those who can already speak confidently about various topics in the past, present and future tenses but who want to become more confident about using more sophisticated structures in their speech as well as add more varied vocabulary to their language database. Last year, this group discussed French architecture, cinema and literature, having an accident whilst on holiday, the pros and cons of information technology, the highs and lows of owning a property in France (especially French bureaucracy and having to do two lots of gardening)… and leisure pursuits on land, at sea and in the air!
We have now finished working our way through an alphabet of conversation topics using LFF worksheets ‘La France A-Z’ but LFF has also produced some extra materials to supplement the FLE textbook Grammaire en Dialogues which the learners really like; we are finishing off covering both of these and are tackling when to use the subjunctive rather than the indicative.
This course is best enjoyed in person but those with family members, properties or boats/motorhomes abroad can also join in online via Zoom from time to time, although it is better ‘to be in the room when it happens’!
Since my first of many twinning exchange trips to the Loire Valley in France and to the Ruhr Valley in Germany in my teens, I have always loved foreign languages, cultures and people (and of course the food and drink too). As part of my university studies, I spent eight months in Lorraine on the border with Belgium and Luxembourg, four months in Nordrhein-Westfalen on the border with the Netherlands and four months in the city of Lyon. Having only started learning Spanish as an adult, I have not spent extensive amounts of time in Spain but I have holidayed there as well as in Peru. Before becoming a licencee with Language for Fun, I taught for twelve years in secondary schools, including one in Zambia near the border with French-speaking Congo. I have had many adventures in many Francophone, Germanophone and Hispanophone countries where my language 'skills' have both saved the day AND got me into a bit of hot water! Let me use MY cringeworthy past experiences of making hilarious mistakes save YOU from doing the same.
When I am not teaching or learning languages (I speak some Dutch and Italian now too), I enjoy swimming, reading and walking but I am particularly passionate about the performing arts; I think you will be able to tell this when you meet me! I look forward to meeting YOU!