Now I decided to myself live in Japan and I hear the very same speech as yours again and again about my host country. Yet my experience is very positive, I have integrated well and made my life here, and I never felt like I wasn't accepted.
But of course it took a lot of work to get there. Learning a new language, getting familiar with the local culture and embracing it is far from easy. The problem I see with some foreigners here is that they simply don't do this work and keep living in their own (often unhappy) bubble. Or even refuse to embrace some local customs because they are convinced that their own culture's way of doing things is superior to that.
> The idea that you move to a country and you're one of them is an American concept.
Not a very old one[1].
Macron's hand-wringing and the 2021 Separatism law are two concrete examples.
Of course you will have the French nationality, and of course we’ll consider you French! Don’t even need a French wife - I have many friends like this.
I might not consider you French if you scream “I hate France, vive l’Algérie” everyday, but a LOT of people will consider you French and, quote, “More French than the right-wing extremists”. Oh, the irony. You can say you hate France and all of the people in the center of Paris and Lyon will consider you are a good French.
So no, what you are saying is blatantly false.
I wonder why you would think that. France is one of the few countries were it does work like this.
Unlike the US, in France it's not common to even ask where someone "comes from" if they speak French, most people will just assume you're French. After all, one of the current candidate Prime Ministers is half Vietnamese, and a former Prime Minister (somewhat candidate today as well I guess) was Spanish. But they are both as French as anyone else without question, because being French is not an exclusive identity (traditionally at least, but the rise of the extreme right these days is trying to change that).
This is so untrue it's almost ridiculous
You as an American can move to France, and you'll never be considered French. Doesn't matter if you speak french every day for the rest of your life with the most perfect French accent the world has ever heard. And if you and your American wife have kids in France after living in France for 20 years, your kid isn't French either.. even if he lives there for another 80 years. Better hope your kid finds a french wife, or his kids won't be french either.
The idea that you move to a country and you're one of them is an American concept.