“Je parle un peu français…”

I have graduated from “Parlez-vous anglais?” (Do you speak English? – refer to the post from the 29^th June 2011) to “Je parle un peu français” (I speak a little French) followed by either an attempt at speaking French (i.e. stringing together enough French words to be understood) or if the situation is too complicated I revert back to the good old faithful “Parlez-vous anglais?”.

How, you may wonder, have a taken graduated and taken this huge jump (ok it’s not huge but never the less a step in the right direction)? Well in addition to my weekly 1h30mins of French at Hubby’s work I decided to enrol on a 3 week French course at the University of Genève.  This was an attempt to improve my French but I was also bored of being a ‘woman of leisure’ while waiting for my work permit and needed to meet new people and make some friends.

In front of the University of Genève

The course started the 8^th August and on the first day we had to write a French test to assess our level of the language. Levels were A1 and A2 (beginner), B1 and B2 (intermediate) and C1 and C2 (advanced).  Unsurprisingly I was on A1!

Actual classes started on the 9^th and we were assigned to smaller groups with people that are meant to be at a similar level.  Classes started at 9:00am till 12:00 noon and then in the afternoon there were various workshops and activities you could attend (all in French of course) for additional learning.  These included pronunciation, grammar, oral and my favourite, Swiss Folk Stories.

We were 12 in our group in total and I have to say we were a very interesting group. We had students, lecturers (including a professor of chemistry who specialises in bubbles), a lady on her way to work in Haiti for 2 years, a documentary film maker, a photographer and film editor (he edited Big Cat Diary – I love that show), a lady wanting to learn French as she is pregnant with her first child, another marketing professional and a fellow South African!

Even more interesting was that 5 of us are in Genève due to our partners being transferred here for work. So many of us are in the same boat, needing to learn French to try find a job (unless you are self employed of course).

Our lecturer was also very nice. She is Swiss and is very creative and arty and was very patient with us. She only spoke French during the lessons, which proved a challenge, but towards the end I was surprised at how much I understood (although I still have a long way to go, of course).

The 3 weeks really flew by and on the last day our group had a lovely picnic in the park les Bastions, which is just outside the university.



Some of the members of my French group

I definitely feel the course was worthwhile because, although I sometimes felt out of my depth and do not remember all the vocabulary we learnt, I met wonderfully interesting people some of whom I have continued and will continue to stay in touch with.
Genève est très bonne...