I SYMPATHISE with Mark Knight and his wife (Connexion, February) who are struggling to learn French, not least because the enjoyment of living in France improves commensurately with one’s knowledge of the language. I doubt the problem is advancing age, although this is certainly a reason which has been put forward before.
I was never more than an average pupil at school and was advised to give up French at 13 having learned it for only two years. I was not expected to improve enough to pass GCE two years later.
At 61, after I had retired, I actually enjoyed studying French for GCSE and to my surprise passed with the highest grade. The incentive was that we wanted to retire to France. When we arrived here we deliberately bought a house in town so that we would have French neighbours. We also made the decision to receive only French TV channels. This is a sacrifice but there are, however, some jewels among the dross. We prefer programmes with French subtitles because we can read the language better than we can understand it when it is spoken at everyday speed.
Every year we combine our two-week holiday with a language course somewhere in France. My wife’s confidence in speaking has improved no end.
Age certainly affects one’s power of recall, often of even the most simple words, but it is not an insuperable barrier to learning.
Barry HILL Coutances
