Des Langues Romanes

I've been doing this French reading class for a week now. It's more work than I anticipated; we only have 50 min of class each day but we have to translate several pages for each class. This takes me quite a while because I have to look up every second word in the dictionary. (My ability to order a cup of coffee or an ice-cream really isn't doing me much good!) It doesn't help that the texts we have to traslate are really pretty boring.

As I mentioned before, I've found that my understanding of French goes through some convoluted route inside my brain via Italian. This became particularly apparent in Montreal when I was speaking and, when I ran out of French words, I would finish my sentences in Italian. (Actually, I did get away with it occasionally. I was able to guess French words by saying Italian words with a French emphasis. It worked more than half the time, I had my teachers convinced that I knew tons of French words.) Anyway, it occurred to me that if I got too good at French (not such a big worry at the moment) that it might displace all that Italian I spent years studying but had neglected over the last little while.

Then I discovered that tons of people all around the world use Skype to improve their language skills. (That speech bubble thinga-magigga in the side-bar shows my current Skype status, in case you were wondering.) It's really easy, either you can post your details on a language exchange website or, easier still, search for people in Skype Me mode and start talking to them straight away. I've already found a few people to practise Italian with; it's going ok, I manage to make myself understood with a little help from online dictionaries. (We just type. I tried the mic once and it stressed me out too much being on the spot like that.) The plan is that after a few more weeks, if my French is good enough, I'll look for a Frenchie to practise with. But maybe I'll have to find one who wants to learn English so they can write to me in French while I reply in English; that might just work.