My Own Language Journey
Starting secondary school My thirst for learning languages started in my first year of secondary school as it was never introduced as a subsidiary subject in the primary curriculum back in the early 90s. I was taught French by the same teacher who had taught my mother, aunt and uncle so there was already a connection and familiarity there. Prior to the age of 16, I had never been abroad as foreign holidays just weren’t a thing in my family, so I am still puzzled by my fascination with learning languages and travelling abroad- perhaps it was a curiosity of the unknown and wanting to be different to others around me. Unlike a lot of kids, I went to school with, I never had family holidays in France.
My first trip to France I gently persuaded my grandparents to let me go on a French exchange for one week as they had stressful experiences in the past so it did take a few weeks to convince them. I had to promise to use my pocket money by doing extra chores to show I was committed to saving up for it. I valued my upbringing with my grandparents as they instilled a positive work and money ethic in me to not spend what I don’t have!
My exchange trip at age 13 really was my first adventure, as well as a taste of freedom and something I would always encourage parents to allow. It’s imperative for one’s development to have that first spell of homesickness, and have that first non-family holiday that holds you in good stead for university life.
Language immersion There is no substitute for bringing the culture, language and society alive than in-country immersion and meeting real natives to get a real sense of identity and understand differences. I learnt that I was a visual and auditory learner, and could easily pick up new words when surrounded by native speakers. I remember even back then I would keep a notepad by my bed to jot down any new words and loved making vocabulary lists. I soaked up the food and hospitality and daily adventures and even then, just wanted to speak French when I couldn’t understand everything. The beauty of being a child learner is you have the confidence and lack of self-awareness to not be embarrassed about making mistakes or mispronouncing any words. I still adopt the same approach to learning new languages at a conversational level. Even when I am travelling now across Europe, I still like to make the effort with languages I don’t know by buying basic phrasebooks and learning the basics.
GCSE & A-Level French I really enjoyed my two-year French course with the same teacher and was put in the higher set which boosted my confidence, as I seemed to show a natural flair for the arts and languages when I was struggling in Maths and Science. The jump to A-level French was quite significant and required more dedication to nailing complex grammar rules and writing mini-essays in French. My A-level journey certainly wasn’t linear as I had initially started studying Sciences as well as French (not sure what possessed me as I had no aptitude in those subjects). My first AS-level year was rather traumatic as I was struggling with my academic limits and didn’t score too well in any of my subjects which made me lose a lot of confidence and knocked me off track. After months of negotiation and parental meetings, I persuaded the Head of Sixth Form to give me a second chance and resit my AS year with new subjects the following September, and take my A-levels over three years rather than the traditional two years sitting. I dropped Biology and Chemistry after I sat my exams and scored a measly D & E grade respectively, and enrolled on A-level Art, French and Religious Studies subjects instead. I was definitely more suited to the humanities subjects and scored high A-level grades which won me my place at Edinburgh.
Edinburgh University to the present day The additional year of French at A-level certainly solidified my grasp of grammar to master the language skills required of me at the undergraduate level. I am more of a creative rather than logical thinker so grammar isn’t a skill that comes naturally to me. I put in the hours of work needed to master the theory but it wasn’t until I studied French in France as part of my year abroad experience, that I began to experience real fluency and competence in having authentic conversations and experiences with natives!
When I was on my year abroad, I was unwell with a severe bout of depression and had to seek medical assistance and have counselling in French. I was located in a rural town where there weren’t many English speakers apart from the expat crowd, so I had no choice but to get my head down and learn how to express myself for my own health. whilst, I wouldn’t recommend this as a way of learning a language, it certainly motivated me to learn quickly so I could accelerate my recovery time. Since graduating in 2010, I haven’t directly used my language skills in my career, other than for the odd bit of tutoring work and socialising with my friends. I am now developing and reviving my languages through founding Learning Languages with Lou and looking to studying for a translation diploma in the next few years which I will align with my virtual assistant business- Libra VA Services! I always knew that my languages degree was never wasted, and it was just a case of needing to align all my personal and professional interests together.