American media does not represent Paris well, at least from what I saw on my screen before coming here. Though I have studied French society, and thus I know that Paris is actually very much a melting pot of different cultures from around the world, many of the people in my program, as well as friends that I’ve talked to, were quite surprised when they discovered this fact.

Two groups that have a significant population in Paris, as well as across France, are the African and Maghrebin immigrants. France has a colonial past, as much of Europe does, and large parts of Africa and the Middle East were colonized by France during the 1900s. After decolonization, many people from those countries, with their French language skills, migrated to France in search of a better life. Today, many of the neighborhoods in Paris have services specifically catered to these populations, whether that be mosques, specialized grocery stores, or certain hair salons. One thing that I discovered here is couscous, a traditionally North African food – there is a delicious restaurant quite close to the study center that has amazing food, including couscous.

In Paris, the capital of France, you would assume that French would be everywhere – and it is! However, English is quite common too, in things relating to tourism, such as cafes or museums. Obviously, many people do speak English to an extent, due to its usage as an international language. What shocked me when coming here, though, was just how much English has pervaded French culture. On a daily basis, I hear tons of English words in the middle of French speech, such as “weekend,” “jogging,” or “cool,” which do not exist in official French. Sometimes, I even hear French people speaking to each other in English, rather than French! Many ads that are targeted to Parisians feature English phrases, and what I found especially funny, is that the ads feature a small French translation in the corner, instead of just featuring the French version on the main ad, instead of English. Especially in younger generations, this phenomenon has the name of “franglais,” a mix of Français and Anglais, and is something the government is trying to fight, even if it is currently failing.

Another group that is quite present in Paris is the East and Southeast Asian communities, especially people from Vietnam and China. In fact, my host mom’s parents are both Vietnamese immigrants. Vietnam was also a French colony for some time, and thus people migrated from there to here. There are two main neighborhoods that have many shops, restaurants, and other businesses relating to these groups. In fact, one of those neighborhoods really reminds me of Chinatown in Philadelphia, due to the sheer amount of culture and language that is still there, even if many of the people who live there might have never even been to the country where their ancestors are from.

Thus, just like much of the US, Paris is quite culturally diverse, and offers a lot of different cuisines, languages, and cultures to explore. To me, this is an integral part of my experience here, since Paris would not be Paris with out these people. À plus!