On learning French

I wrote an entry about a month ago about my expectations for learning French, especially as compared to my expectations for Spanish two years ago. Because I am interested in bilinguism and because I’m a second language teacher, I figure it’s only appropriate to reflect on my French progress.

First, it is almost impossible to evaluate precisely the level of my French because it depends on so many factors. Of course, if I am tired, it deteriorates; if I am caught off-guard I speak poorly; and if I have a couple drinks, my French disintegrates into Spanish, which actually improves after a drink or two. In addition, there are so many subtleties of pronunciation that any sort of background noise can ruin a conversation and all I can do is mirror the other person’s body language.

Strangely enough, I also speak better French when there aren’t any other English speakers around. The other English assistants are quicker with French than I am, so I tend to get lazy and let them speak for me. I speak so much better on my own and I’m happy to say that I’ve been brave enough so put myself on several solo situations that I never would have tried two years ago in Spain, like going to running club.

A final factor that influences the quality of my French is the characteristics of the person talking to me. This relates directly to my responsibilities as an English teacher: The best conversation partners speak slowly, are patient, are expressive, and use only French to explain words I may not understand, and never resort to English.