Well, after several years, I’m starting to learn my French again. There are a variety of events that have prompted this decision, but more or less, I realized by talking with a close friend of mine, that not keeping up with my French is one of the few things I regret. I always thought I would travel back to France on a regular basis, and yet I haven’t been back since 1999. I also always hoped that I would have a chance to someday be on a consulting project in France, or to take a leave of absence and move there for a few months traveling around. Again, hasn’t happened. And now, I know that it won’t happen unless I make a concerted effort, and part of that is to be able to communicate!
Through the Alliance Francaise here in Mumbai, I am taking private tutoring lessons twice a week until I leave. I had my first lesson today, and it was an interesting experience. I was hesitant in some areas, but other things (words, spellings, phrases) just came back to me out of nowhere. It makes me feel good to know that it’s all back in my brain somewhere, now it’s just like a scavenger hunt to find all the pieces. My teacher is my age, and got her Masters in French Literature, a path I could have very well taken if I had chosen the academic route.
We started with introductions (formal and informal), and how to describe where you are from, what you do, etc. Then we covered the basics of days of the week and numbers along with other “French 1” topics. So, I am more or less starting from the beginning, but will fastrack through it. It’s nice to have individual lessons, because we can go at my own pace, and I practically spend the entire time speaking.
Anyway, I have plans to continue lessons, classes, and involvement in the Alliance Francaise when I am back in the US and when I am staffed around the country (or the world!). This will take awhile, but I’m looking forward to relearning the language and creating opportunities for myself to practice it.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
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That is so cool. Brian and I keep talking about taking Spanish classes to get back up to speed, but we never actually do anything about it. Maybe you will inspire me. I have had occasional chances to make sorry attmepts with my Spanish over the past few years, although mostly it's just giving people directions around here. (Why do people come up to me and ask me questions in Spanish? Do I not look totally and completely white to them?) I definitely like the idea of finding a way to live in South America for a few months at some point, but given how I struggled with the language when we were in Buenos Aires, I need some help before I get there.
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