Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France

Welcome back to Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!Episode 16! The first conversation in over a year on the podcast. To mark this special occasion, my guest is Kerry Varo from the US. He's a young guy, open, friendly, fearless. A talented baker, musician, and polyglot (his parents are  Mexican), he has been in France for almost ten years now and has had many interesting experiences.We had a great discussion, touching on some of my favourite Forked Tongues topics: French food, the French language, French behaviour, as well as other unexpected subjects that I'll let you discover.I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!Thanks for listening!Derek RawsonAnd this is the song I talk about at the end of the episode, Cancion Mixteca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO7vTfkCbqo

Welcome to Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!Episode 15 of the journey but, once again, not your usual FT episode... This episode, dedicated to two of my favourite things: Paris and the movies, is a small FT homage to poet, Charles Simic, who died in January. In it, I read his piece: With Gene Tierney in Paris, taken from a book of film appreciation called O.K. You Mugs: Writers on Actors.With humour and poetry Simic describes his experience of being a young immigrant in Paris in the 1950s and falling in (complicated) love with Hollywood starlet, Gene Tierney.I hope you enjoy it!Thanks for listening,Derek Rawson

Hello all!It's been too long... But I'm happy to let you know that Forked Tongues will be returning soon with new episodes. New conversations with fascinating foreigners talking about their experience of this equally fascinating country that is France.The adventure continues! I hope you'll join me.Thanks for listening.A bientôt!Derek Rawson

Welcome to Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!Episode 14 of the journey, but not your usual FT episode as it's not exactly a conversation...This episode is dedicated to French food, as seen through the eyes of one of my favourite writers, Jim Harrison. In it, I read his piece, Thirty-three Angles on Eating French, taken from his first collection of food writings, The Raw and the Cooked:  Adventures of a Roving Gourmand.Jim Harrison's glorious pen and unmatched lust for life are very much on display here.So come spend a moment with myself and Jim Harrison...  I'm sure you'll enjoy his words and insights as much as I do!Thanks for listening,Derek Rawson

Welcome back Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!Episode 13! The first episode of 2022.In this episode I speak with Lesley Webster, a retired English teacher and passionate Francophile, who has been living in France for 20 years now. I met Lesley 10 years ago but hadn't seen her since, so our conversation was a great opportunity to not just catch up but learn about her life and life-long love of France.Our discussion takes us from her first visits here as a young girl to becoming a French citizen a few years ago, and much more in between!So join me for another Forked Tongues conversation. I'm sure you'll find it as interesting and entertaining as I did!Thanks for listening!Derek Rawson

Welcome to episode 12 of Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!In this episode I'm joined by Jim (and Janet) Neve, an English couple who live in the Pyrenees Orientales where I spent two weeks during this year's French summer holidays. When I visited them at their home they were busy looking after their grandson but kindly took time to speak to me about their life in a beautiful corner of France - at the foot of Mount Canigou!We discussed many aspects of French daily life: invitations to apéros, dealing with tradesmen, getting a French driver's licence, bringing pub culture to a French village, and all kinds of cultural differences that exist between expats and the French.I hope you enjoy our conversation!Thanks for listening,Derek Rawson

Welcome back to Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!This is Episode 11!The French summer holidays are over, and the French rentrée (back to school) is too. A new (French) year begins... the second year of existence for this podcast! For this first episode following the summer break I spoke with Michael Strutt, an Englishman living in Vernet-les-Bains in the Pyrénées Orientales where I spent two weeks this summer.Affable, insightful, and incredibly knowledgeable, Michael is also a real Francophile, coming to France countless times since his first visit at the age of 14.  Our conversation covers many topics: his early experience of France and French people (in the UK), the British connection to Vernet-les-Bains, the Anglican church there with the only set of bells in France that can be rung in the English style, local history, speaking and reading French, understanding French etiquette, to name just a few.This was a fascinating discussion with a very interesting and generous man. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did.Thanks for listening!Derek Rawson

Hello all,Just to let you know that Forked Tongues is taking a short French summer break before returning with new episodes - new conversations! - from September.There's also a new email address for any comments, questions, or anything else you might like to share : ForkedTonguesPodcast [at] gmail.comDon't hesitate to send me a message!Thanks for listening.A bientôt!Derek Rawson

Welcome to Episode 10 of Forked Tongues!In this episode of the Forked Tongues journey I'm joined by Eduardo Martini from Brazil.Eduardo hasn't been in France for very long but his experience has been interesting and unexpected, by turns enjoyable and challenging, arriving for his second, current stay just days before the Covid pandemic hit the country.Our discussion covers his background in Brazil, his arrival in Poitiers, his wedding here when he hardly understood the language, learning the language, having a baby in France, French neighbours, French restaurant etiquette, and much more!I hope you enjoy our conversation!Thanks for listening,Derek Rawson

Welcome to Episode 9 of Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France!In this episode I am once again joined by Octavian from Romania. If you listened to episode 8, you know that Octavian and I ran out of time so I invited him back to continue our conversation. (It's not absolutely necessary to listen to episode 8 before listening to this episode... but I recommend it!)In this - Part 2 - we begin where we left off last time, with some amusing food-related stories. Then we go on to discuss some big questions about life in France today, French culture, the media, and learning French. Among other things of course...I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!Thanks for listening,Derek

Welcome to Episode 8 of Forked Tongues!In this episode I speak with Octavian from Romania. Octavian and I crossed paths many times taking our children to school before I engaged him in conversation, which is one of the good things about doing this podcast: it's an excuse to talk to strangers!In our discussion for this episode, we talk about his background in Romania, his arrival in France, staying with a French couple, his discovery of French food and French eating, working in a biscuit factory, and much more!So join me for another  Forked Tongues conversation. I'm sure you'll find it as illuminating and entertaining as I did!Thanks for listening!Derek

Welcome to Episode 7 of Forked Tongues!In this episode of the Forked Tongues journey I'm joined by Selene Piantanida from Italy. She has been in France for a few years now, and while she is far from being the loud and talkative Italian cliché (her words!), she had many interesting things to say during our wide-ranging discussion.  Just some of the topics we covered are: her first visits to France as a young girl, being an Erasmus student while at university, learning French and speaking with an accent, joining a sports team here, and of course... food! Both French and Italian!I hope you enjoy the episode.Thanks for listening!Derek Rawson

Hello all,Welcome to Episode 6 of Forked Tongues!Thanks for your patience. It took me a bit longer to get this episode ready than previous ones - I'll blame it on the (French) winter blues... I shouldn't have delayed though, because as you'll discover my guest for Episode 6 is a very interesting, intelligent, warm and easy-going Brazilian, Igor Albuquerque Maia.Our conversation took us on a journey across countries (France, Brazil, Australia, among others), touching on a wide-variety of subjects from Igor's background in Brazil, his arrival in France,  learning French, switching between languages and the importance of being yourself when speaking a foreign language, as well as the usual Forked Tongues subjects of food (French and Brazilian), films and books, and much much more! So I hope you enjoy my discussion with Igor.Thanks for listening!Derek

Welcome to Episode 5 of Forked Tongues!In this episode of the Forked Tongues journey I'm joined by Deniz Aksay from Turkey. I had never met Deniz before our interview so had little idea of where our conversation about life in France would take us. But I can say now that it was a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion, full of surprises from Deniz who is a very intelligent and talented person!Just some of the topics we covered are: her first impressions of France, learning French and struggling with the French accent, volunteering in France, finding work here, journalism in France and Turkey, and of course... food!I hope you enjoy the episode.Thanks for listening!Derek Rawson

Welcome to Episode 4 of Forked Tongues!The journey continues in 2021...In this episode I'm joined by Mark Jordan, a towering and jovial Irishman who is the manager and chief brewer, not to mention co-owner (with brother, Peter) of an Irish brew pub here in Poitiers, The Cluricaume Café/Brú Pub.Together we discuss Mark's family history and connection to France, his arrival in Poitiers, how he came to be co-owner of the most authentic Irish pub in Poitiers (if not France!), brewing beer in the country of wine, beer-food pairing, and many other non-beer related topics too! French music and raising children in two languages to name just two.So join us for another  Forked Tongues conversation. I'm sure you'll find it as informative, enlightening and, above all, entertaining as I did!Thanks for listening!Derek

Welcome to Episode 3 of Forked Tongues!In this episode I'm joined by Liang Na who, originally from China, is my first non-native English-speaking guest. Na was a little worried about her English level being good enough but she shouldn't have been. I'm sure you will be as impressed as I was, and maybe even somewhat jealous (as I was)... Na speaks three languages fluently!Our conversation covers her first visit to France and first impressions of Paris, her move here years later; how she learned French - and her advice for you listeners; the joys of French and Chinese cuisine; raising children in two cultures; and lots more! (Even some classic Chinese poetry - in two languages!)So I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did... The Forked Tongues podcast journey continues!Thank you for listening,Derek

Hello all,Welcome to episode 2 of Forked Tongues... the journey continues!In this episode I'm joined by David Malek, a terrific artist - a painter - who lives and works here in Poitiers. I first met David a few years ago when our daughters started at the same school but we haven't had the opportunity to get to know each other until now. You won't be surprised to discover that we talk a lot about art, especially David's work and painting generally, in this episode. But of course, our conversation covers many other topics as well: cycling and the Tour de France, tourism and rail travel around the country, French sci-fi books waiting to be translated and inevitably, the French language itself.If you want to check out some of David's work - you should! - his website is www.davidmalek.frHe's also on Instagram... So whatever your specific interest in France and French culture may be, I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy in this new episode! Thanks for listening!Derek Rawson

Welcome to episode one, the beginning of this Forked Tongues journey through France.In this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with a good friend, Peter Jordan, a multi-talented Irishman who's been living in Poitiers, France for 19 years now. Join us for an in-depth discussion of what it's like to be a foreigner living in France. We'll be talking about everything from our first impressions of the country to learning the language; from French culture (French music, and French singers singing in English, memorable movies, and of course French food) to the experience of owning and running an authentic Irish pub in France. As well as many other things along the way.So whether you're searching for ideas on how to improve your French, or just keen to know more about what life in France today is really like, I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for - and more! - on Forked Tongues.I hope you enjoy this first episode.Thanks for listening!Derek RawsonP.S. Unfortunately the audio quality of the interview is not as good as I would like it to be. As I said at the top, this is the beginning of a journey - and a real learning experience for me - so I hope you'll forgive me. I'll endeavour to do better in future episodes! 

Hello and welcome to my new podcast... Forked Tongues: Conversations with Foreigners Living in France.My name is Derek Rawson. I'm Australian and I've been living in France for 10 years.Join me as I seek to rekindle my love of France and French culture through conversations with other foreigners living here.I'll be discussing all aspects of France with my guests, from daily life to French culture of all sorts. So whether you know nothing about France, or already know and love the country, this podcast will have something for you! A bientôt!Derek