Like everybody in France under 45 is fluent in English, and who the fuck wants to talk to an older European. Every single French colony without exception is phasing out or has phased out the use of French as France was such an awful colonial power. Did you know that Eclair is pronounced aey-clare? This does nothing for me. I guess some people want to read Les Miserables in the original Foot Mold Language, just like random people enjoy reading Ovid or Cicero in Catholic script.. And just like Latin, fuck that everything has genders and complicated conjugation.
I swear, the French teachers in school were trying to impart the vibe that if we know the French language, French women would have sex with us.
Brother, I had to fucking pantomime to ask an 18 year old french guy where the bathroom is at a bar. You have no idea how bad it can be.
On the converse, most french people give English the linguistic respect it deserves which is just speaking french but making sure one word in three is english in the most rotten pronounciation you've ever heard.
w.r.t. former colonies it is a shame because i got to connect with a lot of arabic comrades once i got even a beginner's grasp of the language, which was easy because i speak another romance language. Yes i know how it sounds "boo hoo, why do i have to step out of my western chauvinistic bubble in order to engage with the arabic world"
https://piped.video/watch?v=wQw_eD51aCo