French at 60
Meet French people
It wasn't long after I had set myself the goal of learning to speak French that I realised that to make progress I needed to speak with French people. I started by finding language exchange partners, using the Internet of course, and Skype for video calls. This was challenging to start with but as both you and your partner are learning, mistakes are made on both sides. Much less embarrassing than if you just walk up to somebody and start speaking with them in the street!
Having gained some confidence I later took what was, for me, a bold decision to lodge with a French family for a month in April 2013. The family lived about 20 minutes by train north of Paris and I spent most days in that wonderful city. I was fortunate to make friends and this provided more opportunities to speak French.
Staying with a French family, a couple with three boys, proved to be a valuable cultural experience and taught me that learning a language is about so much more than grammar, vocabulary and being able to speak it. It's a doorway into a different culture. I returned to the same family the next year, again in April, and once again spent most of the time as a flâneur in Paris trying not to look or act like a tourist.
Following my two stays in Paris, the next year I joined a French course in Nice, again lodging with a French family. The course was of two-weeks duration but I stayed in Nice for a month, giving me a free week either side of the course. The stay coincided with the Cannes film festival and the Monaco Grand Prix! I instantly fell in love with Nice. A far friendlier place than Paris for a visitor and much warmer in early spring.
A collection of photos from my 'learning' trips to France and some of the people I met.
Click/touch images for a larger view with captions.
A collection of photos from my 'learning' trips to France and some of the people I met.
Click/touch images for a view with captions.
View in landscape for larger images.
Paris 2013
Me with Yves, one of my early language partners. He kindly met me in 2013 having previously contacted organisations that could offer me opportunities to mix with and speak to people.
Here we are at the top of one of the flights of steps up to Montmartre.
Le Plessis-Bouchard (north of Paris) 2013
My host family Noémie and Olivier with their three sons, and me of course.
A very enjoyable month, which I repeated in 2014.
The camera was on the coffee table thus the odd angle.
Nanterre (Paris) 2013
I helped at at an English Class run by the EFEL Center at La Maison Pour Tous at Nanterre, west of Paris.
A photo with the members of the group who appreciated having an English person help them.
I did also get the opportunity to speak French!
Paris 2013 - Senlis
Catherine, seated next to me, was another early language exchange partner. She invited me to Senlis where I met her mother and two family friends for dinner.
We started with a champagne aperitif, then foie gras, with confiture de figues and white wine. The plat principal was salmon cooked in a hollandaise sauce with lemon and champignons de Paris with red wine. For dessert Catherine had bought a special cake. Lots of cream and chocolate and no doubt hundreds of calories - but very nice. After this feast I set up the camera on self-timer and took our photo with all the wine bottles still in place to record the nature of the event.
Paris 2013
In this photo I was actually out with the Randonneurs d'Île-de-France, doing a walk taking in the bridges of the Seine. Not very nice weather as it happened.
I did two walks with this group (see next photo) and managed a bit of chatting along the way.
Bois de Vincennes - Paris 2013
Yves, who I mentioned in an earlier photo, organised a guest membership for me of the Randonneurs d'Île-de-France. Here I'm following the group through the Bois de Vincennes to the east of Paris.
I chatted to a woman, Martine, throughout the 15km walk.
She spoke no English and I can't say that I didn't struggle a bit at times but it certainly gave me plenty of opportunity to practise.
La Defense - Paris 2013
La Defense is a large business area to the west of Paris, close to Nanterre where I had met people at the Maison Pour Tous.
Here I'm with Jessi, a young German woman who was to replace me at the host family, but we overlapped a couple of days.
Also with us was Paps from the EFEL Center.
Nanterre 2014
I returned to Paris in 2014 and met up with people from the Maison Pour Tous, where I had helped out in an English group the previous year. We met in a flat for snacks and conversation. Quite testing with a room full of people speaking French.
Nanterre 2014
After a pleasant get together and chat, a photograph before we said our goodbyes.
On the far right is Pape Niokhor Fall, known everybody as Paps, who ran the EFEL English Group and to whom I was introduced by Yves who, as I've mentioned, had organised contacts for me in Paris prior to my 2013 trip.
Institut linguistique alpha.b - Nice 2015
This institute runs a range of French courses in Nice, offering both tuition and the attractions of the Côte d'Azur.
I joined the 50+ group, judging it to be more suitable than the courses for younger students. The photo shows the members of that group.
We had tuition in the mornings and the institute laid on visits to local attractions during the afternoons. A very acceptable arrangement.
Institut linguistique alpha.b - Nice 2015
After the first day at alpha.b we were put into groups best suited to our abilities.
Here is our intermediate group that comprised a mix of nationalities. There were two other English people, the others being Dutch, American, Swiss, German and Brazilian.
This made for an interesting cultural experience.
Lyon 2018
Ludo (Ludovic) is a language exchange partner with whom I have spoken since 2010.
We had never met in person but my wife and I were on holiday in Lyon and he and his family drove over from Le Jura.
It was a very pleasant day, Ludo practising his English with my wife, Helen, while I spoke French with his wife, Valérie. It's fair to say that we both struggled a bit as our wives didn't make the same allowances when speaking as we did as exchange partners.
Paris 2013
Me with Yves, one of my early language partners. He kindly met me in 2013 having previously contacted organisations that could offer me opportunities to mix with and speak to people.
Here we are at the top of one of the flights of steps up to Montmartre.
Le Plessis-Bouchard (north of Paris) 2013
My host family Noémie and Olivier with their three sons, and me of course.
A very enjoyable month, which I repeated in 2014.
The camera was on the coffee table thus the odd angle.
Nanterre (west of Paris) 2013
I helped at at an English Class run by the EFEL Center at La Maison Pour Tous at Nanterre, west of Paris.
A photo with the members of the group who appreciated having an English person help them.
I did also get the opportunity to speak French!
Paris 2013 - Senlis
Catherine, seated next to me, was another early language exchange partner. She invited me to Senlis where I met her mother and two family friends for dinner.
We started with a champagne aperitif, then foie gras, with confiture de figues and white wine. The plat principal was salmon cooked in a hollandaise sauce with lemon and champignons de Paris with red wine. For dessert Catherine had bought a special cake. Lots of cream and chocolate and no doubt hundreds of calories - but very nice. After this feast I set up the camera on self-timer and took our photo with all the wine bottles still in place to record the nature of the event.
Paris 2013
In this photo I was actually out with the Randonneurs d'Île-de-France, doing a walk taking in the bridges of the Seine. Not very nice weather as it happened.
I did two walks with this group (see next photo) and managed a bit of chatting along the way.
Bois de Vincennes - Paris 2013
Yves, who I mentioned in an earlier photo, organised a guest membership for me of the Randonneurs d'Île-de-France. Here I'm following the group through the Bois de Vincennes to the east of Paris.
I chatted to a woman, Martine, throughout the 15km walk.
She spoke no English and I can't say that I didn't struggle a bit at times but it certainly gave me plenty of opportunity to practise.
La Defense - Paris 2013
La Defense is a large business area to the west of Paris, close to Nanterre where I had met people at the Maison Pour Tous.
Here I'm with Jessi, a young German woman who was to replace me at the host family, but we overlapped a couple of days.
Also with us was Paps from the EFEL Center.
Nanterre 2014.
I returned to Paris in 2014 and met up with people from the Maison Pour Tous, where I had helped out in an English group the previous year. We met in a flat for snacks and conversation. Quite testing with a room full of people speaking French.
Nanterre 2014
After a pleasant get together and chat, a photograph before we said our goodbyes.
On the far right is Pape Niokhor Fall, known everybody as Paps, who ran the EFEL English Group and to whom I was introduced by Yves who, as I've mentioned, had organised contacts for me in Paris prior to my 2013 trip.
Institut linguistique alpha.b - Nice 2015
This institute runs a range of French courses in Nice, offering both tuition and the attractions of the Côte d'Azur.
I joined the 50+ group, judging it to be more suitable than the courses for younger students. The photo shows the members of that group.
We had tuition in the mornings and the institute laid on visits to local attractions during the afternoons. A very acceptable arrangement.
Institut linguistique alpha.b - Nice 2015
After the first day at alpha.b we were put into groups best suited to our abilities.
Here is our intermediate group that comprised a mix of nationalities. There were two other English people, the others being Dutch, American, Swiss, German and Brazilian.
This made for an interesting cultural experience.
Lyon 2018
Ludo (Ludovic) is a language exchange partner with whom I have spoken since 2010.
We had never met in person but my wife and I were on holiday in Lyon and he and his family drove over from Le Jura.
It was a very pleasant day, Ludo practising his English with my wife, Helen, while I spoke French with his wife, Valérie. It's fair to say that we both struggled a bit as our wives didn't make the same allowances when speaking as we did as exchange partners.
Read more
A link appears on each page to the site's associated Facebook page. And there is a link to Amazon on the Book page.
Other links are to sites associated with the relevant subject matter and are considered to be trusted.
Site by Kilburnlad
© RJ Bassett 2025
obscuref60
Built in RapidWeaver
Using Source
Site by Kilburnlad
© RJ Bassett 2023
obscuref60
Built in RapidWeaver
Using Source