Linguistic biography :
I was born in France like my parents. I will not create a
sensation if I say that my first words were a vague gibberish of
« papa » and « maman ».
All of my family and me are in love of the french language,
our mother tongue. However, our taste for travels and foreign cultures lead us to learn new languages,
then at least, trying to have a good command of
english to be understood in most countries.
Unfortunately, learning english at school was certainly no
pleasure for me. I regret the way than our teachers give us lessons in english.
It was too much academic. Nevertheless, I saw a real différence when I started
high school because I had authentic english teachers. In my opinion, their
teaching was less formal than french learning.
So, work became much more funny !
At the same time, I studied spanish in European class.
Strangely, I liked immediately this language and I had facilities to speak.
When my parents saw my troubles with english learning, which
was more laborious than expected, they made a different choice for my little
sister. Indeed, they enrolled her in an « international school »,
where she speaks english every days with native english speakers. They also
call on english nanny’s servicies. Therefore, at only 8 years, my sister has
almost the same level in english as mine.
Am I jealous ? Absolutely not !
Also, over the years, speak english seemed to me more
important.
First for its utility. Indeed, I found myself in a
complicated situation when I had appendicits during a summer camp in London…
Sometimes, know language become a true
necessity!
Most importantly, speak a language has a humanistic
function. Last year, during my trip to the US, I realizied that we lived
entirely our trip when we discuss with the locals. I think kindness and open
minded of american people helped me to talk to them without fear of being
judged for my language mistakes.
Finally, like many people, I believe the best way to improve
his level in a language, is to practice it in origin country.
