i lived in the south of france for several months in my early twenties. i didn't take high school french and quite honestly didn't have an affinity for the culture or language. i just wanted to live abroad and the spain program was fully booked. so off i went to what i thought would be a little cow town, aix-en-provence, which many of you know is anything but. i took several semesters of latin and, while i was really quick at grammar, i couldn't speak a word of french. nothing will humble you faster than trying to communicate with someone and have them look at you with a blank, haughty stare. luckily this just made me want to understand more and i pored over my books and befriended those who were committed to only speaking french (the germans and swedes naturally). by the end of my 10th month i flung aside the books and hung about in the cafes with my french boyfriend. needless to say, about 18 months in i had that a-ha moment when i was at a dinner party and all of a sudden i lost track of whether we were conversing in english or french. such a great feeling. i also genuinely grew to love the people and the culture in the south, it's home away from home for this california girl.
this weekend elodie will take her first french class with me at the alliance française in pasadena. i really want her to learn spanish (or italian would be perfetto!) but mine is so rusty that i think at this point it is a pipe dream. so french it is. beautiful and complex. although i won't be able to protect her from that humbling, i am a stupid american feeling, at least she will have more tools at her disposal when she goes to live abroad. if anyone has any tips on language acquisition for toddlers, i'm all ears!
image: i can't remember where i found this and tried to use tineye. i'd love to credit if anyone knows!
