Ma vie avec la langue...

Growing up in London was tough. Too much stuff to do and too little time! Luckily though, hitting the age of 12 I had found a love in languages. How cool is it to be able to know words that most other people around you don't? How awesome is it that I could literally hop on a ferry to France and happily order "une sandwich"? I'd be set!

Soon later though, I realised that I wasn't going to be satisfied with just the same sandwhich, over and over; If I ever went to France, I'd have to only ever eat sandwichs. That's when I started to learn other words, such as "une pizza", "un jus d'orange", all the usual stuff; my teacher even tought me about how the french eat "les escargots" and "le cerveau", both of which I would never, ever eat, but I was glad to know what to avoid on the menu...

Mon échange à Paris
My exchange in Paris

When I was about 14 I had the awesome oppertunity to do an exchange with a girl who lived in the suburbs of Paris. It was scary, but it made me realise that it isn't all that hard to get by in another country- you just have to know the essentials. Phrases that I quickly realised were pretty much indispensable:

"Où sont les toilettes?"

"Parlez plus lentement, s'il vous plaît."
"Parlez vous anglaise?"
"J'ai faim."
"J'aime bien le pizza."

Aaaaaand, that's pretty much what got me by! Though, I did pick up a lot, I did a lot of listening while I was around my host family. Although I maybe sounded a little bit slow to them, I quickly started to understand more and more. My penpal's mother was really into pets, and they had a large garden with all sorts of animals. There were goats, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits... and she would ask me to help feed and play with them, all of which I understood pretty well after a couple hours. It was a really great experience, and I was sad when I left, but I knew that it wouldn't be long before I would found my way back there.

Mon Stage
My Work Experience

Nancy, France

Just before my GCSEs, me and a mate of mine who did French too decided we'd take the ultimate plunge and see if we could not only survive in France, but if we could actually work there too. We found a company (Halsbury Travel) which would set up a link for us and sort out some work experience in France for us for a couple of weeks. To be honest, when it was time to actually get on the coach and go, we were terrified. I'd just perfected ordering the best sandwhich, and now I'd have to work for a radio company? talk about the worst idea of my life.

Stepping off of the coach outside the hotel was a relief, we nad arrived in Nancy and we had some time to collect our thoughts and get some essential info before we started work the following day.

I was working at Fajet, a popular radio station that specialises in giving opportunities to the youth in local areas. I had to have a meeting with the company head who gave me a general idea on what the goals were of the company, along with some other indichipherable stuff, and that was it, I was pushed straight into the recording room!



The first day was hard, everyone seemed to speek too quickly, and the building was huge, I was always getting lost (those key phrases I learnt on my exchange were incredbly valuable here!). But soon, they learnt to talk a little slower with me, and that's when the fun really began!



This is one of the studios I recorded in.

They got me working on editing, recording, and let me listen in on their live shows. My brain started clicking and getting into the rythm. It was like a light being switched on. I was understanding more and more, even if I was still finding it difficult to articulate any meaningful responses.

Again, by the time I was due to leave, I felt really upset. The people I worked with had become like mentors, always ready to lend a hand or a smile.

I met others like me while I was out there, too; we often went out for meals and drinks after work, and went bowling, boat riding and sightseeing while there. Some of the people I met then I'm still friends with now. :)

à l'université
At university

After taking my A Levels and getting an A in French, I decided that I'd travel across the border and start studies at Cardiff University. I started my first year doing Japanese and French BA, which was awesome, but really, really time consuming. It was like doing two whole degrees at the same time. I loved doing Japanese, and would pick it up again if I ever get the time, but going into 2nd year I realised that it had to go. So from then on, I've been a single honors French student.

I know it sounds like all I do is sit in a room with a dictionary and memorise grammar (well, maybe just before an oral exam...) but I took modules in European Cinema, Business French and European Fiction. So I had the chance to learn about french history, culture, and other european cultures too, like Spain's, Germany's and Italy's. French language was only about a quarter of the make up of my 2nd year, and I got the chance to learn all other sorts of cool stuff, and wasn't forced to have my head in a book all the time, and got to analyse other parts of european society.

L'Année à l'étranger
Year Abroad

At the moment, I'm getting ready to leave London and travel to Rouen, France. I've managed to get accepted by the British Council to work as a language assistant in a school there, which I am really, really looking forward to. I remember back in school when I was young, we had a french girl come and work with a few of our classes, and we would do speaking practice for her. At the time I had no idea why she was there or what she was actually supposed to be doing, but I always thought she was lucky, and that if I ever had a chance, I'd want to do something like that. And here I am!

In this blog, I will be updating various trials and tribulations of my time in France, hopefully uploading photos, videos, vlogs and various other bits and bobs, so that you guys can travel with me, and experience a little of French life for a foreigner. :)