My French Journey
Someone said to me once "If you moved over and everyone spoke English, you wouldn't have any worries", which is definitely accurate. I think a lot of people take it for granted- being able to understand anything anyone is saying to you. The hardest, by far, about moving to France (or any foreign country) is learning the language. It takes several months and hard work; I learnt very early on that being fluent wouldn't just come on its own. So, in this blog post, I'm going to be talking a little about my French journey and learning languages in general.
I started to learn French when I started secondary school. The lessons were twice a week, fifty minutes long. I'm...not really sure what I learnt... Oh yeah, now I remember! The paper wars of 15... The sky was filled with planes, going down left and right. Casualties- numerous. People were using their books to protect themselves from the bombardment. There were as many victories as French words I learnt. Tragic. So, let's just skip those one and a half years, yeah?
In the months leading up to the move, we had a French tutor brought in. This helped a lot I think, it gave me more of a foundation and I was solid at the really basic stuff.
In my first day of school, everything I learnt went out of the window. Luckily, there were two English kids in my class and they just translated everything.
Words understood on my first day of school- Bonjour.
Responses on my first day of school- Errrrrrrrrr....oui?
The next six or so weeks leading into the summer holidays were hard. I didn't understand anything and coming back from school, my head ached. Of course, I had picked up a few things but understanding wasn't as fast as I thought it would be. Even now, I don't understand everything.
You don't notice it but as you learn more and more, it's like a snowball effect. You build momentum and it means you gain more momentum and, OK, it took a while to get going but I would never have had this opportunity if I didn't get here and have an aching head.
During this period, the holidays following and even now, I have lessons with a teacher. It was a great push, and still is.
And here I am now. Not fluent, not at all. But, I can talk to my friends and understand the teacher and do everything I need to do.
I started to learn French when I started secondary school. The lessons were twice a week, fifty minutes long. I'm...not really sure what I learnt... Oh yeah, now I remember! The paper wars of 15... The sky was filled with planes, going down left and right. Casualties- numerous. People were using their books to protect themselves from the bombardment. There were as many victories as French words I learnt. Tragic. So, let's just skip those one and a half years, yeah?
In the months leading up to the move, we had a French tutor brought in. This helped a lot I think, it gave me more of a foundation and I was solid at the really basic stuff.
The move
In my first day of school, everything I learnt went out of the window. Luckily, there were two English kids in my class and they just translated everything.
Words understood on my first day of school- Bonjour.
Responses on my first day of school- Errrrrrrrrr....oui?
The next six or so weeks leading into the summer holidays were hard. I didn't understand anything and coming back from school, my head ached. Of course, I had picked up a few things but understanding wasn't as fast as I thought it would be. Even now, I don't understand everything.
You don't notice it but as you learn more and more, it's like a snowball effect. You build momentum and it means you gain more momentum and, OK, it took a while to get going but I would never have had this opportunity if I didn't get here and have an aching head.
During this period, the holidays following and even now, I have lessons with a teacher. It was a great push, and still is.
And here I am now. Not fluent, not at all. But, I can talk to my friends and understand the teacher and do everything I need to do.
Bilan:
If you're a parent or like me and your going over to a foreign county don't let the language put you off. It can seem hard at times, but you'll get there. It wasn't the end of the world for me, and it shouldn't be for you.
Thanks for reading, I hope to write soon.
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