Personal Blogs

Just got back from a winter holiday in France.  This is the first time that I have been to France, since I started studying French formally.  It was good to test my progress and I found myself more confident in my brief interactions in cafes and restaurants.  It was not a case of knowing more words or understanding more grammar, but the result of focussing on a language on a daily basis and practising regularly so it is easier to speak and use the words.

Visiting outside of the tourist season means that overheard conversations are more likely to be in French rather than English and to my pleasant surprise, I recognised more words in conversations.  I also started reading a French paperback (aimed at young adults so not that complicated) and managed a chapter a day which I consider to be quite fast for me reading in French.

At the end of the week, I had my biggest test.  I was given the wrong change in a service station and I had to go back to the cashier and explain.  I hate dealing with this kind of situation when I'm speaking English and to do it in another language filled me with dread.  After a deep breath and a moment of doubt, I spoke up and got the right change.  It seems like such a minor thing, but a year ago, it wouldn't have mattered that I knew the words I needed, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

Distance learning can be challenging and sometimes you need to speak to a real person, face to face or at least on the phone.  As part of my preparation for studying L120 I am gathering a group of people who can help me when I start to feel completely defeated by something like French grammar or the pronunciation of certain words.  I know the internet is full of useful resources for studying languages, but there are times when I want to be able to repeat my questions until I understand the answer. Luckily I have a group of native French speaking friends I can call on.  A colleague at work, several French friends who live in England.  I don’t intend to harass them on a daily basis with queries but it gives me more confidence knowing I can call on them, if I need to.

And this leads me on to thoughts of practicing my conversation.  Will talking French with other learners just teach me new errors to add to the ones I already have?  I want to find a French conversation group, so I can talk with other people and see if they understand what I am saying.  And do I know what they mean?

Any conversation beyond a simple order in a restaurant becomes difficult.  In your native language, you hear, understand and respond.  In a foreign language, you have to hold the words in your mind as you translate them, or at least extract the meaning.  Then you need to compose an answer and translate it into the foreign language. 

Practice, practice, practice, the only way to move from conscious and painstakingly slow diction to an unconscious delivery of speech and conversations that move at a natural pace.  Simple in theory, let’s see how I can put this into practice.