To my mind, Occitan is a bit like a mix of Spanish and French!
People in different parts of France pronounce words very differently from one another. Sometimes, they may have completely different words for certain things--just as we do in the U.S. (think "pop" vs. "soda", or "tennis shoes" vs. "sneakers" or "lightning bug" vs. "firefly"). In Southern France, people also emphasize the vowels in certain words more, such as in maintenant (now) and doucement (softly), than people would in other areas. I will give you an example of this during my video call! One word that is unique to the southwestern part of France is Férias, which are small-town festivals that usually include bullfights! Many towns in the region, including Béziers, attract tourists in the summer for their famous Férias.
In Béziers, the second most commonly spoken language is Arabic. Among my students, easily a third of them are bilingual in French and Arabic. Many of these bilingual students have Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Iraqi and Syrian backgrounds. I live right next to an Arab neighborhood, and I love going to the shops there to buy fresh produce. I am obsessed with the fresh-baked flatbread! Most of the adults here know some English because they began learning it in elementary school through English assistants like me! However, they can't speak it super well until they reach middle school or high school.
