Salut!

Thought I’d come clean and share one of the downsides to my French learning experiences with you, just so you’re not under the illusion that it’s all plain sailing. I suffered a bit of a setback in the fourth evening class which made me realize that I need to be a bit more realistic when setting my learning targets!

The tutor asked for volunteers to do a role-play; she would be the shop assistant, we would play the customers. Don’t ask me why, but I thought I could handle it no problem. We played a scenario where I went into a charcuterie to buy various meat products. I was doing fine with the basic pleasantries, but when it came to thinking up three different products to ask for, I dried up after asking for saucissons, and started gesticulating wildly whilst trying to change things into a French version of English!

My instinct was to run out of the door and never return, but I knew that wasn’t going to solve anything. I was grateful to the rest of the class for helping me to laugh it off, and to be fair, they all said my accent was very realistic. The tutor made some recommendations for resources which might be helpful for putting conversations together. Apparently, there are a couple of online resources which I haven’t tried yet which are well respected in the business. I’d heard a lot about the ‘Rosetta Stone’ system, but it’s pricey – I’m going to ask at work if they’ll invest in it for me. The other one, ‘Rocket French’, is more affordable, so I’ll treat myself to that. They both have some free trial materials on the web which will keep me busy.

I’m trying to keep the positives in mind – after all, I’m only just halfway through my learn French fast experience, and still have over 3 weeks left before jetting off to Paris. Onwards and upwards!

Ciao!

Nic

French Lesson | 2 Comments »