Learning French

Gibraltar Learning French

Since my first trip to Europe at age 20, when everyone I met seemed able to speak 2-3 languages, I've aspired to be bilingual. I studied Spanish diligently in college, but remember little now because of lack of practice. I could get by in a Spanish-speaking country but I need language immersion to become truly fluent.

I wanted to learn a new language during our year abroad. But which?

I arbitrarily chose French, and purchased a phrase book and tape, French at a Glance. I had good intentions, but didn't do much more than scan it until we reached Belgium. There, both Dennis and I learned to count and say a few survival words and phrases. I remember being really excited when I heard a man say C'est ca on the telephone. "That's it!" I understood!

After we joined the Exodus expedition and began the long drive down through France and Spain, I began practicing again.

After a few long days in the truck, I realized that a large proportion of the three-month trip would be spent just sitting and riding, with little to do other than look out the window. We had 18,000 kilometers to cover at a top speed of 60 km/hour. After the initial pangs of boredom, I began to see it as an incredible opportunity. We'd purchased some 20 used books in London, mostly classics and fiction. The truck "library" had several reference books on Africa. It was heavenly to contemplate reading to my heart's content, something there is never time for in my daily life. And I would have more time than I could have dreamed possible to listen to language tapes and study. I hadn't known it initially, but French is almost universally spoken in the African countries we'd be visiting, so I could use what I learned immediately.

The phrase book wasn't going to be enough. I wanted a complete self-instructional course. Fortunately, we stopped in English-speaking Gibraltar for a day (the photo above is of the Isle of Gibraltar, located just south of Spain at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea). I went to several bookstores before finding what I wanted just before closing time, a book and four cassette tapes for 26 English pounds (about $45). That seemed a bit expensive, but I'd pay at least that for a language course at a university, and now I had time.

The course was entitled Hugo's French in Three Months. It always amazes me that they say any language can be learned "at a glance", "in three months", "quick and easy", but I guess it sells books.

Even a few words in a completely unfamiliar language help a lot, and I was rewarded for my efforts almost immediately. A few others in the group had studied French in school but didn't remember much. By the time we got to Algeria, I could understand a fair amount when people talked slowly and used gestures and synonyms. This really motivated me, and I began studying 5-8 hours a day.

In Niger, I was able to hold limited conversation, and in Zaire I was reading a book in French written for 5th graders, Histoire du Zaire, and studying vocabulary lists I compiled from the dictionary. The course included all common verb tenses including the subjunctive, and I listened to the tapes again and again. I enjoyed being my own teacher and designing learning activities. I had what I dream of as a teacher, a self-motivated student (myself).

I'm not fluent, and was frustrated with my memory when talking to a Frenchwoman three months after I stopped studying regularly. I know enough to get by, however, and I'm sure I'd gain fluency in a few months of living in a place where I spoke it all the time. Something to contemplate....