Sojo it goes...

Just a little update from language classes: since I originally placed into Advanced French, I started more intensive local language classes a few weeks ago. I do, however, still have a few courses per week with my French class and instructor. We’ve been reading novels related to our host country and doing small reports in addition to discussions on pertinent social issues and logistics like transportation. My amazing instructor A often uses “Sojo” as a filler word. Francophones tend to feel uncomfortable with pauses and “umms…” and add in more filler words such as “puis” (then) and “en fait” (in fact). My classmates and I thought that “Sojo” was a word borrowed from our instructor’s native language and asked her what it meant. As it turns out, it’s her own unique pronunciation of “chose” (thing)! Personally, I tend to stick with “voila” and “quoi” as reliable fillers, though I had some friends back in France who quickly adopted the habit of ending most of their phrases with “putain” (literally “whore” but figuratively akin to “crap”). My language instructor also mentioned that one can tell host country nationals who have spent time in France because they use “vache” and “vachement” in their speech. In France, one can say “la vache” in response to exciting (positive/negative) news and “vachement” as an adverb to refer to something that is done to excess. What are your filler words?