It's Me, Sara Louise

When I first moved here, I was pretty motivated with my French lessons. I studied a couple of hours every morning and would always have on the television in the background while I went about my day (By the way, 7th Heaven in French is just as annoying, and Spencer Pratt even more so if that is humanly possible).

Then we got Fifty, and my French study schedule got a bit off. My determination to house train Fifty took up most of my time and left me pretty exhausted (once I was so tired, I was getting in the shower and instead of throwing my panties in the hamper, I threw them in the toilet. True story).

So French lessons took a back seat to Fifty’s ability to not leave little presents in the house.

And more excuses…

Then it was Christmas in La Bourboule.

And then we went to Dublin in January.

And my birthday was in February (aka International Day of Awesomeness)

And then we went to the States in March, and oh, got married.

So as you can see, there have been plenty of excuses for me not to study my French everyday. Besides, I live here. Basically everyday life is one big annoying French lesson.

In order for me to get back on track, I’ve gone back to my old faithful; studying like a fourth grader. It’s the way I learn.

Writing things down helps me commit things to memory. Plus, flashcards are more fun (yes flashcards are fun, stop laughing at me) then studying some text book.

Anyhoo, I had a buttload of flashcards when I lived in Dublin, probably close to a thousand. And I’d study them on the bus on the way to work in the morning and on the way home

Sidebar – last summer when I was visiting Le Petit Village, I was having ice cream with V. She asked me how I studied French (we were speaking bits of French and bits of English so the conversation was slow, odd, and utterly confusing). I told her that I made flashcards every night and then would study them on the bus on the way to work. What she got out of this conversation was that I drove a bus for work.

Flashcards work for me. It’s the easiest way for me to learn vocabulary and actually have it stick in my wee brain. The Husband likes to point at random things when we’re out and about and I’ll use my flashcard learned French words (it’s like a non-stop pop quiz around here, my inner Lisa Simpson is elated).

So I’ve gone back to the flashcards.

And it’s Fifty’s fault I’m not fluent in French yet.

That’s all I wanted to say.