Even while typing the ‘bof’ word, I can feel my shoulders moving into (what I imagine to be!) a Gallic shrug. I find I can’t speak French without using my hands – much more then when I’m speaking English.
As a French teacher, I used to encourage my students to try to ‘be’ French through their gestures and general body language. It’s part of getting the ‘feel’ of a language, as well as being fun!
My sons have commented that when I’m in France, my personality changes and I must admit that I do feel as if I ‘morph’ into a different person! Does this happen to you, too?
Other sounds, accompanied by the appropriate gesture, that I enjoy include: Bon, Hein and aie! Do you have favourite sounds, expressions etc in French? I’d love to know.
To find out more have a look at this clip from ‘Comme une Française’, in which the delightful Geraldine demonstrates ‘Speaking French without words: facial expressions’.
Fancying France 
I’m partial to the shrug and the “sigh”–but that sigh where you are just shy of saying “puh”. I’m also quite used to the hands almost in a “priest-at-the-altar-raising-his-hands-midway-to-heaven” gesture with a look up to the ceiling!
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I just found your blog and I love it! I definitely morph into a different version of myself when I go back to France to visit my relatives. It’s not so much that I develop another personality, more that there are aspects of myself that are dormant or generally underused in the UK, that I find myself naturally leaning towards more once I am in France because the culture is more receptive to it. I become slightly more expressive, blunt and outwardly opinionated, I think because it is more normal and I am less likely to be thought to be ‘argumentative’. I also drink a lot more coffee!
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Thank you for your interesting comment and for reading my blog! One of the things I love about writing a blog is getting to discover other blogs to follow and enjoy – such as yours!
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