I've lived in France several times, most recently in Nantes, where I snagged my husband Fab. I'm Gina, by the way. Later, I imported him back to the US with me so I could do my PhD...in French, of all things. Je sais, it makes no sense to leave France to study French, but crois-moi, I'm not the only one! Our plan was to move back to France when I finished so France could spit all over my dumb little diplôme and make me teach English for the rest of my life...but we're still here 10 years later. Life happens.
I'm currently teaching French and we speak French at home with our 5 yo son. Fab and I made a pact when Ulysse was born that we would eradicate Franglais from our vocabulary around him, even though it is a true art form, and one of our favorite things to invent, speak, and goof around with. It's our own personal language, based on French, English, our experiences together, the worst bilingual puns ever, etc.
Anyone wanna guess what happened when Ulysse started talking? He invented his own Franglais! I try to keep notes, because it's so funny, but there's just so much comedy, I can't possibly record it all. A few of his recent gems include:
Moi: il y des CDs avec ces livres.
Ulysse: theys étaient vivants et maintenant they sont décédés?
About his Star Wars LEGO set he's done 1000x
Fab: Tu connais par coeur maintenant!
Ulysse: C'est qui Parker? Je connais pas Parker!
On vacation in Québec when I asked if he wanted to keep his tubing pass as a souvenir:
Ulysse: J'ai pas besoin de souvenirs, j'ai une bonne mémoire.
Are you living the Franglais life? What funny things have your kids said? Do you insist on French/English in certain circumstances or just take it as it comes?