One Vogue writer attempts to learn French (again) while in self-isolation.
consists of a series of essays written by Parisian journalist Alice Pfeiffer. In them, she repudiates the hollow stereotype of the Parisienne, the “French girl” whose very characterization—a grab-bag of cliches about red lipstick, generational wealth, and seemingly effortless perfection—couldn’t be more at odds with the rich diversity of the city.
On that sleepless night, I toyed with the idea of returning to my French studies. Besides the appeal of adding another anxiety-defying hobby to my list—albeit a time-consuming one that’s understandably beingas an example of unrealistic expectations for our “free time”—there was something comforting about the thought of revisiting a language I used to know so well.
I also had the desire to reach back out to people and reconnect, just like many others during our social-distancing moment. I wondered whether my high school teacher, an exacting but humorous instructor who made each class so engaging, was still in the game. A few minutes of online sleuthing informed me thatas we’d addressed her, was still working at my alma mater. Soon, I was typing out an email of my own:I was your student some years ago.
I told her about Pfeiffer’s book, and how that class from years ago had stuck with me. I asked her thoughts on—it was in her class that I learned about Cannes and its cultural significance—and her advice on how to recover my language skills.Of course I remember you! Let me begin by saying your French seems quite strong...
For the sake of clarity, we corresponded mostly in English, interspersed with snippets of French. I shared my major life updates with her and she sent over resources for French language immersion that she had also sent her class of seniors, whose school year had been abruptly upended: podcasts, French films liketo watch on Netflix, a newsletter that aggregates French news, the language-quiz app Duolingo.. But barely four words in, I was stumped.
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