Before Starting…

By Roberto Gamberini, translated rather freely from Italian by Daniel Stephens

Garage, baguette, brioche, chapeau – I think those are all the French words I know!

Other than the names of rather some good wines, a few famous sauces and the various French teams in the Champions League, my knowledge of the language is embarrassingly limited.

I’ve been to France a few times. I love the literature, especially authors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But of course, I have to read them in translation.

I’m a fan of French cinema, too. In my home town there’s a French cultural center, and an academy. Both organize frequent events, which I would love to be able to attend – if only I could understand what was being talked about!

So that’s my motivation – I’d like to learn some French so as to be better able to appreciate the rich culture.

But I also hope to be able to order a Kir Royal in Paris without upsetting the waiter by using English.

And ideally, I’d develop a refined, melodic, and terribly sexy, French accent!

But… I don’t have time to attend an actual French course.

And a private tutor would cost too much.

I’ve already studied a foreign language online, and made more progress than I expected too.

So, I think I’ll try the same approach with French.

DontSpeakFrench.com seems just what I’ve been looking for: a website developed by experienced language teachers which offers abundant free materials.

It’s worth a try, at least.

Trois, deux, un: go!

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Follow Roberto’s progress with French over the next month or so in this series of ten articles. Or join him on his journey: DontSpeakFrench.com