15 Years

I studied French in school. And that is not counting the two years of French I took in University. I have an official bilingual certificate, but unfortunately since I don't speak French as often as I used to, it is pretty rusty.

Sometimes when I speak French to strangers, they switch to English. Which I find pretty insulting considering how much effort I put into speaking French in the first place. Apparently my accent isn't so good. My Dad and Mom were both born and raised in Montréal. My Dad can speak any dialect of French he chooses. It just rolls of his toungue. Whether we are in Paris, France or Mont Laurier, Québec my Dad can talk to anyone anywhere. He even started giving sermons at a Church up in the Gatineau in French last year. My Mom, well she can get by, but prefers not to speak it, she lacks the confidence in her language skills. I guess I take after my Mom.

In University I took Spanish, I speak better Spanish than I do French, and always when I do speak Spanish to a person of Spanish origin, they always, always reply in Spanish. Imagine that. They also immediately slow down their speech for my so I won't get lost in their quick talking. I love Spanish.

Hubby took a French test yesterday. He has been studying French for 5 weeks. Not only has he been able to correct my French when I try to help him (which I don't want to offer, in case I mess him up) but, he knows almost all of his verbs!!! His first ever real conversation in French was at this test. He was able to tell the person administering the test this much... in French. So, my Hubby has gone all of his life saying "I can do ____ because I don't speak French". Well, not anymore. He had to at least score a 1, meaning that he understood some basic French and could reply with mistakes. He not only scored a 2, meaning that he understood and replied with little mistake, but he scored a 2.5!!! Sorry, that is out of a score of 5. Ack! All those years spent learning and speaking French, and here Hubby goes mastering the language in 5 short weeks. He still has some learning to go, but obviously he will be chatting with my Dad in no time flat. Now his Dad will be asking him if he is going to start learning German.