This article looks at the relationship that Indian teachers of French share with the target foreign language. Questions relating to linguistic security and insecurity are addressed, based on teacher perceptions, their personal and emotional experiences and the strategies that they use consciously or unconsciously to overcome their insecurity. A qualitative study comprising of semi-directed interviews with Indian teachers of French reveals that teachers share an ambivalent and complex relationship with French language, which also contributes to their self-identity. They consider themselves as both “insiders” and “outsiders” at the same time, with French language posing simultaneously as a source of self-confidence and ineffectiveness, source of comfort and anxiety as per the situation. The article also studies the reasons for language insecurity and makes recommendations suited to the Indian context.