La langue française

Language

I have been apprehensive about my language abilities in the preceding months. The last time I had spoken French on a day-to-day basis was at Christmas, and that was just for 10 days.

But it’s not been an issue. People obviously know from my accent that I’m not French, but they recognize immediately that I understand, so they don’t speak any differently to me. I actually had to ask Pierre-Yves to not speak slower as it made it more difficult for me to understand.

I really only had to deal with the translation step while I was traveling. By the time my friends met me at the train station in Saumur, that was gone.

It’s hard to describe what this is if you haven’t ever experienced it. Something just switches in your brain. Some say it is a click, but for me, it is more subtle. It’s like I don’t hear words in French and think of their equivalent in English. I hear French words and understand the concepts.

When speaking, I just speak. I am certain that I make many, many mistakes in my spoken French. If I get flustered, I back up and start again. But French people don’t care. For them, the important thing is that you are speaking French. If I make a gross error that could lead to incorrect or bad implications, they will correct me, but graciously.

So, to all of my former students: Fear not and speak French as well as you can!

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