THe time is already near when students in 6th grade will be switching languages.  So, whatever they have done in one language will now be pretty much repeated in the other language.  Then in January, everyone in 6th grade has a chance to decide if they want to take French or Spanish for the rest of their time in middle school.

Many of my 6th grade students have already declared “I’m taking French!”  or “I’m definitely taking Spanish” though they haven’t taken Spanish yet.   Let’s wait until you’ve had a full experience in Spanish before you decide for sure.

For my 7th and 8th grade students, and those of you who aren’t my students but love French, what are some of the reasons you take French?

We had the pleasure of hosting 6 students from France for the morning on Tuesday.  They are here with a group of 30 other students from Marseille, visiting the high school and staying with families of students who take French at the high school.  They visited with 4 of my classes and had a chance to speak English to my students.  Some of my students took advantage of trying to speak French with them.  I had a great time speaking French for most of the morning!

How many years have you been speaking French? Do you feel like you can communicate well enough to travel to a French speaking place without a dictionary or anyone to help?

In the summer, I try to find opportunities to speak French with tourists.  My family owns a business that caters to tourists, so we often have visitors from Canada and occasionally from France.  I usually speak French if I hear their accent and they always ask why I know French and we have a nice chat.  But sometimes speaking French takes time and I dont’ always have that time.

Last summer, I was helping a customer but I was in a hurry, so when I heard his French accent, I didn’t let on that I might know French.  His English was great.  When he turned to his wife to explain something in French, I was listening, so when she asked a question in French, I answered, without realizing what I was doing!  The look of shock on their faces!  Then I spent about 20 minutes speaking to them en francais and was late for where I needed to be! 

I love speaking French but sometimes I try to avoid it if I don’t have the time or the energy to think in French!

One of the things I keep reading is that people are afraid of making a mistake in French and sounded like a fool.  Does that mean we never make mistakes in English?  Haven’t you said the wrong word, pronounced it the wrong way or been unable to come up with the words that you need to express yourself? 

Is it the fear of sounding silly?  Do you worry that you won’t be able to think of the words fast enough and you will just stand there going ummm…?  Are you afraid that people will speak too quickly and you won’t be able to come up with an answer?  Is it the fear of saying the wrong word and embarrassing yourself?

I’ve had all of these things happen and it’s scary, but you get over it!  The best thing about speaking with a native speaker of French is that they are willing to overlook your mistakes and help you without being mean.  Sometimes if you just tell the person you are speaking to that you don’t understand or you can’t find the word, they will help you. 

When was the last time you spoke French?  Why?

As a French teacher, I get to speak it every weekday.  As an organizer of an adult group called Table Française, I get to have conversations entirely in French once a month with other adults who speak French.  This really keeps me going!  Speaking with other adults is challenging because we don’t have vocabulary sheets in front of us, and we don’t carry around dictionaries, so it’s always up to us to figure out what to say.  Sometimes it can be awkward speaking to another American in French when it would be so much easier to speak English, but it’s a fun challenge and it keeps our minds in the French language.  Sometimes we have native speakers join us at Table Française and that’s the best because they are speaking their native language with us and it really keeps us on our toes!