Out ‘n about in la belle pays

Bonjour tout le monde!

Cette post est plus tard, mais c’est tres important aussi!

In August, I went on my first trip to Paris and I am thrilled to say it was a grand succès. Up until that point I’d been learning French for almost three months and the trip came at good point in the learning process. It was the proof I needed to see that all my hard work really would pay off.

Before Paris, the only practice I got speaking French with other French speakers was during my monthly visits with my old high school French teacher, and I was a little concerned about how I’d fare with perfect strangers.

For starters, I surprised myself with how much confidence I had when I was in Paris. Though I’m not fluent by any means, what little French I did know assured me that I would be able get my message across – spur of the moment – if I had to.

For instance, I had no qualms about asking a security guard at the Louvre for directions to the Venus de Milo, or explaining to a street vendor how many scoops and what flavour ice cream I wanted on my cone (pistachio and dark chocolate, of course).

The highlight of the trip, however, was our waiter at Le Soufflet restaurant who was extremely friendly and patient with us, and graciously paid me a compliment on my “parfait Francais”.

Just walking through the streets everyday and being constantly surrounded by a French environment made an improvement on my language skills – words came easier to me and I was able to pick up a few new catch phrases, like “bonne journee a vous”, instead of the tried and true “au revoir”.

I should note that you don’t have to travel all the way to Paris just to get some experience speaking in French and hearing others use the language.

If, like me, you know someone who’s fluent in the language and willing to help, meeting regularly and talking to each other in French is a great way to practice constructing your own sentences on the fly while getting feedback and suggestions.

But if you don’t have anyone on hand, that’s no big deal either. New media has made this easier, especially for people looking to speak with someone from the language’s country of origin. There are numerous online language communities – some well managed and free to use, some not – which give users the opportunity to practice a language with others either through text, audio, or video chat.

The only downside with this, of course, is the time difference between countries and continents can make it hard to find a time to meet that’s at a decent hour for both parties.

Perhaps I’ll try an online community like Skype when I’m not in school full time. For now, I’m trying to keep my language skills fresh by listening to podcasts and Internet radio where French is the primary language.

I recommend One Thing in a French Day (also available to download from iTunes), and the CBC French Radio app.

Coming soon: my audio documentary about my experience learning French through new media.