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I went to a French language meetup

1070 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  solasum, 
Madison_Rose
My last meetup was an utter fail. I'm extra-shy in French.

I was sorely tempted not to go along, but I just got my bloody-minded head on and said to myself I was definitely going. I spoke (in french, naturellement) to a scotttish couple who speak it fluently, a charming Australian woman who speaks it better than me, and a lady my age who speaks the language about as well as I do. It was really nerve-racking, though it was easier because I wasn't speaking to actual native speakers - that scares me more, for some reason. I was quiet for a lot of the time, but I made an effort to speak quite a bit, and I explained that I was very shy in French. People were nice and understanding.

I walked home trembling violently, with my heart pounding, and I'm still shaking a bit, but it doesn't matter, I'm pleased with myself. Next time I want to speak to the native speakers, at least a little bit. I was a litttle disappointed that I didn't exactly make any friends, or get anyone's phone number, but never mind. If I keep meeting people, I'm bound to "click" with someone and make a friend or two. Also, maybe I can make friendly overtures online to some of the people I met tonight.

I communicated in French! I met people! Yay!
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Perfectionist
That sounds awesome! I'm learning French as well, and speaking to others in French still terrifies me. You're right about how speaking to native French speakers is somehow more nervewracking.

That's so cool that you met new people and actually spoke up. Way to go! :boogie
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Cheeky
Congratulations, that's awesome!
I lived in Quebec, our French province, for 2.5 years.....It was the most silent 2.5 years of my life lol. I know how awkward it is to speak in a second language - especially with native speakers. :boogie
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tigerlilly
congratulations!
i'm learning french as well, but i would be too shy to go to something like that alone.
and i know my pronunciation isn't that bad, but i struggle with R's a lot. it makes me really self-conscious
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Madison_Rose
Ah, the french r. Don't get hung up on it - they understand you perfectly well if you pronounce words with your usual, english r-sound. If you really want to say it - can you pronounce the german word "ich," or the scottish word "loch?" (no, it's not pronounced "lock"). If you can't say ich, work on it, that phoneme's easier and it'll help you with the french r. If/when you can say the ch-sound in ich, try rolling an r in exactly the same place.
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Adelleda
That's great, despite not wanting to attend you still dragged yourself out to class, which is a great step in itself, even if you don't think it was a lot, it was still something and it is a good step no matter how small or big, maybe you should set that out as your next step, to communicate with one of the native speakers.

I wish you the best of luck and hope it goes well!
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solasum
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