Do ya’ think I'm sexy?

I think most us us would agree that French is a seriously sexy language. We’ve even done an informal study here at Lingua Franca to look at the particular elements that appeal to our English-speaking ears. The letter ‘j’ does some heavy lifting. Thinks of works like janvier, jupe, joli et j’adore*. The letter combination ‘ge’ plays a part, too: visage, montage, bricolage*. Words ending with ‘ette’ are pretty gorgeous, too: allumette, coquette, courgette et silhouette*. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Even when the French speak English we generally find their accent fairly appealing. There is something very sexy about hearing ‘ze’ for ‘the’ and ‘otel’ for ‘hotel’, don’t you think? Without wanting to break the mood, it’s interesting to note that when French people speak English with a French accent like that, they are speaking English ‘badly’ in their eyes. That is, they have not perfected the sounds of English, meaning they’re unable to reproduce the words as exactly as they’re supposed to be pronounced. Sound familiar? I thought so. Embrace your French pronunciation mistakes - trust me, they go over very well with a French audience.

So which languages do the French find to be douces aux oreilles*? And which language tops the list as the sexiest language in the world? Lastly, who on earth finds an Australian accent super sexy*? Take a look. You may be surprised…

From Australia to Costa Rica and from Sweden to the USA, it seems a French accent has extremely broad appeal.

*January, skirt, pretty and I adore | *face, montage, DIY | *match, a flirtatious woman, zucchini and silhouette | *music to the ears | *extremely sexy