Quote:
Originally Posted by FrAnKs
Are you totally fluent in French?
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I was. French is my second language, but we only spoke English at home as my parents were not very good at speaking French. I can understand 100% when reading/listening but I tend to speak with considerably less facility than I did in my early 20s (when I was fluent), half a lifetime ago. When I get together with French-speaking members of my family, after about 4 hours it all starts coming back, and I can converse quite well (allowing for mangled verb tenses and some mixups with word order). My children are both in French Immersion so I am brushing up on my French. Otherwise, there is little opportunity for me to use it in London. I did work for years in almost exclusively francophone environments, and that is the best way to get you to think in French (which makes it much easier to speak, than to 'translate' in your head). I can enjoy French programming on the TV and watch movies in French without missing anything, and I certainly get by very well when in Quebec/France.