lozthewoz

Where in France are the strongest regional accents and also the most neutral?

I studied French in Nice for a few weeks in 2006 and was told that it was fairly neutral there which is obviously what I want if I'm trying to learn the language, and that Marseille was very strong.

I'm planning a year out to travel around France and stop at a few different language schools. I was just wondering if anyone's come across accents or dialects that are just impossible to understand, and where are the best places to go for more neutral accents?

Thanks!
Lauren

L'Acajou

Hi

We live in dept 41, Loir-et-Cher, (North-West of the centre) which is usually regarded as the "purest" French.

val50

Find Brittany quite difficult - especially when they start speaking Breton

Ka Ora!

Pretty difficult in Ariege but talking whilst chewing on the grass don't help. That being said our little boy has picked it up a treat and sounds like a local.

treskillard

There is no such thing as neutral French - all the accents carry a message of one sort or another.

Apart from that - the Urban area, the highrise estates, might have the strongest accents. Are they regional?

loutre8

Hi all,

They are very strong accents in France.
In the south it looks cute, very latin, but people use words every time in any kind of situation that look vulgar anywhere else (enculé, con).
On the mountains, they are rural accents, like saying "tôble" instead of "table"
But the strongest is definitively the north ones (Picardie+Nord-Pas-de-Calais), with a lot of grammar mistakes. You can here on the streets sentences like:
I's croivent qu'i sont drôles! (Ils se croient drôles)
try by yourself
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=koHf6ud2mW0

The most neutral accents are anywhere else!

onlyonebrenda

Périgord Vert has an accent which is not as strong as Marseilles. I would equate it with Mancunian in England, complicated by the strong influence of Occitan, the Langue d'Oc. so pain, chien, train, demain, étang become respectively pem, chem, trem,demem, étem.

onlyonebrenda

I am reliably informed by my French friend who knows these things that the people from Tourainne are considered to speak the best and accentless French.

L'Acajou

There you go onlyonebrenda, I live in Chissay-en-Touraine, so I have no excuse for not picking up good French!

Sue

onlyonebrenda

Eh? Quoi? Quel connerie!