tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post1296649528227729220..comments2023-09-23T11:16:00.352+02:00Comments on The Franco-American Flophouse has moved: Transplanted Women and the Transmission of CultureVictoria FERAUGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-92115400068914254682014-02-23T12:26:05.741+01:002014-02-23T12:26:05.741+01:00@Bruce, Thank you for sharing your story here and...@Bruce, Thank you for sharing your story here and I'm glad you liked the post. I think you are BOTH an American emigrant and a French immigrant. :-)<br /><br />Where are you getting your degree?<br /><br />I should have the Varro article in my files. Just send me a note at v_ferauge@yahoo.com and I'll send it to you.Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-8122415784537109822014-02-20T11:45:25.518+01:002014-02-20T11:45:25.518+01:00Very interesting post, thanks for all the food for...Very interesting post, thanks for all the food for thought.<br /><br />I'm an American guy who's been living in France since 1990 (except for 4 years when I was allowed out for good behavior to go back to the US sometime in the middle). Was married to a French woman (also bilingual) for about 7 years, but no kids, so the question of language/cultiure transmission didn't come up in the same way. However, as an American emigrant (and am I an American emigrant, or a French immigrant?) who was living with a French national in France, there was also the question of language/cultural transmission between the ex- and me. Or maybe that should be "non-transmission" because we ended up divorced?<br /><br />Long story short (or at least one part of the story): I now have both US and French nationalities.<br /><br />I'm currently working on a <i>bac+4, diplôme universitaire</i> in <i>Coaching en entreprise professionnel</i>. There's a end-of-year thesis to write (work analysis + research), and the theme is about how language and cultural differences can be a useful tool in a systemic approach to individual and group coaching.<br /><br />I'd love to get a copy of the <i>Couples Franco-Américains en France : Genèse et devenir d'une mixité</i> article if you still have it. I also have access to university library accounts (= all sorts of paid subscriptions via the university), and I'll take a look and see if I can find the "Americans in Europe, a Sociolinguistic Perspective" article you mention.Bruce B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06622988686282067766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-41822599970226079242013-10-19T18:50:39.117+02:002013-10-19T18:50:39.117+02:00@D. Nelson, Oh thank you for the comment and did ...@D. Nelson, Oh thank you for the comment and did you mean to leave a link to your mystery series? Let me see if I can find the link and post it. Sounds like a very interesting read. I'd love to have the perspective of a TCK.Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-88486652006489895822013-10-19T10:10:54.998+02:002013-10-19T10:10:54.998+02:00Since I write a series of mysteries about a Third ...Since I write a series of mysteries about a Third Culture Kid with language being part of my heroine's identity http://thefranco-americanflophouse.blogspot.ch/ I found this very interesting. And of course living in Geneva makes these cross cultural issues a part of daily life. It is great to see it expressed.DL NELSONhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12740409132697546671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-64712281203876684452013-10-16T20:57:37.456+02:002013-10-16T20:57:37.456+02:00And what will I be transmitting to my child born a...And what will I be transmitting to my child born abroad about the US now? Luckily I am not able to transmit the taint of a lifetime of US taxable personhood. I was never uncritical of the US - as I saw it as my duty as a citizen to sound the alarm when it did not live up to ideals, justice, ethics, etc. I do not see it as patriotic to swallow whole and uncritically the actions of nations based on a birthplace or citizenship or even of residence. <br /><br />But the US ate up a big chunk of my Canadian family savings in accounting and legal costs though I owed zero US taxes and my accounts were all legal local and taxed by my home country. Some were primarily made up of the wages of my non-US spouse - the breadwinner.<br /><br />No justice there.<br /><br />What does the US think my Canadian child, spouse, and extended family believes about the US now and forever more? This is not the kind of event that passes into the mists of time. It had a direct and tangible family impact. And there are plenty more just like this.<br /><br />FATCA and US arrogant extraterritorial taxation is a direct threat to the wellbeing of myself and my Canadian family. That is the lesson that the US has writ on my eternally taxable personhood and transmitted via my US citizenship and identity like a parasite or disease that attaches itself on another entity unwanted and inseparable.<br /><br />FATCA is going to have longlasting political and social consequences no matter what comes next.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-79795848507541240672013-10-15T16:15:43.389+02:002013-10-15T16:15:43.389+02:00Hi, Victoria--a fascinating topic, thank you for y...Hi, Victoria--a fascinating topic, thank you for your post! I lived for 15 years in England as the American spouse of an Englishman, with two stepsons who were 13 and 10 when I arrived. Even there, language was still a struggle -- one doesn't realize the vast differences between British English and American English until one lives there! While the boys' usage and accents were immutably English, I held onto my accent and usage as though my life depended on it -- as you mentioned, it was my identity. The other area which, at that time, defined my American-ness and in which I could assert it, was food. What I cooked, and how I cooked it, even how it was presented. <br /><br />We've been back in the US for five years, and my husband has gone through some similar challenges, meeting them with much more grace than I was able to do in the UK. But the biggest shock to me is that I now realize that I feel more European than American; this is no longer my culture. So when we return to Europe next year, it will be like returning home.Donnanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-35045766323922436312013-10-15T13:58:34.884+02:002013-10-15T13:58:34.884+02:00I think the home court advantage is largely the de...I think the home court advantage is largely the determining factor. No matter how much effort parents make - and important to make the effort - where kids grow up will likely be a bigger influence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-39362819477525556322013-10-15T08:02:15.377+02:002013-10-15T08:02:15.377+02:00Hi Veronique, Thank you for sharing that. That&#...Hi Veronique, Thank you for sharing that. That's another dimension - two migrants with different integration/assimilation points of view. That would not be easy.<br /><br />I am not a fan at all of radical assimilation. Love where you are from, but bloom where you're planted. I know my mother and grandmother both deeply regretted that my great-grandmother Celeste never taught them French or much about the family in Quebec. <br /><br />I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. Not an easy time for you or your son. All my very best wishes to you.<br /><br />@blaze, I just thought of this when I read your comment. One way to show support and solidarity is for the native spouse to learn the language of the foreign spouse. That sends a clear signal that both languages are valued. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-31054338833713788812013-10-15T02:45:18.428+02:002013-10-15T02:45:18.428+02:00While I was visiting my sister last week, I met he...While I was visiting my sister last week, I met her neighbour, a French Canadian man,who speaks only French to his three-year old daughter. The American mother seems accepting of it, but it's clear the American way is the dominant force in the family' life and likely always will be.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there is no where else in their community where she can speak French. No bilingual schools, no French programs for toddlers, etc.<br /><br />Blazehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12871285356307431578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-46630604154210084712013-10-14T16:45:24.472+02:002013-10-14T16:45:24.472+02:00Such an interesting piece, Victoria! As a French n...Such an interesting piece, Victoria! As a French national living in the United States for the last 18 years, I can certainly relate. Even though I did not push hard (enough) for my son to attend a bilingual school here, I have always wanted him to speak the French language well. Mostly so he could speak with his grandparents and relatives, and I insisted we visited them each year, and we did. Also because I consider it a huge privilege and fantastic opportunity to get introduced to at least two cultures early on in life, and to be able to transition smoothly from one to the other. <br /><br />The interesting thing in my case, is that I moved here with a Frenchman who was so determined to make a new life for himself in the US and to become an American, that he immediately refused to teach our son about his French roots, never speaking French to him, etc. Having an American son was part of his American dream I suppose.<br /><br />I noted your comments about the "power" struggle within bi-cultural couples. It did became a power struggle in the end, but between two French nationals and expats. <br /><br />We are currently in the middle of a divorce. Maybe this was written on the wind... :-) <br /><br />Veronique (French Girl in Seattle) <br /><br />French Girl in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14347995356689205203noreply@blogger.com