Très Sexy

I am in the land of the French accent, acknowledged almost universally -- and especially by my husband -- as the sexiest accent in the world. And yet, today I receive another compliment on my accent, which has been called "charming", "sexy", "adorable"(my favorite), "French-Canadian" (my least favorite -- have you ever heard Quebecois?), and many other heart-warming adjectives. My object all along has been to have no accent, of course, but it appears that I am not quite there. My level of French, which is fluent but not perfect, is evidently just as charming to the people here as it is to us when they speak English wees a leetle 'je ne sais quoi' in ze way zay prononce ze words.

Sometimes, I can hear the difference between what I want to produce and what I actually say. At these times, I can be heard muttering under my breath English sentences with a French accent: I am trying to figure out what level my accent is and to hear what it must sound like to them. At other times, I would swear my accent is perfect, only to be asked either, "And where are you from that you speak such lovely French?" or "How long have you lived in France?" My greatest consolation at these moments is that I can honestly answer "from the United States" or "four months" and that either answer is sure to elicit a look of shock.

I must tell you, this reminds me of when I was backbacking around Asia in my early twenties with my friend Andi, and we became friends with a Swedish guy. He told me rather lasciviously that I should go to Sweden, because I would be a huge hit with all the men there. I asked, rather surprised, "But aren't all the women in Sweden tall, blond, blue-eyed, and beautiful?" And he said, "Exactly! You would be so exotic!"  Hmmm...I'm not sure how to take that.

Well, it turns out that by giving our daughters the gift of bilingualism, we are inadvertantly depriving them of the gift of a sexy accent. Eet eez too bahd for zem, but for me, ooh la la, I sound fantasteek!