When I went to open my bank account the other day, the teller couldn’t speak English – but he insisted on trying to do so anyway. Maybe he did this for my benefit, or maybe he wanted the practice, but in the end we were both just confused. His sentences trailed off self-consciously, much in the way mine do sometimes, when I’m searching for the right words and hoping someone else will find them for me. I wished he would just stick to his own language, so that I’d have a better chance at understanding him. I wonder if people here feel the same way about me, and maybe they do, but I am nonetheless convinced that my French is light-years ahead of this guy’s English. When I left the bank, I was slightly less than 100% sure that I’d successfully opened an account. I’ll be relieved when my debit card arrives in the mail.
In any case, I can tell that my French is improving even if it doesn’t always feel that way. A few days ago, I struggled to buy toothpaste, my tongue stumbling over the wrong words and eventually apologizing, “Je suis pas francaise.” Then the following day, I had a lengthy conversation with the history teacher about American politics, and my French was confident and fluid, though obviously not without a few errors. I’m not sure if “practice makes perfect” applies to languages, but I’ll keep working on it and let you know.
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