Language

I'm sitting in the middle of an education fair (by Studyrama, if anyone's interested), representing the MBA Center by giving 12 seminars across two days on three topics: How to choose well an MBA; What language tests & levels are required by foreign MBAs; and How to make the most of your application.
But it's interesting at the moment as my little “room” (four walls, no roof) is next door to a much larger but similarly-structured conference room where, right now, there's an Italian man speaking in French, getting a little more animated than, perhaps, the French audience was expecting. I can just imagine them sitting there, stunned and probably a getting little concerned as he gesticulates, as Italians do, getting into his speech, speaking more and more quickly and at higher and higher pitch and volume levels. It's not that he's crazy – well, probably not anyway. It's just the way Italians speak – with a little more animation and passion than the French.
In that way, for me at least, the French usage of their language can be really boring and frustrating. There are very few stops for any reason in a sentence – you either breathe quickly or you make a sound like “ahhhh” or “uhhh” to ensure the other person either remains interested or at least doesn't get a look in - but the tone remains at relatively the same level, without the excitement given by the Italians. Additionally, if you're not a native speaker and if you don't catch the start of the text you're stuck for a while, swimming against the verbal tide.
It's made me think about how I'm going with learning and using French, and how it's interpreted by native speakers. The short answers are: I'm not, well enough for daily life, and probably with a mix of amusement and condescension.
I stopped taking French classes a long time ago. I couldn't afford it and couldn't ask B to continue paying for them for me, and I started working and found that to be an excellent excuse for not going to class. Also, I thought I'd learned enough of the fundamentals to allow my development to continue on its own.
Unfortunately, that development seems to be sideways and not upwards. I'm learning more vocabulary (slowly) and more ways of saying the same things, but I'm not utilising the full range of tenses nor engaging in more in-depth conversations.
And as far as my interaction with native speakers goes – I get by. It's not always easy and I still have times when I don't understand or am not understood but, generally speaking, I can express myself sufficiently to get what I want.
Sometimes, though, judging by people's faces usually, I get the feeling my attempts at French are confusing, to say the least. Other times, people have a vaguely amused look on their face, like “Oh, you think you speak French? C'est trop mignon! (That's so cute!)”
Occasionally, though, I get out-and-out confirmation that I still have a long way to go. Yesterday, someone standing beside me in another but sort-of-related conversation told me I spoke French reasonably well. A nice thing to say, I thought. But they were immediately sharply contradicted by the French person I was talking to who said, “No. You don't”. Thanks for the support, pal!
So, overall, things are going better. I don't feel weird trying to talk in French and I'm still learning, albeit at a slower pace. If only the French weren't so honest...