Yohan Cabaye smiles a lot. A spontaneous, full-wattage beam lights up the France international's face when I suggest he is on a mission to recalibrate Newcastle United's passing game while, later, a brief smirk greets a question about his relationship with Joey Barton. Throw in the slightly wistful grin as he discusses a long-standing ambition to explore Vietnam and a few giggles at first mention of a supposed ban on players speaking French in Alan Pardew's dressing room and it swiftly becomes clear that Cabaye is as appealing a personality as he is a playmaker.

Scrupulously polite, he switches off all three of his mobile phones – (French, English and smart) – before lending full attention to a conversation translated by a familiar face. One of the few occasions Pardew's £4.3m summer signing from Lille frowns is when Olivier Bernard, the former Lyon and Newcastle left-back turned anti-racism campaigner and part-time interpreter, tells Cabaye about the serious hip injury that brought his career to a premature end and has left the 32‑year‑old walking with a heavy limp.

Bernard, who has taken time out from the schools visits that form a big part of his role as an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card, urges Cabaye to make the very most of every minute of life at St James' Park. Fortunately, there appears little danger of such advice falling on deaf ears. "Being here is a dream," the midfielder enthuses. "I don't want it to end, I'm happy." Dubbed "Le Dreamboat" by Newcastle fans, the 25-year-old is returning the compliment by enthralling English audiences with the elegant incision of his tempo-controlling passing and movement, not to mention some deadly set‑piece execution.

Watching Cabaye play for the French champions, Pardew felt optimistic he had identified the ideal player to successfully replace the soon to be off-loaded Kevin Nolan as Newcastle switched to a fluid, progressive passing game but real confirmation came when the pair finally spoke. Whereas certain prospective recruits appeared interested primarily in financial matters, Cabaye's principal concern was one of philosophy. He duly quizzed Pardew on his views about direct football, or Le hoof ball, receiving appropriate reassurance when it became apparent he would be integral to Newcastle's transition to a more rhythmic approach.

"The manager is actually quite like the one I had at Lille [Rudi Garcia], they are quite similar," says a man who may have been tempted to join Aston Villa had Gérard Houllier not fallen ill. "Like Garcia, what Alan Pardew wants is for us to keep the ball. He talked to me about changing Newcastle's style and we work a lot on possession. He's doing a great job."

So, too, is Cabaye but a player reported to have caught Sir Alex Ferguson's eye is still adjusting to his new habitat. "I'm not yet at my best," says the midfielder, who regularly receives constructive criticism from his father, a former professional with Lens. "I'm still adapting to the Premier League; it's the best league in the world and, at the moment, its pace is taking a lot of good things out of my game. I'll be better when I adapt fully."

Culture shock is not confined to the pitch. If realisation that Newcastle players are "policed far less away from the club" and "treated much more like adults" than many French counterparts has been welcome, the perils of the English penchant for practical jokes looms large. "I'm well aware of the danger from Tayls [Steven Taylor, Newcastle's leading prankster]," he acknowledges. "I'm taking care but he's a joker and I know something could happen to me soon."

Newcastle's seven French-speaking squad members have to be similarly careful about not slipping into their native tongue when Pardew is around. Officially, English is supposed to be the only language audible at the club but a smiling Cabaye confirms that odd lapses do occur. "It's pretty easy living here because the Geordie lifestyle and the mentality is actually quite similar to northern France – it's a nice, warm environment, pretty like Lille – but, to integrate properly, it's important that we learn English," he says. "We know we've got to go through a pain barrier before being able to communicate with everyone. But, sometimes, and especially when you know your midfield partner speaks French it's automatic to talk in your own language, you can't help it."

An avid reader and regular cinema goer, Cabaye hopes to be buying English novels soon while shunning film subtitles as he avoids retreating into the security of life inside a Gallic clique. Seeking to embrace fully a new existence, he spends many an evening out with his wife, Fiona, developing Anglo-Saxon linguistic skills in a university lecture theatre and he has made firm friends with Newcastle's Spanish-speaking contingent. "When I arrived I got really close with Xisco [the Spanish striker since loaned to Deportivo La Coruña]," says Cabaye, who, due to his archetypal "nice boy next door" persona is regularly likened to Take That's Mark Owen by team-mates. "But most of the time now I hang out with the Argentinian players, Colo [Fabricio Coloccini] and Jonás [Gutiérrez]."

Rumour has it that, before his departure for QPR, Barton proved rather less welcoming, particularly after he realised Le Dreamboat was poised to supplant him as the side's dead-ball specialist. Although Cabaye's expression suggests he seems eager to throw, quite possibly jocular, light on the matter, a press officer immediately intervenes to block what is evidently deemed a sensitive inquiry.

Happily Bernard ignores attempts to cut out another query, this time on the row early this year over revelations that French football officials had tried to limit the number of black and Arab players entering academies in order to make the France national team more white. A staunch supporter of Show Racism the Red Card, Cabaye regards the debate as a regressive step. "If you're a good enough player and you're French you should be playing for the national team," he said. "The French team that won the 1998 World Cup was really diverse and we still need everybody."

A beneficiary of his country's 2010 World Cup debacle in South Africa, Cabaye was first called up to the senior side that August and, as a current first-choice in Laurent Blanc's midfield, is anticipating next summer's European Championship in Poland and Ukraine with cautious optimism. "At this point we're taking things slowly," he says. "Everyone around the French team is just relieved to have qualified for Euro 2012 without having to go through the play-offs."

Cabaye, below, had the alternative option of commuting to South East Asia and representing Vietnam, the home country of his maternal grandmother. Although France were always the first footballing choice, he is determined to, one day, board a plane bound for Ho Chi Minh City ahead of an extended stay in the city formerly known as Saigon. "My grandmother's from Vietnam and I'm very curious about the place," he says. "I'd love to visit the country and see how she grew up. I want to spend some time out there."

For the moment, Cabaye remains fully occupied with propelling his new employers back into European contention. While even Newcastle's most one-eyed fans did not foresee Pardew's side occupying third place ahead of Everton's visit to St James' on Saturday lunchtime, his decision to forsake Champions League action with Lille was inspired by what he has long seen as the Tyneside club's immense potential.

"I remember watching David Ginola playing here on television in France when I was a kid," he says. "The team was doing extremely well and I adored their attacking football. It's a wonderful memory and something to try and emulate. I haven't spoken to Ginola but I talked to Antoine Sibierski and Franck Dumas [two ex-Newcastle players] before joining and they told me to sign immediately.

"It's true results in recent years haven't been great but, hopefully, we are now starting to make our achievements correspond with the size of this club. There are big tests to come [after Everton Pardew's side face Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea] – but our aim is to finish the season as strongly as we've started it. We want to take Newcastle back into Europe as soon as possible."

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