Losing English; Gaining French

Wow. I’m finished my French course. Reality has not sunk in yet. We’re done exams, and “graduation” is in a few days. I can’t believe I’ve been here for 6 months! And now with only a few days left in Albertville, I’m running around trying to do/see everything that I thought I’d have lots of time for. Including saying goodbye to some dear friends. : (

My time here has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Lots of unexpected turns, nausea and wondering if this ride would ever end (and wondering why I got on it in the first place!). I’ve felt exhausted and exhilarated all in the same day. Learning another language has taken a lot more effort, brain power and time than I imagined. But it’s been worth it and a great experience.

Now I just need to “get out there” and start using all that is floating around in my head. It will be a different experience living outside this safe Anglophone environment. I won’t have fellow English speakers to chat with. I won’t have a teacher to correct my mistakes (and prevent me from embarrassing myself in public.)

It’s amazing the amount that I’ve learnt in these 6 months, but I still have so much more to learn. I’ve heard that it takes about 5 years to become fluent in another language. So I guess, we’ll see if I’m quoting Shakespeare in French in 2010.

But I’m pleased to announce that my English grammar, spelling and vocabulary are falling apart. Just last night, I had to take a few minutes to figure out where the adjective “more” would go in the sentence “I need one more cup”. I seriously couldn’t figure it out and had to ask someone to help me as I kept saying the sentence out loud and moving the adjective around. “I need more one cup? No. I need cup one more? No. A cup one more I need? No…” Yep. Good thing my computer has a spell checker. Although I might need to buy an ENGLISH dictionary soon.