Souare was a signing from Lille late in the mid-season transfer window and made his Palace bow in Saturday's FA Cup fifth round tie at Selhurst Park.
The Senegal left-back was perhaps lucky not to give away a first-half penalty after a clumsy tackle on Daniel Sturridge and Pardew - who worked with a glut on Frenchmen at Newcastle United - conceded his new man had not enjoyed a sparkling bow.
Pardew said: "He looked like a player that had come out of Ligue 1 French football because now he'll understand the intensity of a Premier League game.
"In France, you can attack - and then you can slowly drift back to a defending situation and the other team will attack at some point.
"In the Premier League that doesn't happen, the turnover happens all the time.
"When I've inherited French defenders - and [Mathieu] Debuchy was the same when he arrived [at Newcastle from Lille] - the intensity catches them out and it caught [Souare] out tonight.
"He needs to understand, his fitness needs to improve, he's got less time on the pass. He made some mistakes on the pass.
"He has all the told you need to be a modern full-back, but he's going to take time. He's not going to be the finished article by any stretch, probably this whole first season."
