May 8, 2009
Dr. Allard has a special interest in China and speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. He’s French Canadian, and I’ve had twelve years of French, so it’s nice to have someone you can have just a snippet of conversation with in French.
I studied French originally because my mom took it, and we wanted to have a secret language. In high school, we had an exchange student, and I was able to go back to Paris with her. I went with her family to Italy and to their house in Switzerland, and I was just part of the family—just one of the Kopeckys. That was so cool. I wasn’t an American saying, “Excuse me, do you speak English?” I was able to be a part of that country.
I had asked my high school French teacher how you know when you’re fluent, and she said when you can finally think in French—when you don’t have to translate a question into English and then translate your response into French. I remember the first time I had a dream in French. I told my teacher the next day, and we started having a conversation in French. It just came out, with no thought behind it. I was ecstatic.
« Newer Post | Home | Older Post »