The Learning Traveller

Written by: Jodi

I’ve been meaning to enroll in evening French classes for longer than I care to admit. Inevitably, something always seems to get in the way. While I don’t need to speak French fluently I know the quality of experience I have when I visit places like Quebec, France or Switzerland would be greatly enhanced if I was a more confident speaker.

I plan to join a French course in France for summer 2010 but in the meantime, I’ve found a surprisingly effective and enjoyable way to work on my language skills and it doesn’t involve a classroom, textbooks or a teacher!

A few months ago I made an appointment for a beauty treatment at a local salon. After a few minutes I learned that the esthetician, Anya, was a native French speaker. I told Anya that I wanted to improve my language skills and she immediately started speaking to me in French; slowly at first to gauge my level, and then she took off! And you know what? After two or three visits so did I! I see Anya about once a month for 20 to 30 minutes and we speak nothing but French. She corrects my grammatical mistakes and demonstrates new vocabulary. But the real benefit is the connection I am making with the language and by extension the culture. When I speak with Anya I feel French; my speech seems to be more passionate and poetic (at least to my ears) and for that brief period of time I am someone and somewhere else entirely.

What a treat to find someone in my community who enjoys sharing her mother tongue. I had never thought much about the benefits of casual language exchange but after this experience I’m hooked!

Tags: casual language exchange, french course in france, french language course, French language holiday, Language Learning, native french speaker

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