Keep on speaking French

The days and weeks are really racing by at the moment. France has returned from its summer break and we are now seeing the country as it is for 11 months of the year. It is busier, noisier and the shops are all open.

It took me a while to recover from coming off the antibiotics I was taking for a tooth infection. I was fine while I was taking them, but as soon as I stopped I felt rough for a week and didn’t get out much.

Back in the UK having to stay tucked up for a week is not unusual and I take it in my stride. Here in France it was more difficult. Partly this is because our flat is a little small, but I think the main reason I went a bit ‘stir-crazy’ was that I wanted to be out and about speaking French and learning about my new town.

I learned that it is very easy to feel isolated. My French is progressing well, but I am very aware that I do struggle to have a conversation. Every time I am out I have to work hard and be prepared for constant linguistic challenges.

It will need a lot of commitment from me to progress with my French to the level I want to achieve. Lying in bed feeling poorly, this all seemed rather impossible and pointless. I really did end up feeling sorry for myself!

Once my body was back on an even keel I had an afternoon out with my partner. We went to the library, picked some CDs to listen to and filled our bags with all the brochures and leaflets for the new season of local arts events and then went to a local bar to read them.

There is so much going on in town between now and next summer – it was reassuring to know that I won’t have any excuse to be bored and I will have plenty of opportunities to practice my French.