Everyone knows how much I love the French culture and language. Well, at least all my close friends and family do. They also know how much I love the country and keep wondering what I am still doing in London. They also say that I wish I was French. There is my answer to all these plus my personal resentment and wonder on why French had never loved me back after all those years.
First of all, I don’t wish I was French at all. I am proud I am Greek and I am proud of Greek being my mother tongue. You all know anyway that I just despise modern Greek mentality and that’s all. The only reason, I would wish I was French, was so to speak french as a native. But that could never happen. Also, I wish I could speak like a native so I could move to France. I do admire those people who move to a country even when they don’t speak the local language and they still make it and learn it from scratch. I don’t know how they do it and I am still wondering. I would never have the guts to do so. That’s why three years ago I moved to London instead, because my French language skills aren’t that good. In fact they never were. And I have a hunch that they will never be.
This intuition is actually based on historical facts. And this is how everything started. My first contact with french was when I was 12 years old at secondary school. And I was too old to start a new language in my opinion. I had already been studying English since I was 5. The first French sentences in my course book that I still vividly remember, were: “Allô, qui est à l’ appareil?” and “On va à Beaubourg”- I was so touched when I visited Pompidou Centre in Paris for this very reason! LOL! I used to hate french back then, but it was a compulsory course at school. I thought it wasn’t as cool as English, plus that accent sounded so complicated and gay! Points of view of a 12 year old! What did I know? I had the most completely wrong perspective towards that beautiful language! I do regret it!
My parents following the mainstream of that time, when English was establishing as an international language, had me started English with private tutors. I think it was a mistake. I should have firstly started french and then later on, English would have been a piece of cake - compared to french of course. I think people in Greece back then and up till now are considering French, a language of the intellectual bourgeoisie -a distant world that belonged in the past. We still have an expression in use, where when you want to talk about a girl who is from a good family and well educated, you say that “she is a girl that speaks French and has piano skills”- sometimes they add ballet as well! I am a victim of my times!
My journey in the french language lasted very long but had many intervals. So the first time lasted only 2 years as I said in secondary. Then in high school we only had English. I was happy we had stopped having french lessons. I hated them because I wasn’t good at them. Plus I wasn’t finding them useful. Then when I got into Uni I thought to give another try. It’d lasted for a year and then I dropped it off once more. Later I finished Uni and I moved in Egypt. I studied Arabic and started learning french again at the Institut Français du Caire. Another year and a half of hard studying that led to unconstructive results. When I moved back to Greece I started attending courses on B1 level in the Institut Français d’ Athènes for almost a year. But then I dropped it off again when I started my master’s. I SWEAR that after all those years of on and off of hard studying and I’d never managed to say something in French properly. Simply, merde right?!
My main problem was always the oral part. I was excellent in writing, I was reading a lot as well and I was always excelling in the grammar tests. But I had never managed to put a proper sentence together, let alone speak fast. I had never managed to master the listening part as well. From whole sentences I could only understand few words. Sometimes not even few. If I had the text in front of me I could understand it a 100%. I was always disappointed at myself and my inability to learn French. Around the age of 24, I realised how much I ended up loving the language and the culture after all these attempts but French never loved me back. I can’t help but wonder why.
There is the answer. French are difficult- period. The grammar was always a nightmare for everyone. Articles, genders, so much of verb conjugation and tenses! So many irregular verbs as well. Who can forget “subjonctif” the ultimate nightmare for every French learner? Overwhelming...and all these you have to put them rightly in sentences. Because apparently, if you want to speak French you have to speak fluently before you open that mouth. The French do not forgive errors easily in their language even from foreigners. In addition, as much as I adore listening to French I find difficult to understand every single word I hear. The pronunciation, the liaison and the speed the French speak with, are raising the level of difficulty. Last but not least, French have loads of slang –argot- more than English have; also it’s a language which is full of idioms and expressions which are extremely creative and sometimes funny as well if you are asking me. What could send you to the mental hospital though, is the “verlan” as part of the “argot” in which the syllables of a word are inversed to create another word! Kill me now!
On the other hand, French is one of the most chic languages you can learn. It is associated with haute cuisine, fine wines, culture, philosophy and a stunningly beautiful country. Of course we all know that French culture is seen as the epitome of refinement in several domains. Also France is the most visited country on earth. I believe there is something attractive to do in France for anybody at any stage of his life. More than 20,000 castles. Some of the nicest beaches you can find. A food used as a reference for fine cooking all over the world. Wines. Truffles. Amazing landscapes, hiking trails and outdoor pursuits. Incredible museums. Incredible people. So much diversity to please every taste. Such an erotic country, such an erotic language, so much of sexy people! Nothing is trivial or irrelevant my friend!
Since I had moved in London 3 years ago, I had the opportunity to meet many French friends and to visit France many times already. Thus, I managed to come closer and closer to a language and a culture that fascinates me and fall in love once more. And then I set a new objective. To go back into studying so in 3-4 years time to move and work in France if I have nothing to hold me back. So, I have started doing it alone with no tutors this time. And wish me luck. I will use the Notting Hill quote Julia Robert said to Hugh Grant and say it pleading with French: “ I am also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” – that boy could be the French language, so make the connection!
I have so many old notes and books and the internet nowadays has inexhaustible sources: I use pinterest –my board “Tu parles Français” has many unexpectedly followers- I follow bloggers that teach French like “Comme Une Française”, I watch non-stop French cinema, I listen to French music and I “try” to read online newspapers and magazines. Lastly, I have a yearly membership at the médiathèque / Ciné Lumière of the Institut Français in London, which I love and I do visit S.Kensington more often for this reason! I hope it is going to work because I am really motivated. The good things are that I am not starting from scratch a new language and the genuine love and respect I have for it. Unfortunately, my limited time is my ultimate enemy...and my Alzheimer due to aging!
Thank you for reading
La petite grecque
Mar 2015
First of all, I don’t wish I was French at all. I am proud I am Greek and I am proud of Greek being my mother tongue. You all know anyway that I just despise modern Greek mentality and that’s all. The only reason, I would wish I was French, was so to speak french as a native. But that could never happen. Also, I wish I could speak like a native so I could move to France. I do admire those people who move to a country even when they don’t speak the local language and they still make it and learn it from scratch. I don’t know how they do it and I am still wondering. I would never have the guts to do so. That’s why three years ago I moved to London instead, because my French language skills aren’t that good. In fact they never were. And I have a hunch that they will never be.
This intuition is actually based on historical facts. And this is how everything started. My first contact with french was when I was 12 years old at secondary school. And I was too old to start a new language in my opinion. I had already been studying English since I was 5. The first French sentences in my course book that I still vividly remember, were: “Allô, qui est à l’ appareil?” and “On va à Beaubourg”- I was so touched when I visited Pompidou Centre in Paris for this very reason! LOL! I used to hate french back then, but it was a compulsory course at school. I thought it wasn’t as cool as English, plus that accent sounded so complicated and gay! Points of view of a 12 year old! What did I know? I had the most completely wrong perspective towards that beautiful language! I do regret it!
My parents following the mainstream of that time, when English was establishing as an international language, had me started English with private tutors. I think it was a mistake. I should have firstly started french and then later on, English would have been a piece of cake - compared to french of course. I think people in Greece back then and up till now are considering French, a language of the intellectual bourgeoisie -a distant world that belonged in the past. We still have an expression in use, where when you want to talk about a girl who is from a good family and well educated, you say that “she is a girl that speaks French and has piano skills”- sometimes they add ballet as well! I am a victim of my times!
My journey in the french language lasted very long but had many intervals. So the first time lasted only 2 years as I said in secondary. Then in high school we only had English. I was happy we had stopped having french lessons. I hated them because I wasn’t good at them. Plus I wasn’t finding them useful. Then when I got into Uni I thought to give another try. It’d lasted for a year and then I dropped it off once more. Later I finished Uni and I moved in Egypt. I studied Arabic and started learning french again at the Institut Français du Caire. Another year and a half of hard studying that led to unconstructive results. When I moved back to Greece I started attending courses on B1 level in the Institut Français d’ Athènes for almost a year. But then I dropped it off again when I started my master’s. I SWEAR that after all those years of on and off of hard studying and I’d never managed to say something in French properly. Simply, merde right?!
My main problem was always the oral part. I was excellent in writing, I was reading a lot as well and I was always excelling in the grammar tests. But I had never managed to put a proper sentence together, let alone speak fast. I had never managed to master the listening part as well. From whole sentences I could only understand few words. Sometimes not even few. If I had the text in front of me I could understand it a 100%. I was always disappointed at myself and my inability to learn French. Around the age of 24, I realised how much I ended up loving the language and the culture after all these attempts but French never loved me back. I can’t help but wonder why.
There is the answer. French are difficult- period. The grammar was always a nightmare for everyone. Articles, genders, so much of verb conjugation and tenses! So many irregular verbs as well. Who can forget “subjonctif” the ultimate nightmare for every French learner? Overwhelming...and all these you have to put them rightly in sentences. Because apparently, if you want to speak French you have to speak fluently before you open that mouth. The French do not forgive errors easily in their language even from foreigners. In addition, as much as I adore listening to French I find difficult to understand every single word I hear. The pronunciation, the liaison and the speed the French speak with, are raising the level of difficulty. Last but not least, French have loads of slang –argot- more than English have; also it’s a language which is full of idioms and expressions which are extremely creative and sometimes funny as well if you are asking me. What could send you to the mental hospital though, is the “verlan” as part of the “argot” in which the syllables of a word are inversed to create another word! Kill me now!
On the other hand, French is one of the most chic languages you can learn. It is associated with haute cuisine, fine wines, culture, philosophy and a stunningly beautiful country. Of course we all know that French culture is seen as the epitome of refinement in several domains. Also France is the most visited country on earth. I believe there is something attractive to do in France for anybody at any stage of his life. More than 20,000 castles. Some of the nicest beaches you can find. A food used as a reference for fine cooking all over the world. Wines. Truffles. Amazing landscapes, hiking trails and outdoor pursuits. Incredible museums. Incredible people. So much diversity to please every taste. Such an erotic country, such an erotic language, so much of sexy people! Nothing is trivial or irrelevant my friend!
Since I had moved in London 3 years ago, I had the opportunity to meet many French friends and to visit France many times already. Thus, I managed to come closer and closer to a language and a culture that fascinates me and fall in love once more. And then I set a new objective. To go back into studying so in 3-4 years time to move and work in France if I have nothing to hold me back. So, I have started doing it alone with no tutors this time. And wish me luck. I will use the Notting Hill quote Julia Robert said to Hugh Grant and say it pleading with French: “ I am also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” – that boy could be the French language, so make the connection!
I have so many old notes and books and the internet nowadays has inexhaustible sources: I use pinterest –my board “Tu parles Français” has many unexpectedly followers- I follow bloggers that teach French like “Comme Une Française”, I watch non-stop French cinema, I listen to French music and I “try” to read online newspapers and magazines. Lastly, I have a yearly membership at the médiathèque / Ciné Lumière of the Institut Français in London, which I love and I do visit S.Kensington more often for this reason! I hope it is going to work because I am really motivated. The good things are that I am not starting from scratch a new language and the genuine love and respect I have for it. Unfortunately, my limited time is my ultimate enemy...and my Alzheimer due to aging!
Thank you for reading
La petite grecque
Mar 2015