I had always wondered how much a kickstart from a total immersion course would help to improve my rusty, schoolgirl French. Visiting the France Show at Olympia in January, I was drawn by a stand offering a week’s total immersion course in French at a language school in the Dordogne. The property looked beautiful in the photos and, when I chatted to the owner at the stand, she was very helpful. French would be spoken throughout the week and every morning would be spent in a three-hour French lesson. I signed up on the spot!
Then, with only a few weeks to go, I began to get nervous; would I find a whole week too exhausting? Would my middleaged brain cope? Should I start to swot up? Nice idea but most evenings I preferred chilling out in front of the TV after a long day at work. Still I put my French CDs on in the car, listening to them on my daily commute. Soon I was getting my summer clothes out and packing my suitcase ready for my flight to Bergerac.
Arriving on a Saturday at [...]
To read original and entire article