Foreign accent revisited…

Yesterday, I was sharing some experiences related to foreign accent with Hélène and Maxence Hernu and explained some of my theories on the topic covered last year in this blog. That same day, towards the end of the afternoon, as I was riding one last chair on my way home I sat next to a couple who immediately stroke a conversation by noticing my bright-orange, old Dynastar skis. The man said “you sure won’t lose those!” to which I responded by something like “…in fact, they comes in handy, I do a lot of skiing at night.” Then, as chair-mates often do, they asked me where I was from. I answered by my usual “I just give you three guesses; go ahead…” The man said “Germany? Scandinavia?” I shook my head motioning he was wrong. His female companion then gave it her best shot: “South Africa?” I told them they both failed miserably and revealed that I was of Gallic extraction; both were from a place called West Jordan, near Salt Lake City, but that remains a poor excuse for flunking the test and not paying homage to my French roots. Next time I ski, I swear that I’ll wear my trademark beret and smoke a Gauloise, but tell me; are you all getting much grief about your particular accent?