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My extra attempts to hang out with French people are really starting to pay off

A lot has changed since my last blog post – I have decided to stay here in Bordeaux but I have been offered an internship so I sadly left KEDGE last week. It does mean that I get the best of both worlds however as I get to improve my French in a working environment …

Picking up good and bad linguistic habits in Bordeaux

The thing about living in a foreign country is that you don’t acquire the sort of language suitable for fourth year essay writing. Unless, of course, the department decides to set an essay about the numerous swear words that are profligate in France. I like to think that I have learnt more than a handful …

What a difference a term makes

Having now spent three months in France I feel a great sense of pride at how my language skills have developed. This has been helped by the amount of traveling I have done around the country. A personal highlight has to be spending a weekend in Bordeaux. I celebrated a friend’s twenty-third birthday in the …

Obviously you can never learn all the words…

Post written by Matt Watts. So I’ve now moved on from the sunny climes of Spain and Madrid and have moved to Bressuire, France. Bressuire is a small town near the city of Poitiers in the east of France and I’m working here from October to April as an English Language Assistant through the British …

I spend a good majority of my free time in the local patisserie

Post written by Katherine Hughes. It’s hard to believe that I’ve already spent three months in France. If I’m honest, it’s gone by much more quickly than my time spent in Germany but I think everybody’s experience abroad is influenced, however marginally, by the presence of other people. I can’t stress how much being surrounded …

Living in an apartment full of sticky labels

Living alone in an apartment in a very small town in France has undoubtedly left me with a lot of time on my hands! Although at times I feel very lonely, this has allowed me to use my time and the resources around me efficiently. I quickly came to realise how hard it would be …

A bientôt, Paris

It has been strange adapting to hearing another language on the train on the way into work every day, but seeing as I have been working in English during my first internship in Paris, the metro has so far proved invaluable. After a time I’ve been able to understand snatches of people’s conversations, and also, …

Singing in a choir helps my French pronunciation

Over the last 3 months I would l like to think that living in France has improved my level of language in many ways. Initially the integration process into the small town that I am based in meant that I needed to research lots of new vocabulary in order to successfully find accommodation, furnish and …

French grammar – My new year’s resolution

Post written by Bethan Roberts Bonjour and bonnes fêtes de fin d’année! The last three months really have flown by, and the Christmas holidays came as a surprise! I have been working hard at school and have managed to establish a bit of a routine. I have also been skiing most weekends, visited lots of …

Determined to speak fluent French…even if everyone else is speaking English

Having now spent six months in France, I feel it is a good time to reflect on how much my French has improved. I went out in June with very high expectations that I would come back almost fluent. I realise now that this was a very unrealistic aim! The main thing that I feel …