After living in Prague for 11 years and learning to speak Czech to a reasonable degree, I assumed it would be relatively straightforward to learn French upon moving to Belgium’s region of Wallonia.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. While Czech has all sorts of complex rules (there are four different “you” forms, for example), they were memorisable and sounded different so I could distinguish between them.
French, on the other hand - oh la la - has loads of homophones and many words where unstressed syllables and consonants are just dropped right off the end in speech. I can imagine it’s even harder learning languages that have unfamiliar scripts or different tonal sounds.
Despite grappling with grammar and pronunciation, though, I am working hard to boost my French language skills as I know how profoundly important it is to attempt to learn the language of the home country of one’s school.
International schools: learning the language
In a practical sense, being able to speak some of the language makes daily life much easier. From shopping for shoes to asking for directions to the nearest public toilet, having an arsenal of basic phrases is invaluable.
I was surprised to learn that in Belgium “s’il vous plaît” not only means “please”, like it does in other French-speaking countries, but also “here you go”; I was confused the first time I heard that from a server in a cafe. Another helpful one is “non, peut-être”, which literally translates to “no, maybe” but means “yes, of course!” in Belgium. Local context matters.
Being able to communicate with even simple vocabulary in the event of an emergency is vital, too.
When my son had a scary string of febrile seizures in the middle of the night in Prague, we rushed him to urgent care and my phone with Google Translate wouldn’t work in the concrete-walled hospital.
However, I could say he was hot (“je horký” ) and he wasn’t sleeping (“ne spinkat” ), and then demonstrate that he kept shaking. A doctor came for him right away.
Helping community relations
People appear a lot more polite if they attempt to speak in the local lexicon. As a school leader, I like to work a French greeting and perhaps a couple of French words or phrases into presentations to honour the community around our school.
In public, at the very least, I’ll say “je suis désolé - je suis en train d’apprendre le Français” (“I am sorry - I am learning French”) to convey respect and indicate that the language matters to me.
Moreover, as the field of sociolinguistics tells us that language is shaped by culture, we can learn a lot about locals by studying the language.
Knowing about the diminutive grammar process in Czech helped me to understand when local students and parents were conveying a playful tone, for example.
Pleasantries aside, I like to get to know the local swear words so I can talk to students if I hear one in the hallway - a moment that always surprises a few.
Tips to pick up the language
I am a mum, teacher and whole-school deputy head, so my personal time is minuscule.
Nonetheless, one of my goals is to persevere with acquiring French. Between a language-learning podcast (Coffee Break French), a local app (TV5 Monde Edu) and a weekly lunchtime lesson with my wonderful “professuer ” Mr Denis, I’m making slow progress.
Other educationalist friends swear by these methods:
- Watching films in the local language, with subtitles from your native language.
- Listening to local radio and news broadcasts, even if you don’t understand them yet.
- Asking people who speak the local language to slow down and then explain what they said (when the situation allows).
- Taking a local language class - ask if your school can provide one in-house, as a number of international schools do.
- Finding an app that doesn’t just teach vocabulary but also engages you in listening and speaking.
- Attempting to speak the language whenever you can. Carry around some simple phrases to use, such as “pouvez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît?” (“please can you repeat that?” [formal]).
Is it worth it? I think so. Aside from gradually acquiring the language, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to build skills in other areas, too.
My active listening has improved as I need to work hard to decipher what people around me are saying.
I’ve also sharpened my growth mindset through large doses of humility, making frequent mistakes and having to depend on others to help me on this French-learning journey.
Finally, it’s helped me to become even more sensitive to the needs of our students who are English language learners and our parents from many countries who don’t fully understand all of our school communications.
Considering learning the language of the country you’re in? “Bon courage!” (You can do it!).
Emily Rankin is deputy head and head of academics at St John’s International School in Belgium
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