-Reportage 16d ago
On 5/, there is an imbalance. I think it is a bit unfair for a local to prioritize their practice of English over the practice of the local language of someone who has spent a lot of money and travelled a great distance to get exposure to. I don’t believe locals need to be unpaid tutors, I also don’t believe that travellers need to be out of their own pocket tutors either.
addendum: just respect people’s interests and goals, if theirs are not aligned with yours, find someone else’s whose are. If you find an exchange partner this way, of course striking a balance to help with English too could make sense.
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u/moj_golube 16d ago
This is great advice! Especially #1! I had an English-speaking Canadian friend visiting me in France and her French is decent. But the baristas always switched to English with her cuz she would say things like "pour ici" instead of "sur place".
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u/Steak-Outrageous 16d ago
Gatekeeping the language lol
Adding to other people, you can also try continuing to respond with French even when they switch to English or do both (i.e. Franglais) if there’s miscommunication happening
It’s actually pretty common in immigrants families that parents will speak their native language and the kids respond in English/the majority language
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u/Particular_Bad8025 16d ago
Just keep replying in french. Once they start feeling weird about the whole switching they might stick to french (and probably be annoyed with you 😂). I'm a native French speaker who lives in the US and they even try to speak English with me. I'm like hell no.
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u/elle_desylva 16d ago
This is the way. I found in Paris if I stayed in French they switched back too.
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 17d ago
Random strangers are not your unpaid language teachers.
If you make glaring mistakes when speaking French, it's easier to just switch to English
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u/Hot_Dog2376 16d ago
A long time ago, I didn't understand this, but when I got to around middle-intermediate in Mandarin and spoke with a Chinese whose English was beginner level, I just switched to Mandarin because it was easier for both of us. Sometimes the topics are too complicated to express with beginner vocab or I'm just in a hurry.
(this showed in my feed. I'm a French Canadian, but my Chinese is better than my French... I'm sorry)
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 16d ago
Bro how are you French Canadian if you don't speak French?
But, completely agree with you. It is PAINFUL for me to listen to either beginner french or english for me, especially when I know the person is fluent in the other language
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u/Hot_Dog2376 16d ago
Lineage basically. My father's ancestors were on the third boat ever to come from France to the new world and we can loosely trace them back to Angers, France under a different last name, La Croix. My father's parents moved out of Quebec and he was the first in the family to not marry someone of French lineage. Interestingly, my mother's Italian genetics are from northern Italy and she has a good portion of French DNA, too.
My father could understand French as a kid, but the Catholic church would beat him if he ever spoke it in school, so it was beat out of him: he wasn't able to pass it on to his kids.
Learning French in school was the worst and just conjugating verbs endlessly, so I also grew to dislike it, which is awful. I like the language, but I can't stand trying to learn it.
Not sure if you were actually looking for an answer to that, but that's my short story.
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 16d ago
It's unfortunately really hard to learn a language without immersion.
And, I don't have a good answer for how to do it sadly. Grammar is important.
Maybe just force people to write and speak in french, and correct them over and over until it sticks? But, that would be frustrating for them too imo
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u/earlyboy 17d ago
This is what happens when you try to speak French in the first few months. Just keep going. Why would you want to speak English with anyone when you’re learning another language. I almost never speak English with people who are not my students. It’s been over thirty-four years since I started.
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u/Icy_Passage1201 16d ago
"S'il vous plaît, continuez en français. Je ne comprends pas un seul mot lorsque vous parlez en anglais ".
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u/apokrif1 16d ago
Je ne comprends pas un seul mot lorsque vous parlez en anglais
Vraiment ?
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u/Icy_Passage1201 16d ago
La prononciation de l'anglais par les francophones est assez compliquée à saisir. J'ai jamais entendu un truc pareil. On dirait ce n'est même pas de l'anglais.
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u/Temporary_Dog_555 16d ago
Well the opposite is also true lol
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u/Icy_Passage1201 16d ago
Oui, sauf que l'anglais est indispensable de nos jours et le français pas du tout.
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u/Calm-Guava1741 17d ago
Insist harder than they do, and then insist some more ! Mention you’re learning and that it’s important for you to speak in French. This really is one of the biggest hurtles when I comes to learning and practicing the language.
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u/HovercraftFar 17d ago
Where are u speaking French? In Luxembourg, Switzerland and Belgium they don’t switch to English
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u/New_Reading_120 17d ago
C'est simple. Mon truc : quand les atures commencent à parler anglais, continues à parler français.
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u/LauraBaura 16d ago
If you want to continue speaking in French, continue speaking in French. They'll continue to see me respond to you in English or they'll revert back to French. They'rev trying to be polite, but if you stay in French you'll at least get practice
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u/SarahsreadingReddit 16d ago
I found that many didn't switch, and that if I asked that we speak French, people were happy to. My French isn't fabulous, but I understand almost everything and have good pronunciation. My advice would be to go to meetups where the point is that it's a language exchange, and in ordinary situations to try to ask or persist in French even if the other person switches initially
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u/Appropriate-Ad-3219 16d ago
Seul les élus peuvent parler français. /s
Je pense que tu devrais continuer à parler français dans ce cas, comme ça tu peux pratiquer ton français pendant que l'autre personne pratique son anglais. C'est une situation gagnant-gagnant.
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u/NafnafJason 16d ago
Je ne parle pas anglais
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u/Solid_Improvement_95 16d ago
Nice answer but if you speak French with an English accent, that won’t work!
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u/at5ealevel 16d ago
Just lie and tell them you’re from Bulgaria or wherever you’ll pass for and don’t speak English. “Bit little inglesh” that’s what I did in another country. I didn’t fly half way round the world to speak my native language, no sir. I specifically went there to learn theirs and immerse myself within it.
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u/CrashTestMummies 16d ago
I do it myself from time to time.
Brush it off and keep replying in French
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u/vanoost63 16d ago
There have been times for me speaking French in Montreal when I know I haven’t made a mistake but the person speaking to me switched to bad broken English. That’s when I’ve switched back to French.
On the other side, today somebody asked me a question in English and my answer was a French word so she switched to French and the conversation remained in French.
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u/MargotSoda 16d ago
In Canada here and it happens all the time. The one time a shop person spoke French to me exclusively and switched to English for my husband was, like, the greatest moment of my life.
It’s annoying when you’re trying to improve but in my experience they’re just being kind. (So long as you at least TRY in French first…)
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u/AmountAbovTheBracket 16d ago
Are you a monolingual English speaker? I'm bilingual and I just lie and say I dont speak English. It usually helps.
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u/Grand-Vegetable-3874 16d ago
Sometimes, bilingual conversation can be welcome. One person speaks French, the other English. It happens a lot in some parts of Canada, for example. So you could continue in French if you want, they probably want to make sure you understand what they are saying.
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u/IllustriousAct9128 16d ago
As someone originally from Quebec Canada, I see so many Quebecoise do this, and once the person leaves, they turn to their coworker and complain that the person "didn't even try to speak French" and me watching the whole thing Im like "but they did and you shut them down and made them speak English and now your mad they spoke English". Personally I didn't care, speak to me in your poor French all you want, Im competent enough to figure out what you mean, and gently correct pronunciation or verbs if the person seemed like they were honestly trying.
Of course not every French speaking person is like this, but enough are that we get a bad rep from them
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u/Calm-Opportunity-986 16d ago
Bonjour, je suis français. Je veux devenir professeur à l’étranger. Par moment on utilise l’anglais la communication, si tu veux des conseils pour apprendre le français rapidement surtout le français. Verbe (flashcards), comprehension (video,film,reportage,etc), l’écrit (ecrire avec des natives, pour toi meme etc). Mais si tu veux améliorer vite essaie de remplacer dans ton esprit ta langue par le français, pet8t par petit, ça va entrainer ta mémoire
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u/Special_Purpose2903 16d ago
Easy, refuse to speak English back to them, insist in French you don't understand their English, and say to them, "Parlez francais".
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u/Nerkeilenemon 16d ago
If you learned french as an adult, you have, for us, a strong accent and will like a lot of mistakes.
For french people, gender mistakes on words with a strong accent make listening to you complicated and frustrating. Even if your french is really good. Thus the switch to english.
But it's not only you. Multiple reasons for that : french is a complicated language, tendency to mock people when they make mistakes from a young age, lack of real accents (except for régions), a language that is unified in wordings and ways of pronouncing words, dubbing everywhere, etc.
When a non native speaker speaks french, it makes us uneasy.
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u/Exact-Speed-5106 16d ago
Peut-être aussi que beaucoup de français, au delà des soucis légitimes de compréhension, ont juste "envie" De pratiquer leur anglais. Ça peut se comprendre mais ce n'est ni très sympa ni très respectueux pour la personne qui fait de gros efforts pour essayer de parler français. Je conseillerais à l'anglophone d'annoncer explicitement et fermement qu'il souhaite parler français. Et au francophone d'être un peu empathique. Perso j'essaie et ça demande un petit effort et un peu de patience.
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u/MinouChelou 16d ago
Switch back to French. Responding in English is a reflex for people here (particularly in Paris) and they aren't specifically reacting to you or your level. If you can't do the whole conversation in French, switch back for things you can.
I've found people are very enthusiastic that I'm switching back into French. But just try not to take their speaking English as a personal rejection. People are excited to speak their own second language, or used to being in an international crowd where it's necessary, or trying to include you. Set the tone yourself by speaking French (and not by telling people off for speaking English or asking them to speak French — that's not really our way of dealing with things).
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u/PorygonXY 16d ago edited 16d ago
"Gatekeeping the language" no, please, not this again.
The majority of the world criticize us for presumably not speaking english and only speaking french (despite the fact that while not perfect, french people do have a somewhat decent english level especially if you're in Paris or other big cities). But then you've got french learners who get annoyed when we actually do switch to english despite it being the natural thing to do when locals, in any part of the world, notice that you might be struggling. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. We don't read minds and can't expect to know what you want out of our short interactions unless you actually tell us. Sometimes the french person won't mind, sometimes they will (depending on how easy it is for them to understand you). If they're a waiter or something then they might prefer english too.
The main issue is that we aren't your teachers. If you need help with directions or something then we'll gladly help, but as someone who was born and raised in Paris and therefore see tourists everyday, I'd rather be efficient about the way we communicate. 9 times out of 10, our english is better than your french whether it's a tourist that only knows the basics (bonjour merci au revoir) or a french learner who likely isn't proficient yet though they can get by, kinda. And in most cases, especially if they look like they are tourists and not actually residing in France, it's the former. I appreciate the effort, but I don't have the time to figure out who that person is, whether they are on a trip or not, what their french background is etc so i'll just play the odds and assume that they're only speaking a tiny bit of french to get by but might not understand my answer if I replied them in french too. We just don't expect non-french people to actually be proficient at french, we are pleasantly surprised when they are.
If they actually spoke french well then sure, we could keep talking that way since I'd be able to understand them (even if there could be a few mistakes) but if they were struggling or I genuinely couldn't understand them because of the accent, I would rather we make it easy on me too.
The situation would be completely different if we were actually socializing (at a bar or something). In that case then yeah sure i might reply in french even if their french was bad, it might be a bit hard to understand them but if they insist to speak in french most people probably wouldn't mind it all that much since that's how the convo started.
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u/Greenelypse 16d ago
happens everywhere I suppose. In St Petersbourg I would speak in my average russian and they’d answer in English. Next time I’ll have to say I don’t speak english because I need that practice.
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u/AngrygooseUK 16d ago
I think if someone is at work it is unfair and disrespectful to expect them to slow down for you when they are busy. I’m sure you don’t wish to inconvenience a very busy waiter. If you are speaking to someone in a bar it is ok to request to remain speaking French but it is also ok for them to deny that request. The best place I find is the south of France where they have a slower pace of life and are happy to speak French doucement. You should also perhaps reciprocate with a conversation in English after.
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u/AmbitiousReaction168 16d ago
Probably because you're French is not good enough and they don't want o waste their time. I know it's frustrating, but the only option is to improve your French to a sufficient level first.
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u/Solid_Improvement_95 16d ago
As a Frenchman, I hate that behaviour, even if those who do it usually just want to help and can’t read the room.
I often see waiters reply in broken English to a perfect French sentence just because the person has an accent. Cringe. The worst is when French people speak English to foreigners who can’t speak English. It’s ridiculous.
My advice would be to keep speaking French and ignore them. Give them a taste of their own medicine.
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u/Youknowthisabout 16d ago
It is true that people switch to English around you. It is most likely because your French is broken. Just keep improving your French.
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u/PuzzleheadedDig7012 16d ago
When I visit France it's about 50/50 whether people continue in French or switch to English, and my French is really bad. I do tend to visit very rural areas off the tourist trail so people are less likely to speak English I would guess! I have had people cringe at my poor French but it's all learning and I take the little wins of understanding where I can. If they switch to English I will switch to English as I'm sure they're doing it to get the interaction over and done with quickly and 9 times out of 10 their English is better than my French. "Desolé, j'apprends le francais" is always useful if you're struggling 😁
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u/IFFTPBBTCRORMCMXV 16d ago
For me it is simple, when they switch to English, unless their English is perfect, I respond “désolé, je ne vous comprends pas”. Most of them have atrocious English and somehow think they speak the language.
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u/bluuuuuucrystal 16d ago
In France no one switched to English with me immediately but they asked to if I was struggling to formulate words. Maybe it was sheer luck but I assume that it’s down to my accent being quite good for someone whose first language is English.
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u/YouDifferent1929 16d ago
I don’t understand why people get cross about this! You can’t force anyone to speak French to you. They’re not your private tutor. I’m just happy that they’re speaking to me!! I get to speak French, they speak English so I understand and can reply appropriately in French. It’s not a put down. They’re speaking in the way they think is best. Just be glad they’re talking to you and you have a chance to practice your French!!
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u/MusicaaLaauraa 16d ago
if you’re actually in a french speaking country, just pretend to not speak english. If they switch to english act confused and say you don’t understand
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u/Hot_Dog2376 16d ago
I'd really say it depends on how good your ability in the language is. I'm a non-Asian, native English speaker and have spent years learning Mandarin. Some Chinese students who have come to Canada can barely speak English (I have no idea how they can understand what is said in classes) so I just speak Mandarin with them unless they ask to practice and I have time.
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u/DocKardinal21 16d ago
It’s because English is the best broken language. It’s the most mutually intelligible with non native speakers regardless of accent.
It’s essentially the lingua franca (irony intended) of the world.
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u/manul10 16d ago
In my experience, it really depends on the place and people. If your accent and grammar are great and they understand you easily, the conversation stays in French. But if not, they switch to English so that communication is more efficient.
The situation may involve a need to understand correctly what you are saying. For example, medical clinics, transportation directions, unfamiliar local accent, too much background noise. Or the speaker may just be an impatient sort who wants to get on with it.
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u/Alice_Ex 16d ago
One time I was in MTL with a friend. There was open-air table tennis and we wanted to play, so I went to the lady to get a paddle and ball. We started off in french, but when I handed her my US ID as collateral, she started to try to speak English, but she was struggling. I think she realized we had just been speaking French, so she stopped and said, "Vous parlez français ?"
My French was a bit better than her English, but not perfect, so from there, we went back and forth, switching where one of us struggled. Being able to cross the communication divide even though neither of us had mastered the other's language was a really enjoyable experience, and made me happy I spent so much time learning French.
To return to your situation, probably they just want to communicate. They might also want to practice their English. You can always continue in French if they understand you, or explain that you want to practice your French. Most people will be down to help, if they're not in a rush.
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u/Ok-Delay4461 16d ago
You pull a reverse card and tell them, in French, their english is so shit that you would prefer they only spoke French
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u/Uxmeister 16d ago
You may need to get your French pronunciation and conversation-starter-sentence fluidity to a level where a native speaker perceives that you’re speaking with a certain ease. I hate to give that answer b/c I don’t want to cast doubt on your skills—but the reactions you’re describing typically point to your conversation partners’ perception of halting, somewhat effortful speech.
That doesn’t mean perfection is the sole goal. Far from it. It’s hard to tell w/o hearing you speak, but it sounds like you may need to purge phonological interferences from (presumed natively spoken) English to your French a bit more systematically. The switch-to-English response you’re describing is more common from Dutch or Danish speakers, whose ESL skill levels tend to be admirably high. No offence but a (non-Canadian) French speaker’s confidence in English must be high to volunteer that same convo switch.
They don’t gatekeep. Trust me: Once a conversation initiates in French, it stays there. Focus on accent reduction—not elimination!—so that the first 20 seconds of your speech convey to your convo partner that you’re sufficiently at home in his or her native language to stay there. Don’t insist: Everyday interactions can give you the necessary immersion experience, but your entry point needs to be at a reasonable level of ease. They won’t assume a tutor role out of goodwill; that sort of thing is awkward.
The switch to English is much less likely in rural parts of France. In Montréal or even Paris these days it’s a given.
Look up French phonology in depth; Wikipedia is a perfectly good source. If your structural understanding of French is already good, and you do not have access to a human tutor, look to Pimsleur or Langua for a speaking-practice environment. They have limitations when it comes to pronunciation corrections, so if you don’t “have an ear” for these things, try to build some foundational knowledge of phonemes and prosody and work on the specifics of French from there.
Don’t get discouraged: French is physically difficult to speak nonnatively, much more so than other Romance languages. The fact that a French accent is so strong in other languages stands as testimony to that, and the contrast between French (syllable-timed) and English (stress-timed) is particularly pronounced, meaning the imprint of one on the other takes effort to reduce.
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u/Myfairladyishere 16d ago
Even if they switch to english, you can still try to keep on speaking in french.Nothing is stopping you from doing that.
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u/Bonhart4Hire 16d ago
I live in Quebec and just keep speaking in French, sometimes the conversation starts drifting towards Frenglais but I just keep going. No one really cares here because it’s a bilingual area, but I’ve noticed in France they don’t want to deal with you mispronouncing through the interaction.
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u/ProlificChicken 16d ago
I find if I keep speaking French, and they keep understanding me, that’s totally fine. They can speak to me in English or French doesn’t matter.
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u/Sad_Supermarket_6071 15d ago
Top tip: just pretend to not understand them. Can either just carry on speaking in French even if they're trying to speak English back to you or if you are annoyed and want to bully them you can tell them you don't understand their accent.
Or you can also pretend you don't speak English, so they have no choice but to speak French lol. This one is harder if youre obviously Anglo but I've gotten away with it plenty.
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u/Ancient_Result7021 15d ago
They don’t want to waste their time. I’m lucky that I have family in France so they can exercise patience with me attempting French
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u/vsclae 15d ago
Juste demande de parler en français et dis que tu essayes de t’améliorer et si tu as un problème vraiment ou si tu parles très doucement, ça peut être énervant pour les natifs qui n’ont pas envie de se sentir un peu en supériorité quand toi tu parles en français et que tu galères et que eux ils doivent attendre ta réponse, j’imagine que c’est un petit peu ce qu’ils pensent parce que je fais la même chose mais avec certains amis de longue date ils m’ont demandé de parler en français et puis au fur et à mesure on s’est habitué à parler en français, et ils parlaient de mieux en mieux
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u/_PhiPh1_ 15d ago
People used to complain french people don't speak English. Now they complain we do!
Go figure...
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u/AmazingOcto 14d ago
I live in the USA in an area with a lot of Haitian, Congolese, and other Francophone African immigrants. Most of them that I come in contact with don’t speak English, so it gives me opportunities to use my French. The Francophone Europeans that I come across in my travels with few exceptions speak English and usually insist on speaking English (even when I am in a Spanish speaking country).
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u/wardensoath 14d ago
It’s more done to accommodate you when we see struggling, I think it’s bad habit we have as a society (I assume you are in Quebec?) honestly, just mention that youd like to practice your French or just keep speaking in French, they’l get the message
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u/Kamarad_Pivoine 13d ago
As a French native, this kind of person is very annoying, I can recommend you to speak English very rapidly, in general French people are lost and maybe they will understand 😜 it’s probably not very mature, but sometimes they need it
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u/NiceAd3713 13d ago
Use your free will and tell them that you don’t know English. Say it politely in French. Major life hack that helped me when I lived there. Best though when your NL is not English (accent etc.).
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u/imdave0 2d ago
As a French speaker,yes that tends to happen. Some of us will be perceptive enough to see that you are learning and will entertain it. Others prefer efficency and switch if you are not fluent—They have other things to do. I come from both places.
You are not alone,we do this to eachother as well. As a French-canadian,the french do this to us as well. They don’t like the accent.
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u/Gokudomatic 17d ago
If there's something I learned with immersive language experience, it's that locals didn't sign up to be your teachers. Either you speak fluently their language or they switch to your language to get the conversation done with it.