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Mastering French through travel

Oliver Gee wedding vespa

 Podcaster Oliver Gee is midway through a massive scooter ride across France with his wife. He says the unusual experience has skyrocketed his French skills. Here’s how…..  

There’s no better way to improve your French than to drive through 200 French villages. Preferably on a little red scooter. And I should know, because I’ve just done exactly that. 

Now let’s put a few things in perspective before I share the story with you. When I left Paris on this honeymoon adventure six weeks ago, I spoke about a 7/10 French. Now I’d give it a 9/10. A 10/10, for the record, would be another foreigner who speaks French fluently (let’s face it, few of us are ever going to match the natives at their own game).

And why? Because it’s hard to improve your French in Paris. As soon as a Parisian smells a native English-speaker’s accent, they love to switch to English. To make matters worse, it’s criminally easy to befriend fellow immigrants – especially if you don’t have a French partner – and to languish forever in your native language. 

But this doesn’t happen in the French…

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