I've become a tutor! I've accepted extra lessons and I'm now tutoring a young French girl English. It's a very exciting experience to literally be wanted "because I speak to languages", as I felt it was necessary to explain I'm not actually a qualified teacher!! Instead, once a week I'll be doing a conversational class to help the student improve her pronunciation and confidence in English. I began today and it's extremely self rewarding - I'd recommend anyone who's been asked to do the same in France to go for it! I'm very lucky to have an enthusiastic and very kind 11 year old! It was a real pleasure sitting explaining things backwards and forwards in two languages fluently and often it helps my French just as much as it helps her English. I've now met another French family through this and hope to continue doing this every Monday. I was really lucky that I was asked to do this, but I think if you've got a lot of free time or need something to keep you busy or simply just enjoy speaking two languages in a French environment, put an Ad up at school/online/in the local newspaper. Why not!
Tomorrow is my day off - I'm really glad as the next 3 days I'll be getting up at 6, looking like a train wreck and trying to function in French...ooooh dear. I've decided I'm going to seize the opportunity to have a bit of sleep but tour Douai, get some confidence back and see if I can squeeze in some me time for reading - I'm sure I can! For anyone who's interested, my brother tomorrow starts his radio show! It'll be every Tuesday (11am-1pm UK time) on http://thecatradio.co.uk/ so I HAVE to be home to catch this!!
Wednesday I'm in Biache for a little bit, then coming home to relax before the "journée de formation" in Lille Thursday. I'm really not optimistic. Other regions of France may have been better, but Lille has been shocking for training. I've felt it's been a waste of time and money ...especially when they make you do the cup song from Pitch Perfect...thankfully it's an opportunity to see friends! Friday means another early get up but for Paris! So this will be totally worth it, even if it is forecast rain!!!! I'm hopefully going to be meeting up with my uni friend Zoe in Paris too, so she can join our mad crew of assistants for the day!!!
Another main reason for me writing today, is that I really need to say a lot of thank you's and mercis. A year abroad cannot be perfect all of the time. This is a fact, they're are going to be things that happen to anyone who moves to a foreign country... sometimes out of our control. In my case, a lot out of my control. What is important, is that in hard times that assistants in France have family and friends. Whatever the weather. I'm really grateful to so many people lately, especially my family - which I see as my close family, Caroline and her family, Marie and her family, and of course Rich, Luke, Vanessa, Nia, Becca, Lauren, Julia, Beth and Jess!!!! Especially as of late, I dread to think where I'd be without everyone's support, help and guidance, facebook chats! SO THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU HEROS. You've made me feel like Jess again.
On a positive note, the French is getting easier day by day. Living in France is like being thrown in at the deep end without your armbands - but I refuse to sink. I've been put into many situations so it's allowed me to really adapt my language! OK nothing is perfect, I have my days where I just need English and my brain feels a bit dead....but this is becoming less and less! Let's hope it just gets better.
ROLL ON PARIS.
JR xxxx
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