JonathanByrne.net

I studied French for 6 years and unfortunately never got to visit France during these years.  As with anything you learn, if you don’t put it into practice you will forget it very quickly.  Such is the dilemma I found myself in as soon as I arrived in Morocco.

It is an Arabic speaking country but 90% of the people here also speak French.  I never got to go on a student exchange to France because the year my class were supposed to go Foot and Mouth struck Ireland and that cancelled all travel plans.  The result of this means I struggle every morning asking the Taxi driver to take me to work.  Its worse if he understands my initial request because I then have to heed his chit chat and explain to him that I don’t speak french….just a few select lines that my iPhone gave me.

So I’ve downloaded iPhone apps and consulted a French friend for some tips, I can at least order a coffee!  Expect a separate blog on the quality of coffee and tea in Morocco soon. For those few minutes when I order a coffee, I actually blend into Moroccan society and don’t stand out as a ‘possible American’.  This seems to be the impression a lot of Moroccan Taxi drivers get when the see me.  They seem to relax a bit when I say ‘Je suis de Irlandais’.

I’m rambling a bit here so I shall sum up by saying why the fuck were we not sent to France when we studied it for 6 years?  After 6 years I was able to write French essays!  It should be mandatory in every school that at least once a year, for every language you learn you must visit the country or something similar.  Even a few weeks a year where you were forced to speak a different language like the Gealteachts.

I’ll continue learning french will I’m here, it would be nice to have another language, it could open up more job opportunities in the future and then I could have a lovely chat with the Moroccan Taxi drivers.