This is part one of my blogpost about my immersion into the French language. I will focus in a part two blogpost on the perspective of language and learners from the perspective of my dear Professor.
I was a seventeen year old German exchange student in the United States, living in an idyllic small town seaside village on the East coast and had my first encounter with Carole in High School. Carole was just like me, an exchange student in the US but she came from Paris, was a year older than me and simply beautiful. And yes: very French. I know we talk about the language but you can not separate the language from the cliche or image that is connected to France and its people.
I understand that there may be disagreements about this statement and yes, times have changed and it was in 1979 when I met Carole and enjoyed some of the limelight that came when she appeared.
She was a sensation, not only because of her looks but very quickly the word had spread in school about the Frenchie (this is really how she was called), an exchange student from France and when she started to speak with this delightful and melodic accent that can be identified anywhere in the world as French: people were simply mesmerized.
So soon we became friends and thinking back to this carefree and wonderful time, which was a very special and formative period of my young life, I can still hear her speak and enchant me and the American youth. We became inseparable friends and she completely captured me and many others with her Frenchness.
French is cultivated and protected through the Académie Francaise. Not only can one observe strong efforts of the country France or the European Union to protect and secure the importance and use of the language but also the French people themselves enjoy and indulge in their language. They strongly identify with French.
I observe the pride and engagement of the French people towards their country as much as towards their language eg. mother tongue. While in the Scandinavian countries or in Germany people easily switch to English and use English with equal ease as their native language in France it is French only.
Unfortunately my first language to learn in school was English and later on I continued with Latin. And by the time I was an exchange student in the US I still took Latin classes in school and perfected my English. I was ambitious to speak English as well as a native speaker, I focussed solemnly on growing and morphing into English. People confirm my natural talent with languages but I rather think it is my personality that is outgoing, outspoken and simply courageous that has given me the ease to speak and master English like my mother tongue. Later on in University I learned Russian. Well enough to earn money with professional translation work.
In all the years when the South of France was our annual and beloved vacation location, my natural talent helped me to come by the usual small talk and the phrases needed to buy in local markets or order food. My pronunciation, even though French is a challenge for German native speakers, was sufficient.
All this changed when we took the decision to really buy a house in France. My husband learned French in school, 4 years in a row. One should think he is a fluent speaker. But he still has the stories about his awful French teacher at hand that spoiled his interest and fun in the language. Truth is that his temperament is complementing mine and while I am outspoken and courageous, he is rather quiet and contemplative. So with the acquisition of the house, it was me that took the lead and the front runner role of communication.
I was very aware how important it is to communicate in French. But I tried to get by with English, being supported by an English speaking real estate agent Brigitte and later on an English speaking architect.
And the discovery of DeepL, an amazing translation software, used often for scientific work and in the university environment that is when moderately used for free and simply phantastic. It has stayed my loyal companion and friend until today. my French teacher has dubbed it Christine´s friend DeepL.
For quite some time it was very clear that it was imperative to learn the language but I still found ways to get by. I had participated in an evening French class for 6 months with very limited success. With more time spent in France and a very intense and friendly welcome by the neighborhood, I slowly started to understand more of the conversation. Answering still in a monosyllabic way and including gesturing or the occasional English word.The truth was that I had to acknowledge and admit to myself that I would never be able to reach the proficiency in French that I had with ease acquired as a teenager in English. The second truth was the unsatisfying collaboration with our architect who I had chosen predominantly for his ability to speak English (he had recently completed University and a first job as a employed architect) but who proved to be inexperienced, unreliable and stressful. it was a huge mistake to focus on someone who spoke English instead of looking for someone who was a proper fit and qualified even if it was necessary to speak French.
The third and final trigger of my journey towards properly learning French was the Covid pandemic and the lock-down that very quickly happened in France and all of Europe. All of a sudden communication no longer took place in person but with Skype, Zoom, Teams or some other communication medium. I identified a small language school and a professor, which is how a French teacher is called in France in a small village in the middle of Provence and started individual tutoring on a weekly basis.We exchange via Skype. All of a sudden we have all learned to come closer without actually meeting in person and for something like language tutoring and culture education I can not think of a better way than with a Professor deeply rooted into the community and country.
It took one year before I met Marina Depoorter in person. But we had chatted for hours before.
Today I see a first light at the end of the tunnel: I dare to call French companies by phone and I eagerly engage in conversations. I still envy all those that have had the chance to learn French when young and with absorbing brain capacity instead of starting in your late fifties. But I am confident that I will one day reach a level that does no longer embarrass me and comes without thinking. And in the meantime I hope the challenges of the conjugation of French words will miraculously keep the Alzheimers away.
In part two of this blogpost I will shift perspective and share the views of a French teacher (my French professor) How do non-French natives learn the language? What are the most common and biggest challenges? What are the most prominent and interesting features of the French language and French culture? Is there something like Frenchness and what is it?
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