Enjoying writing in French

Today was "reply in French" day. I like it when people write to me in French because then I have a good reason to write back in French. (Why write French to people that aren't interested?) Although writing French is by far more difficult than speaking it, the effort is well worth it. There is no better quick refresher course on grammar and spelling than writing just a paragraph. I'm sure I have never written anything in French that's been flawless but people seem to appreciate the effort.

I do have old friends that like to use their French  this way.  But, with my blog efforts and other writing, I have French people writing to me as well. In my first days of Intensive French a year and a half ago, I wrote a lot. I wrote a lot of really flawed French. But my teacher had offered to correct anything we wrote so I did. In fact, it's partly this desire to write in French that got me to thinking about writing in English more. There is a saying that "writers write". And by that definition I more than qualify.

I recommend tackling the written word in French early. The whole idea of learning a new language is intimidating, but the longer a time one has been studying the more one thinks "I should be better at this than I am." And that kind of thinking could really daunt one's interest in writing. We expect ourselves to make mistakes early and become more self-critical as time goes on.

Part of my enjoyment in writing French is the sense of accomplishment I have when I have completed a paragraph or so. I start out just writing, then I go back and double check my spelling (it's terrible) and my grammar (it's not quite as bad as my spelling). I find I randomly spell verbs that sound alike as though it doesn't matter (aller, allé, allais). But it does matter and I am working on it.

Next, I use something like the Google translator to see if it makes sense of my sentences or if I have written what I think I have. The translator is riddled with flaws itself, but it always catches mistakes that I have missed. Then, if I have a tutor or instructor that will participate, I hand my writing to them for corrections and find out the full list of things I need to work on. Yes, I take it seriously. But it is kind of like my piano playing: I practice and practice and actually enjoy the practice. That doesn't mean I will ever be a  great pianist, but I have a real appreciation for those who are.