Les First Few Jours en France

I have been speaking French since I was 6 years old and I even learned to read and write in French before I learned in English. I still remember a reading test in grade 12 where I read a passage at random to my teacher. The main feedback I received? You mispronounced some words as if they were French.

And yet, after 4 years living in Korea, I landed in France to find I speak a weird mixture of Korean and French. Would that be Korench? or Corançais..?

When people asked me questions, I'd answer yes or no... in Korean. My inclination when saying thank you was '감사합니다' instead of 'Merci.' And apparently 그 (pronounced like the French 'que') has become my place holder. (Let's not forget that I pass objects with two hands and bow slightly when saying hello/goodbye).

After a couple of days, the language has gotten better, but I still find my brain jumping to the Korean translations of some words before going underneath to the French. From a psychological point of view, I find it fascinating. From a functional point of view, more annoying. How do multilinguals ever manage to keep their languages straight?

Although, on a plus, based on my accent, no one has questioned where I'm from so far!

Love & Hugs