Since I started studying English in middle school at the age of 11, I have always been fond of it. One of my dreams was to be able to speak like an Englishman.
For a long time I believed it was possible. In André Maurois high school I worked as hard as possible but in France foreign languages are so badly taught that even after 7 years in secondary school it's quite impossible to have a real conversation with a British person.
We are not trained to understand the sentences quickly. Most classes are taught in French. We lack vocabulary and the French teachers have this accent that doesn't prepare our ear to catch the British one.
We study literature while we are not able to ask for something in a store, something of daily life or to ask for our way.
However everything is not negative: we can travel. Even if we don't speak well it's possible to have contacts with the locals.
As a matter of fact , I think the only way to speak a foreign language really well is to live for some years in the corresponding country - or to work with Play And Learn association.
article by Daniel Questel © April 2010
link : Lycée André Maurois high school (click)