The three things that made all the difference

Six years ago I arrived in France, following someone for love.  I hardly spoke a word of the language.  In fact, I FAILED French in High School.

Since then many love stories have come and gone for me but somewhere along the way I learnt the language enough to actually teach it. 🤯⁣

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I’m meeting such, fun, interesting people ♥️

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And these learners are making fantastic progress 👏

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⁣It’s amazing to think that not long ago I couldn’t even order a baguette in a boulangerie .

It feels surreal. ⁣⁣⁣

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So what changed?⁣⁣⁣

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Back in 2016 ⁣⁣⁣

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👉I didn’t have any friends who spoke French ⁣⁣⁣

👉I had never lived on my own

👉I felt anxious everyday to do normal things like take the metro 

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Now in 2023…⁣⁣⁣

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👉I’ve got a rich community of French speakers and expats in my life 

👉I’ve taught workshops to hundreds of people in French 

👉I own my own apartment in Paris and regularly have friends and family from all over the world to stay with me

Turns out it was the dream life I never knew I wanted. 

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Here’s the 3 keys that got me here.  I hope they help you if you’ve got a language learning or travelling goal. 

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1️⃣ ⁣IF YOU SPEAK ENGLISH YOU ALREADY KNOW A HECK OF FRENCH  building some simple phrases on what you know is the best way to start 

2️⃣ BEING FORMAL SLOWS YOU DOWN. I started off trying to focus on grammar and learning all the conjugations and worrying about getting them right. I spent so much time stressing about if I should call someone ‘tu’ or ‘vous’.  There are over 17 ways to conjugate any French verb, if you forget about   the exact formal way you end up only having to really worry about two. 

3️⃣ FRENCH SPEAKERS WILL HELP AND SUPPORT YOU Most people want to connect, communicate and see you succeed.  You do however have to have courage to get out of your comfort zone and have a sense of humour and humility about your ‘learnings’. ⁣

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Remember when you first took training wheels off your bike (literally, or metaphorically).⁣

Of course, you didn’t feel ready.  If you are a softie like me you likely felt so afraid of the pain that your hesitancy made you even more unstable. 

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But at some point you  decided to roll down the hill. 

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And then you were actually doing it.  

So, today I’m proud of myself and all my courageous friends learning with me.  

Je suis fier de moi et je suis fier de mes amis courageux

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Bisous 💋