So among the mammoth amount of research I have for my WIP, I have a MC who is a French expat in America. While I do plan to study the language (though not use it gratuitously in the novel) there are obviously a lot of nuances an English speaker may never quite get.
She is from Paris from a lower middle class/working class background (educated but downwardly mobile). This is late 19th century so her speech would be different from the modern and class differences more pronounced I would think. I have some scenes where she is interacting with a man from Marseilles who is more affluent and is sort of at the edges of the upper class (he is an entertainer favored by them). How would they sound to each other?
On a related note, how would she perceive different American accents? She has lived in New York City for a little over two years and is reasonably fluent in English. Another major character is from Virginia, she would notice that he speaks slower and it's not as harsh/nasal but what else?
She is from Paris from a lower middle class/working class background (educated but downwardly mobile). This is late 19th century so her speech would be different from the modern and class differences more pronounced I would think. I have some scenes where she is interacting with a man from Marseilles who is more affluent and is sort of at the edges of the upper class (he is an entertainer favored by them). How would they sound to each other?
On a related note, how would she perceive different American accents? She has lived in New York City for a little over two years and is reasonably fluent in English. Another major character is from Virginia, she would notice that he speaks slower and it's not as harsh/nasal but what else?
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