French weekend course in London: Cactus staff review

Although up until now I have taken lessons in several languages, French hasn’t been part of my linguistic portfolio until recently. I learnt some very basics of the language on a beginner course at university but since then I hadn’t really done anything to maintain my French except for some random phrases learnt from my French friends. So when I booked train tickets for a city break in Paris I decided it was time to brush up my skills.

While it is indeed useful to spend time in a country where the language is spoken, taking a course really boosts the learning experience. I was only going to spend three days on the other side of the channel so I didn’t have time to do a course there. Instead I decided to combine my trip to France with a Cactus weekend course as they particularly suit people like me who are heading for a holiday and quickly want to gain results. The timing of the course was also perfect as my city break in Paris took place between the two classes of the course.

Not only did I complete a French Level 3 crash course over two Saturdays and nipped off for a quick trip to Paris but spent time on homework and practicsed with friends as well. After spending some time in a French-speaking environment and completing the course I felt I had learnt quite a lot in a short space of time about both French language and culture. I had taken the Cactus level test a few months earlier and it placed me at a low level 2. After a week of intensive French learning I decided to have another go and got a score equivalent to level 4.

On the first day of my crash course I was terrified of having to speak French as my skills were really sketchy. I had wanted a challenge but when I actually had to open my mouth and produce words and sentences that would actually make sense, I was not too sure anymore. Soon after my uncertain start I realised that I had to take on a new attitude which meant not worrying too much about my broken French but instead allowing myself to make mistakes and learn from them. That was the way to overcome the challenge, and soon I began to feel more comfortable in the class.

We practised speaking quite a lot in class and every time we reached an impasse and were hoping our teacher would give us the translations we needed she advised us to find another way of expressing what we wanted to say. Though it might feel a bit frustrating at first, it is clearly an effective way of learning as you have no way around French other than simply speaking it. Otherwise you just keep translating between languages, rather than learning to think in the language you are attempting to learn.

Three days later I embarked on my journey to Paris. My French immersion experience began immediately as announcements on the train were both in French and English. I tried to take advantage of the French-speaking environment and make my stay in Paris a learning experience. Besides taking in the beauty of Paris I paid attention to the language in every possible situation. I was listening to people around me. I read posters, newspaper headlines, street signs and etiquettes in a supermarket.

Going on a holiday to Paris amid my French classes was definitely beneficial to my language learning. Being able to practise what I had learnt was motivating, and I could see the results. I noticed how similar French is to English in terms of vocabulary and I started noticing patterns in the language. My vocabulary is still limited but clearly my brain had started to decipher the language and I was able to figure out many words with the help of English and Spanish.

While in Paris I decided to interact in French only when making orders in a restaurant, café or going shopping. I recall the sense of achievement when on my first day I managed to buy some tickets for buses and undergrounds. It wasn’t a long dialogue but nevertheless it was the first time I used French in a real-life situation. If such small things could make me so delighted, it was definitely worth making the effort to learn the language. Being able to put my newly acquired language skills into use right away was a truly motivating experience and I am looking forward to taking my French skills further.

Cactus offers weekend ‘crash’ courses in French, German, Italian, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese at our Holbon-Russell Square centre in London. Courses now take place over one weekend, with 5 hours of tuition on Saturday and the same on Sunday.