Steve's sandbox

Tag: Learn French

  • Case Study – Marianne McCready, France 2023

    Admiring the view of Lyon

    I would first and foremost like to thank the John Speak Language Trust for supporting me during my experience in France.

    Thanks to your support not only have I been able to cover living costs, but I have also been able to explore more of the country and live new cultural experiences.

    Visiting a really cool Ancient Egyptian Exhibit!
    On a day trip to some islands off the coast of Cannes

    The opportunity to study abroad has opened my eyes to lots of new experiences such as education in France, French way of life and all the rich cultural experiences France has to offer. It has also been a fairly international experience as I have made friends with French people and with people from all over the world. Furthermore, with Paris being such an international city, I have got to try lots of new cuisines and inventive food such as an 100% vegetarian restaurant where they prepared your food for you on the table! I also visited many museums such as the Louvre, l’Orangerie and the Musée D’Orsay. I also had the chance to visit a once in a lifetime display of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, most of which had never left Egypt before, and learn about the connection Rameses II and how a Frenchman used his name to crack Hieroglyphs in the 1820s.

    When I embarked upon my study abroad adventure in Paris, I had no idea what challenges it would bring. Learning how the French university system works, making some mistakes (and getting lost!) and learning how to live in a big international city such as Paris. In recent months, there has also been many strikes in the French capital and, at times things have been very chaotic, but through speaking with locals I have come to see it as a quintessential cultural experience! Given all the French history that I have learned while here I really feel that I have a deep understanding of why strikes and workers’ rights are so important to the French People.

    While in France and with the support of the John Speak Language Trust, I was able to travel to lots of different places for the first time.

    Trying French Cuisine!
    In the beautiful village of Eze!

    I was able to visit a friend who was studying abroad in Lyon twice and she showed me round the beautiful city and let me practice my French with her Host Family which was very interesting as they spoke with a different accent to those from the Parisian region. I also visited Dijon and Versailles. At the end of my time in France I organised a trip to the south of France which was amazing! It was lovely to escape the city for a while and see where French people go on holiday. As I felt quite comfortable navigating the French rail system at this point, my friend and I travelled by train almost everywhere and took some buses in order to get to more hard-to-reach places, such as the medieval village of Èze which I absolutely loved.

    All of these experiences which have shaped me, and my knowledge of French and French culture would not have been possible if not for the John Speak Language Trust.

    France, particularly Paris, has a higher cost of living than that in the UK and with the help of the Trust I felt a weight off my shoulders which allowed me to make the absolute most of my time abroad.

  • Marianne McCready – France May 2023: Voilà!

    Sunset view of Sacre-Coeur from my kitchen window

    Voilà ! C’est mon dernier mois en France ! J’ai maintenant fini mes examens et je prends du temps pour voyager autour de la France et réfléchir sur mon temps ici ! Premièrement, c’était génial même si de temps en temps difficile d’assister à l’université française pendant ces derniers quelques mois ! Beaucoup du monde m’a dit que j’ai eu « une expérience française authentique » en surmonter toutes ces grèves, fermetures et chaos général à Paris. Mon progrès en français me fait plaisir et maintenant je connais beaucoup de vocabulaire très spécifique à propos des sujets comme des techniques filmiques, des concepts philosophales et amplement des termes très spécifiques d’analyse littéraire que je n’ai jamais rencontré avant. J’ai maintenant lu plusieurs grands œuvres de la littérature française et vu quelques des plus grands films du cinéma français, particulièrement de la Nouvelle Vague. Si vous êtes intéressés, personnellement, je vous recommanderais de regarder « Les Quatre Cents Coups » que j’ai bien aimé et il est tellement emblématique du genre. Deuxièmement, j’ai fait plusieurs relations avec des Français et j’ai appris beaucoup d’eux, à propos de la culture, la langue et l’argot française ! J’ai fait nombreuses erreurs en français quand j’ai parlé avec eux mais ils me corrigés doucement et m’ont donné des mieux façons de dire des phrases ou des questions afin de sembler plus naturelle. Finalement, j’ai aussi passé du temps en réfléchir à mon temps à Paris. J’estime que j’ai vu beaucoup que

    Gabi and I at the Arc de Triomphe

    je n’ai pas vu avant, et je connais certains quartiers assez bien et je ne consulte plus Google Maps constamment pour me déplacer ! J’ai aussi eu la chance de voyager un peu pendant que j’habite à Paris. J’ai passé ce weekend dans le beau sud de la France avec une amie et je voyage à Lyon cette semaine pour rendre visite à ma bonne amie avant que nous deux partons de la France à la fin de ce mois !

    Ta Dah! It’s my final month in France! I have now finished my exams and I am taking some time to travel around France and reflect on my time here! Firstly, it has been a great if sometimes difficult experience attending French university for the last few months! As many people have told me I have had “an authentic French experience” while coping with all of these strikes, closures and general chaos in Paris. I am pleased with my progress in French, and I now know lots of very specific vocabulary about topics like filming techniques, philosophical concepts and very specific literary analysis terms that I had never encountered before. I have now read many great works of French literature and seen some of the greatest films from French Cinema, particularly from La Nouvelle Vague. If you are interested, I personally would recommend watching “Les Quatre Cents Coups” I really liked that one and it is very much emblematic of the genre. Secondly, I have made many connections with French people, and I have learned so much from them, about French culture, language and slang! I have made many mistakes in my French when talking with them, but they do gently correct me and give me better ways to say sentences or questions in order to sound more natural. Finally, I have also been reflecting on my time in Paris. I feel that I have seen lots of parts of Paris that I had not seen before, and I know certain areas quite well and I am not constantly checking Google Maps to get around! I have also been very fortunate to travel a little while I have been living in Paris. I spent this weekend in the beautiful south of France with a friend and I am travelling to Lyon this week again to visit my good friend before we both leave France at the end of the month!