Is the French language addictive for you? A point of view.

IS THE FRENCH LANGUAGE ADDICTIVE FOR YOU?

So, do you have an addictive personality?

Do you stop eating chocolate only when there’s none in the house?

This is not specific to food, it can be the same with work too.

And hobbies too, or anything you learn – French included.

Lindsay Hartfiel is a specialist in travel and she learns languages in her line of work.

Read her guest post below, for an addictive point of view, and watch the video for some French worth going for.

(This week: the verb ALLER – to go)

Seven years ago I arrived in Paris not knowing a single word of French.

Although I was star-struck by the City of Love, I was forced to rely on my friend’s French to get us by.

I knew I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Fast forward five years to 2010… beads of sweat were forming on my palms and an excitedly nervous look was plastered across my face.

It was the first day of school.

But I wasn’t a five-year-old entering the first grade.

Instead, I was 26 years old and attending my first official Spanish class in Costa Rica.

After the initial first day of classes, my anxiety slowly subsided and my vocabulary improved.

However,
as my speaking skills grew, so too did my attachment to this small little country and its people.

Learning the local lingo enabled me to connect with the natives.

Had I not been able to speak the local language, I would not have felt so comfortable in my surroundings, made such close-knit friends and felt like a part of the community.

As many travelers discover, learning a language is one of the most vital steps to becoming truly immersed in a culture and earning respect by the locals.

Unfortunately,
it is often those travelers who choose to learn the language that also have the most difficult time returning home.

Many, like me, travel to places around the world to use their language skills.

But what often happens is that those language skills end up breaking barriers.

Speaking the language creates connections and attachments that most don’t expect or aren’t fully prepared for.

But, when you return home,
you might find that those newly developed bonds leave you with a yearning to go back.

You might find yourself not just missing the spectacular flashes of light shooting from the Eiffel Tower at night or the sinfully delicious chocolate crepes, but you may actually miss those one-on-one conversations with Parisians the most.

Those heartfelt interactions that gave you a more intimate look into the lives of the locals.

The sights might initially attract us, but it’s the people that make us go back.

So, when you’re learning French, prepare yourself for some laughs, some intimate conversations and even a little heartbreak.

Paris, after all, has been known to break a heart or two.

Bio: Lindsay Hartfiel is the editor-in-chief of Native Foreigner Magazine. Native Foreigner is a quarterly digital-only magazine that inspires travelers returning from an extended trip abroad.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Tell us in the comments below: what is your takeaway from this article and what can you apply today?

Let me guess.

Do you constantly have the feeling that you can’t hear what the French say and you don’t know how to read all the French words because they are written so much differently than they sound?

Learn 3 secrets that will help you be self sufficient in the way you pronounce French words – even if you don’t know what they mean – so that you can read that sophisticated menu in your favorite French restaurant.