The worries expressed in the last blog about a lack of opportunities to improve my French have proved ill-founded. It's been a varied couple of months in all sorts of ways with linguistic exposure on many fronts.
We've been house-hunting and
Two months without a word. What a disgrace! What sort of blog is this?
I do apologise. I love doing this blog but have been overtaken by events of late. In May the departmental choir, to which I belong, offered a series of concerts throughout the
We've just said goodbye to my parents at Toulouse airport after a tiring but very enjoyable eight days. While not happy to stray too far from home without us, they spent a good deal of time exploring the shops and the Friday market and sitting at
It's been rather hectic around here the last few weeks. We had the lovely Paul and Kate to stay for eight days - our first house guests since we moved to France in January and such easy ones. They are equally happy with their own company
I've been rather slack of late. The reason, though no excuse, is that Aude has been experiencing a bit of a heatwave during the last few weeks - almost unbroken sunshine and the bluest of blue skies. Finding the time to sit at the PC
Today felt like a promise of the summer to come. I could almost smell wild thyme, taste the summer dust hanging in the air and hear cicadas. I pottered around some friends' garden, the sun on my back and no sign of the brisk breeze usual at
At times, my occasional confidence gets the better of me. As I've mentioned already, there are frequent occasions when fear drives out comprehension. But when I'm relaxed and with friends, I'm quite articulate and can understand (and mis-understand) what's
This next few days is my choir weekend. This is another attempt to improve my French by jumping in with both feet. Though principal motivation was an opportunity for French conversation, I find I've been taken over by the music and the company.
I hadn't
"My French seems to be improving." I announced, returning home last evening. I had had three 'good' French days in succession. So I really should have expected that something was about to burst my bubble of self-confidence and savoire faire.
Last Autumn, our estate agent friend who sold us our house three years ago, suggested that we check out Accueil des Villes Françaises. We'd never heard of AVF and were told that they offered French classes at all levels. We went along, signed up
My French teacher, back in the early seventies was Madame Farrugia - a Parisienne, married to an Italian who had lived much of her life in the middle east, including a couple of years in Egypt where, I believe, she was a language tutor to the children
I've never done a blog before but it looks pretty straightforward so here goes.
I thought it might be useful to share my day-to-day triumphs (rare) and frustrations (frequent) in grappling with the French language. Any tips I pick up I'd also be happy