Reflecting on my nearly finished trip to France, I realized how far I have personally grown as well as how far I have progressed in my French usage. I have been able to transition from stumbling on my words to now being able to answer people’s questions and have conversations without putting much thought and effort in what I have to say. I never expected it before the trip, but truly I feel way more natural with the language. I can say for the most part I see the nuances in how native French speakers speak and how foreigners speak the language; for one, it no longer surprises me when French people figure out you are not from France. I understand how their tendencies when speaking and writing differ from, for example, how I use French. However, I have been able to start using the language more and more like how the French normally use it (i.e j’y viendrai dans (instead of en) 5 mins)). I never learned these little tricks while taking classes in the United States, which shows that the best way to fully integrate a language is to travel to a country where it is spoken fluently by everyone born there. Besides talking about my increased cultural awareness from living in France, I will share a few photos of one of my weekend trips to the beautiful city of Barcelona, which was only a couple of hours from Montpellier.
