Monthly Archives: October 2011

Je me sens nue/I feel naked :D

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Not literally. But in a figurative sense I feel exposed. Naked. Nue. The reason is that speaking french all the time can be very stressful especially with native speakers of the language. For me, when I speak french it feels like another person is using my mouth.

Right now, I am in an in between state. Part english, part french. But not really one or the other. A kind of Franglais-ten’s Monster. Today, I came to a very important realization: I am English. 

I did not grow up in a French town. I don’t have french parents. I never went to a French school. These aren’t excuse’s, its just the way things are. My first thought about learning French was to suppress my English influence to the point where there is only French left.

But that is not going to work, English is a part of who I am as a person. If I suppress that, a part of myself will disappear. That will not be good for anybody, and I need to rethink how I am going to use French on an everyday basis. The best analogy I can think of is a jacket, that you can put on and off when you need it.

My French jacket right now is kind of thin and doesn’t look very nice. It is a work in progress. Over the next 8 months, I am going to work on and add to it until it keeps me warm and insulated from the French Blizzards here in QuĂ©bec.

Language and culture is more about community than anything. I need to find a community to be part of where I will feel safe to share, and then language will follow. That is my goal in the coming weeks and months. And even after Odyssey I will continue to improve my french with study and conversation.

Passé un belle soirée!

Bill ÉtĂ©