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It's Wednesday May the 24 around 12:58PM and

Living as a Faux-French

As someone who lives every day with a very French name in Vancouver, I find that I can often pass myself off as a little more "exotic" than I really am. I've spent years perfecting my Quebecois accent, and when I pull it out as a party trick, I find that it goes over gangbusters. By replacing the word "very" with the word "très", I think that I've managed to convince a significant part of the city that I am, in fact, francophone. This is why I was so very dismayed to discover that all my sad little attempts at multiculturalism failed when I hit the big town of Montreal last week. My fancy French name got me about three words into a conversation before the person I was speaking to realized I was more anglo than the Queen. Sometimes I could fake the store clerk out long enough to buy something, but as I walked away from the exchange, I would always hear those cursed words: "Thank you."

Now that I'm back in Vancouver, I can go back to the nice little bubble where I'm a francophone in a big, bad English city. And next time I'm in Montreal, I'll be sure to pass myself off as Spanish.

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Comments

Posted by: Jackson

May 26, 2006 06:31 AM

Mon Dieu! Imposter! I've had the same problem here in Vietnam. They aren't buying it. I think it is my accent. I can't imagine what else it could be...

Posted by: princess pinky

May 26, 2006 11:20 AM

josee, i am shocked. all these years i've been a believer of your fancy words and name. who are you really?

Posted by: hockeysk8

June 5, 2006 10:03 AM

Don't think for a second you can fool a quebecois(e). They know if you are English just by looking at you. Trust me I live with one.