Do I Speak French?

I have been "studying" French for five years now: four years in high school and one year in college. I stopped taking these classes when I realized how little they were helping me. It's hard to learn a language in a classroom setting, especially starting in high school because you don't get the practice you need to learn it. Sure, you can learn grammar structures, adjectives, verbs, conjugations, etc. However, you can't practice the language to ACTUALLY learn it.

A year has passed since I have taken a French language course so I would say that I was out of practice coming to Lyon. When I first arrived at the orientation hotel, I remember freaking out before talking to a French speaker (the front desk or a worker near the breakfast spread). Sometimes, I knew what to say and would confidently enter the conversation with my best French accent... but I forgot that they had to actually RESPOND to me... so I freaked out no matter what.

Example:

I had to ask the front desk lady if I could access my luggage in the back storage room (we put them there for the day after checking out of our rooms). I knew exactly what to say, so I marched up to the desk with a big smile and asked her. She said, "Of course!"

When we entered the room, my luggage was behind other bags and there was no way to roll it out without moving everything. I only needed my bus pass so this wasn't a problem, but she didn't know that. She asked me, "Do you need to take your whole suitcase out?"

I knew exactly what she said but my mind went into panic mode. I froze, then I started mumbling in half-English, half-French, saying, "Oh no, no, no, no ça va. I just... this is fine! Merci!" Immediately after, I thought of something I could've said, "No, thank you, I just need my bus pass!" And I KNEW how to say that! How annoying and how embarrassing for me.

During these first few days in France, this "freak out" mode prevented me from having the chance to respond rationally. So, that's what I worked on for the first week. I tried to take a second and just think. If I could calm down, I would be fine, I would be able to respond, and they would understand me.

Back to the question, do I speak French?

Yes, I speak French un petit peu (a little bit). That's always my answer when someone asks me. It's like when I take a big test: I always expect to receive a C so that I'm pleasantly surprised when I do better. And if I actually receive a C, I’m not disappointed!

How is my French now?

Have I improved since being here?

Absolutely.

1. First of all, I don't freak out anymore. That lasted about a week. Thank goodness.

2. My oral comprehension has drastically improved. During the second week in Lyon, I was talking to my friend Ashley about something cool that I realized! Instead of just understanding the gist of a sentence, I was finally able to pick out most, if not all, of the specific words in each sentence when I talk to someone! I have no idea when exactly this happened, but when I realized that my comprehension had improved that much, I was thrilled! It's not often that one can compare their progress with something that they practice every day, but this motivated me even further to speak the language and get as much French exposure as I possibly could.

3. I am no longer afraid to learn French. Also during my second week in Lyon, my professor changed from a kind, comfortable, discussion-driven, engaging man to a fast-talking, grammar-driven, go-getter woman. This was a very dramatic shift for all of us. If I were to zone out for a few seconds, I would miss something. I didn't love this considering classes were four hours long; however, I do think it was good to switch the teaching style to see how we learn best. If I never had this professor, I would still be trying to hurdle the obstacle of embarrassment which is a LARGE factor for language development. Before this professor, if there was a word I didn't know, I would tell myself, "it's fine, you'll figure it out, and if not, it's fine." I was a "go with the flow" language learner. Not very active at all. That didn't fly with this new professor. The second day she was here, I presented to the class about the new coronavirus. After the presentation, our other professor would ask follow-up questions, so, that's what I was expecting. Instead, she walked up to the whiteboard to write down every single mistake I made which filled up half of the board. In the US, corrections are usually on a rubric, but not this time, it was in front of the entire class... yikes. She did the same thing for our writing assignments. As we wrote, whether we were finished or not, she would go around the room, stopping at each student, to correct their mistakes in pen. This is when I began to appreciate her teaching style. I always got immediate feedback which stuck in my head. French is French, correct what needs correcting and then move on. There was no time for embarrassment and no room for shame. My pride flew out of the window that week. Each time I didn't understand something, I would ask, without shame. It's so much easier to learn when you ask questions! I wish someone would have told me that a long time ago (sarcasm)!

4. I am more conscious of my words. Conjugations are still hard for me, I have a limited French vocabulary, the grammar/ syntax is not engraved into my brain, BUT I CAN understand and control what I say! With my host mom, I am confident that I can express anything I want to. It might take me a long time to get it out or to find the words to do so, but I know I can. Not only can I express what I want to, but more often than not, I am finding the correct way to say something or I am correcting my mistakes while I talk.

Each week in France, I am getting better and better at production and comprehension. I am able to have broken conversations with people about my day, my background, what I need, what I want in the future, music, sports, etc. Obviously, these conversations are situational so context and body language are very helpful, but either way, it is so cool to converse in another language. I am constantly learning new words and putting them into practice. Being able to practice my French has by far been my best experience in France as of right now. Each day is an adventure! It's the same challenge over and over that I improve on with each encounter.

Back to the question, do I speak French?

If I'm being honest, I speak a little bit more than a little bit... but let's just keep that between us (;

Thanks for reading,

Lauren