Ce n'est jamais trop tard

It’s never too late to brush up or pick up another language.

Maud learnt French a long time ago at school.

Her teacher was enthusiastic, the class was small and everyone joined in — often cracking each other up when they spoke because they all sounded so silly and strange.

Dressing up, making food and singing with all the other French learners to celebrate Bastille Day was one of the highlights of the school year.

Later — whenever Maud travelled in France — she noticed that after a few days she could say a bit more than bonjour and merci.

Words and phrases from her school French classes would start coming back to her.

That made her feel amazing.

And impressed her husband.

These days Maud’s been retired for a while and her body’s slowing down.

But she wants to keep her mind active.

So for the past year we’ve been having weekly chats, either face-to-face or online.

At first in English mingled with some French expressions, then in Franglais, and now we can go for quite a good stretch in French.

Pas mal ! N’est-ce pas ?

We talk about food, books, films, music and travel. About her lovely garden and how working in it is becoming a struggle. About her delight in her four grandchildren.

We laugh a lot, like in Maud’s French classes at school.

As well as our weekly conversations, Maud revises vocabulary with flashcards, uses an app for learning French that I helped her download and she’s watching some French videos on YouTube.

Maud used to work in healthcare and knows the research has shown that language learning brings psychological and cognitive benefits that promote healthy ageing.

Using and improving her French helps keep Maud’s mind active.

Plus she’s having fun.

You can too.

Because it’s never too late to brush up or pick up another language.

If you don’t know how to start, email me and I can help.

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