Issue No. 12

Let’s start with improving
your French
Even if you’ve visited Morzine before, you
may not have noticed the busy little Alpine
French School tucked just off the main
road not far from the tourist office. It comes
equipped with a super friendly team of
teachers and staff who can and do speak
English if you need them to and the
atmosphere when you enter is instantly
relaxed and welcoming. There’s a handful
of well-equipped classrooms, a multimedia
room and common room for you to take
advantage of and a whole smorgasbord of
classes and courses to choose from. I
opted for an intensive week of 3 ½ hour
classes at beginner’s level each afternoon.
You’re allocated a class according to your
ability before you arrive and there is
nothing more reassuring as you sit down
for your first lesson than realising that you
are learning with people at roughly the
same level as you.
Our teacher Lucille spoke almost entirely
in French throughout but it was clear and
easy to understand and the format of the
lessons had you talking in French
straightaway. The lessons are a
combination of theory and practical
learning, with games, written French and
lots of conversation.
It’s a long time since I’ve been in a
classroom, and my fellow pupils came from
all walks of life. There was a young Swiss
soldier and a Russian girl who’s been living
in Australia. And then there was Anthony
from the UK whose determination to get to
grips with this language was nothing short
of inspirational.
I’m ever so slightly addicted to learning and
it was great to be in a room full of fellow
addicts all enthusiastically lapping up our
“pronoms”, “passé composé” and
“structure infinitives”. Long since forgotten
French which we’d all learnt way back when
came rushing back and our afternoon
classes flew by. We were all speaking
French with each other even after the class
by the end of day one, not least as it was
our only common language, and my
confidence, which has taken more than a
few knocks over the last two decades,
came gradually flowing back.
left: in the
classroom;
above Lucy
enjoying
afterschool
skiing; right:
gourmet fun in
the alps
Photo: Morzine Tourist Office/Jarry Tripelon