DayPerson

My dad said that while dealing with the issues this week, when he was given a phone number on the phone, he found it hard to deal with the conversation. We've been in the UK since May after a decade in France.

When we lived in France we were socially isolated and did not mix with other people so it has been a shock to move to an area where everyone is so helpful and friendly.

Has anyone else had this problem? Visiting the dentist and understanding everything was weird and it is still strange talking to a doctor in my native tongue.

I know in France we had the opposite problem sometimes i.e. we knew specific words like placoplâtre for plaster board or crepie for rendereing and could not find the English translation.

dmu

Hi, I have the same problem when I go visiting family (about once a year now). I feel like a foreigner, as I'm not used to English idioms (esp. modern ones) and often come out with literal translations of French ones. I also have problems coping with English accents on the TV (e.g. Northern) which I'm not used to.
Hope all is going well for you!

petitefrancaise

I find it is situation specific for me. For example, kids' education - since I had no prior English experience for my kids' schooling, the vocabulary I learned was french. I had to learn the english stuff. Same for running a business for me. And sometimes the french word is just nicer to use or is more suitable for the circumstance.

My youngest daughter now tells me that I sound very strange sometimes, kind of mid-atlantic with a french accent. ah well - tant pis!

Mincepie

I have the same problem too. After years of living in Italy (where I still live) whenever I return to the UK it seems unnatural to speak fluidly in English. As if the proper vocabulary was somehow in hibernation in some deep unreachable no-mans land...where the U.K. identity also seems to have been banished to!!
It’s sad in a way... quite poignant, as if part of you just quietly fades away... so I try to listen to radio 4 and 5 as much as possible...but listening isn’t quite the same as talking...
Good luck on regaining the your English Voice!!

scot47

This is familiar to anyone who has lived in an environment where English is not used much. In my case I used "Offshore English" a lot. Basically what happens there is that you forget what English sounds like when used by native speakers. You may also become used to a dumbed-down vocabulary or lexical base. Good to keep iy going by listening to talk radio and speaking to other educated speakers. I men like its obvious innit ?