Speaking French

I've been noticing something recently that bothers me:  I have many friends who want to go to France, as I'm doing, but who are afraid.  They don't know the language, they might get lost, lonely, have their pockets picked, etc., etc.  Well, I share the fears above, all except for one:  I have worked on learning the language for years -- and for the most part, I've done it with no formal instruction.  And I'm not bragging here; I'm telling you that it can be done!  (Well, I guess I'm bragging a bit because, by golly, I've worked very hard at learning this language!)

I do admit that over twenty years ago, I lived in Toulouse, France, for nearly two years while I did some graduate studies in neuroscience.  However, when I went there, I had had no French language education at all -- well, except for about three weeks right before I left, which only made matters worse, not better, because those pitiful three little weeks gave me a false confidence that I knew at least something.  But here was the problem when I arrived there all those years ago:  I could ask where is something or other --- BUT when the other person responded, I had absolutely no clue about what they were saying!!  I bought a French language textbook before I went; and after I got there, I studied it every day, every chance I got.  And I got by.  That's all I did for at least the first year; I got by.  And I might add, too, that almost no one that I knew spoke more than just a few words in English, too, so I didn't have that "out."  I found out, too, that hand signals were powerful and that I could live with making a fool of myself, very often!  I got by.

After having been back in the USA for nearly twenty years, except for occasional European visits, I didn't study French at all until just two or three years ago.  Then I decided I was getting old and that I wanted to complete what I had started all those years ago.  But still being stubborn and wanting to do everything my own way, I decided, once again, to go it alone.  So I started reading everything I could in the French language.  That meant, of course, that I had to have a dictionary beside me at all times and that I spent more time studying the dictionary than figuring out what the heck I was reading.  And I'm not talking simple books, either:  To this day, one of my favorite French authors is Emile Zola.  I struggled with his novels, one after another, for many, many months at a time, each one.  Not only did I not know the words, but I couldn't even understand the sentence constructions.  But slowly, v e r y    s l o w l y, things started to fall into place.  Progress was very difficult even to measure for many months at a time.  But then it really began to pick up speed.  Today, I read without a dictionary present -- except for the occasional word I need to know.  I found out, too, that I didn't have to look up every single word, even back when I wasn't understanding much at all, because I could get the gist of the story -- and I could learn many high-use words by context after a while.

More recently, (in the past year), I upped the demands on myself.  I got a TV5Monde, French language, subscription so that I can watch French (nearly) TV every day.  I say "nearly" because much of it is subtitled, and I find that subtitles are counter-productive.  Even before the TV5Monde, I had discovered France Inter radio station online, and I listen to it anytime I'm painting, for instance.  (I especially like the channel "France Culture.")

I'll continue this discussion over the next couple of weeks and hope some of you chime in.  Are you studying French?   How do you study?  Do you have any tricks you can share?  Is not knowing the language of a country you love preventing you from doing something you want to do but are too afraid to do?   (I love the French culture, the food, the language, the people, the land, everything!)

Getting Closer to Being Ready for Paris

I'm a little closer to being ready to leave for Paris now:  I finally purchased my plane tickets.  I have for the most part always flown economy class, which is generally okay, being a part of the big crowd of budget travelers -- we all go to the same place, right?  But this time I decided that it's worth a few hundred dollars more to at least upgrade my seat to the "economy comfort seats," or some words to that effect.  So for my one long domestic flight and my two international flights, I have upgraded to more seat room and silly perks such as ear plugs, a sleep mask, I think a video screen right at my seat, probably a slightly upgraded meal, which I almost never take anyway because I'm vegetarian and almost always buy my meals before I board,  and unlimited alcoholic drinks.  Being a very, very lightweight drinker, however, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that one; wish I could have a bit of a discount for not drinking, though.  Well, I'll  have one tiny glass of wine, though.  It's not that I don't like alcohol; my body doesn't like it, and I become ill after more than one drink. 

Back to the tickets:  I'll be sure and report how these comfortable economy seats work out and if they're worth the few hundred dollars more.  Most likely, though, anything that gives me more room to stretch out on long flights is worth it to me.  And maybe I'll actually have wider armrests, too.  That would be really great because for some reason, I almost never get "armrest rights" when I fly.  Too timid, I'm afraid.

Regarding artwork while in France, as I've mentioned before, I intend to paint while I'm there.  As I don't intend to have a checked bag on my flight over, I am taking only a few brushes and some prepared but unstretched canvases.  There's a really nice art supply shop just about a five minutes' walk from my apartment there, so I'll go there and buy my paints.  I intend to use acrylics only to ensure that everything has dried well before time to return.  If I want to add some oil highlights later, after I return here, that will be easy to do, of course.

I've been attending an advanced conversation group once a week here in Portland, and it concerns me a bit.  I realize just how not-fluent I am in French.  I struggle on as I try to engage in quite deep conversations at times, but from the often bewildered expressions on the faces of my "interlocuteurs," I fear that I'm not quite communicating as well as I had hoped.  We'll see . . . . .

My greatest fear (after the fear of not getting lost on my way to my apartment from the airport, of course) is that I will "hole up" in my apartment when I arrive, something which I have a tendency to do when faced with potentially frightening situations.  But fortunately, there will be no food in the apartment, so I'll be forced to go out at least for some wonderful bread, pastries (bien sur!!), and some essential groceries.  I'm going to do everything in my power to force myself - again - out of my safe zone and go out and explore -- tentatively, of course, at first, but with more confidence as each day passes.

I still have several custom paintings that I need to get done within the next few weeks, and then I'll have more time to spend on getting ready for the trip.  As it's been such a long time since I was last in France, I have a lot of things I'll need to catch up on, such as how my smartphone is going to serve me there, how to be able to charge all my electronics, which, of course, are now an essential part of every person's life, how to ensure that my debit card works well everywhere (and, of course, how to avoid exorbitant fees for its use).  I remember when I was in Denmark a couple of years ago, I was able to use my debit card everywhere, for everything from cash to groceries to parking "meters," without a problem and with little to no added fees.  I presume it will be the same in France, but I'll check beforehand to be sure.  Just lots of little details I need to cover before I leave.