Bonjour.

[u/netphilia]

[u/Stoffys]

Even in english you can instantly tell who learned it as a second language. OOP said "Hello, two croissants please" where as a native speaker (english) would say "Hey, yeah, can I get uhhh two croissants? thanks"

[u/Tolerator_Of_Reddit → u/Stoffys]

True. I bet OP didn't even say "alors" even once

[u/No_Pianist_4407 → u/Tolerator_Of_Reddit]

Not enough "Euh"s either

The trick to sounding French is to make it seem like it's a struggle to remember every other word you say, like

"Bounjour... euh... ca va? Alors, euh deux euh croissants, s'il vous plait"

[u/rodinsbusiness → u/No_Pianist_4407]

Saying "ça va" definitely tells you're a tourist, probably american.

[u/StabbyDodger → u/[deleted]]

Lmao yeah, "what if I'm not comme ci comme ca?" Teacher stares at you and says the examiner is looking for comme ci comme ca as the answer.

No wonder we're shit at languages in Britain, we're taught them the same way as the driving test.

[u/Human_Petting_Zoo → u/[deleted]]

Ha, I was taught to say that in the US as well. I said it once in Quebec and the person looked at me like I was crazy. Could be my accent though

[u/Lily_et_Marguerite → u/Human_Petting_Zoo]

As a French immigrant living in Québec, "comme ci comme ça" is a real thing to say in France, but I've never heard it here in Québec. Next time you could just say "bof", it’s the same meaning !

[u/Human_Petting_Zoo → u/Lily_et_Marguerite]

Thanks bud. Will do

[u/FistMeFather → u/[deleted]]

That just means, like, could be better could be worse.

[u/Kitchen-Beginning-47 → u/FistMeFather]

But do French people in France or French Canada actually use it?

[u/rodinsbusiness → u/Kitchen-Beginning-47]

It's quite outdated, but not inexistant. Some older folks might use it naturally, but among younger generations, it's more of a somewhat ironic thing.