J'adore: learning French - by Sara Lieberman
File this under things you didn’t necessarily ask for, but when I LOVE something, I want to shout about it from the rooftops—be it a book, a podcast, or, in this week’s case, FRENCH LESSONS. Welcome to “J’adore” a smidgen of declarations from moi about something I adore. (Like, for example, the fact that “adore” and “adore” mean the same thing in English and French. But no need to devote more than a sentence to that!)
Part of my reasoning for spending some time in the States this spring stems from my needing a break from French. Ce n’est pas si mal. It’s not that bad. But I still had to double-check that phrase on Deepl. And while it’s definitely come a long way since Madame Barry’s first-period class circa 1994, not to mention when I showed up in Paris eight years ago, it’s still not anywhere close to fluent, or a place where I feel comfortable being myself en français.
I’m enjoying being understood (and, in turn, understanding others with ease) on a daily basis here in SF, but I do also miss saying “pardon” and “merci” all the time—the two words that come the most naturally to me. (How do you say “People Pleaser” in French? :)
Yesterday, I was at a coffee shop aptly named Réveille (“wake up” in French), where a group of Frenchies sat down next to me. For the first time in a while, I wanted to eavesdrop and see if I could understand what they were saying. I mostly could, but I also mostly only wanted to chime in with a “coucou” to the 18-month-old they let crawl on the sidewalk between their table and mine. (Pas de judgement. D’accord. Un petit peu...No judgement. OK, a little bit…) Because I still only feel truly comfortable chatting with a child—and just so. My friends’ kids back in Paris can talk me under the table this one was crawling around, and it’s not just two-year-old gibberish. It’s FRENCH two-year-old gibberish. Humbling AF.
Still, I have come a long way. I mostly attribute this to immersion, but it’s also due to a handful of other methods including the fun (mostly free) ones below. Courage!
I only recently started subscribing to this Substack, but I absolutely adore the format. Basically, a French woman named Amelie writes out a short conversation in French, followed by its English translation. The topics she covers range from ‘What charities do you support?’ to ‘What was your first car?’ to ‘What’s your favorite holiday?’ The goal is not to focus on the conjugations too much (though it is helpful to see the spelling written out), but on the conversational manner of the discussion. Her approach is simple and effective and she only sends one a week.
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