Almost certainly, the biggest challenge we Brits face when moving to France is the language. It’s not about mastering the intricacies of the subjunctive; it’s about surviving a trip to the pharmacy, ordering at the bakery, or calling a plumber in an emergency. GCSE French — however faint and distant the memory — might give us a handful of words, but it’s nowhere near enough, and so we flounder. I hear many people say they’ve given up.
It’s little wonder so many British newcomers ask, “Do you speak English?” or worse, “Parlez-vous Anglais?” Finding someone who speaks our language makes life easier. And, to their credit, the French are often wonderfully helpful when approached in English — but that’s not really the solution. In fact, the French do genuinely appreciate it when we try to speak their language.
Back “home,” we expect immigrants to learn English and adapt to our culture. It’s easy to forget that, in France, we are the immigrants — and we’ve chosen to be here to feast in one of the richest cultures in the World.
Learning a language is hard work and demands persistence. Lessons are valuable for grammar, structure, and vocabulary, but they rarely prepare you for real-life encounters: taking the van for its contrôle technique, or hunting down the right cable for a printer. After three years of steady study, I still get hopelessly lost in the rapid, colloquial French of everyday conversations. It can be very dispiriting!
But then, quite by chance, I stumbled across a conversation group running in a neighbouring village: likeminded Brits keen to practise their French, and French locals eager to polish their English — all by speaking about real-life situations.
Those evenings were so encouraging that, together with a few English friends and my French neighbour, I decided to start a group in my own village, Douchapt, in the Dordogne. At first, we gathered in a side room at the local restaurant, but someone suggested that if we formed and registered an association, we could have free use of the village salle des fêtes and even be featured in the village newsletter.
And so Doux Chat was born — a fully registered French association, complete with a bank account, organising committee, statutes and meeting minutes. The setting up paperwork was voluminous, and we had four meetings with the bank before they found our lost paperwork and opened an account for us. But the word “bureaucracy“ partlyhas its roots in French, so they must be seen to be masters of it.
We meet every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the salle des fêtes for 90 minutes, dividing into tables of six people: half English, half French. Surprisingly, there’s never a shortage of French participants eager to improve their English; it’s often the Brits who need a little coaxing out of their homes/renovation projects to join the fun. The mayor comes in from time to time and we get a mention and a clap during the annual village meeting.
Each session has a theme: matching French and English phrases, describing summer or Christmas holidays, practising a dentist appointment, tackling a pub quiz, a music night, or naming what you might find in a garden centre, a lady’s handbag, a fruit and veg stall, or even a zoo.
We have just two rules: everyone should try to speak in their non-native language for the whole evening, and we gently correct one another as we go. After two years, Doux Chat (sweet cat/soft chat – take your pick) now has 40 members drawn from a radius of about 15km from our village, each paying a €20 annual subscription. Around 20 people — a good balance of English and French — attend each evening. We have complete beginners to fluent speakers, and everyone helps each other along. Most bring something to share: snacks, drinks, or home-baked treats. One gentleman even brings along his homemade biltong, cured in his airing cupboard!
The beauty of a conversation group is that no matter how limited your French, you have the chance to use it — and when people respond, it gives you the confidence to say (and the motivation to learn) more. And that, really, is a great way to learn a new language.
For those Brits who are thinking about applying for French citizenship, the hurdle seems to be getting higher, particularly with regard to language. Being part of a conversation group may be another useful tool in your toolbox.
The other, perhaps more subtle benefit of a conversation group is that it’s an opportunity for people from different countries to meet and explore different ideas and cultures. And it becomes quickly evident that we’re not so different after all.
Howard Lewis is a feature writer for the FBN
