French Class

The last time I studied french in a classroom setting I was 20.   My french language skills are rusty to say the least.

A week ago I went to the SHAPE language center for an assessment.  How much french did I know?  Could I speak coherently?  At what level?  I was placed in intermediate +.

This morning was my first class.  My instructor is Belgian and my classmates are primarily the middle-aged wives of SHAPE employees and one sole male Canadian teenager who looked miserable.  There are eight of us in all - three Americans, the Canadian, a German, a Pole, a Brit and the Portuguese wife of an American.  It is a small class, so it is impossible to hide and avoid speaking.

I'm finding that bits and pieces are coming back to me, words and phrases of varying usefulness are finding their way back to my consciousness.   However, with greater frequency I am groping for a word or verb conjugation that I used to know, but know no longer.

I do hope that I will be able to converse with French speakers without sounding like an idiot and without babbling as I struggle for the words I want.  I'll be working at it twice a week, so hopefully I'll see results.

Wish me bonne chance! (good luck)