Dear LPG,

Did you know that today is the European Day of Languages?  The day is dedicated to promoting and focussing on our linguistic heritage, or at least keeping it alive, but it might just also be a way of keeping our brains active too.

While the aim is to get more young people learning more languages, I have heard it said before that we are never too old to do anything new (physical and health variables permitting) and that learning a new language is a really good way to give your brain new focus and challenge.  I am sure many people who have read the last sentence I wrote will also have heard that over the years and are still wondering where to start, or indeed, if they should bother.  

I always promised myself that I would try to improve on my school-girl French but after ten years of retirement it remains just a plan.

Every now and then I remember my French teacher from those school days and how I felt that she always picked on me to read in front of the whole class even though I have problems reading out loud in English let alone French.  I can still remember that feeling of dread every time that I looked down and saw ‘Double French’ in my time table, but when I think about it I do remember quite a lot of the vocabulary I was taught.  I took one of those online tests earlier today and I was pleasantly surprised at the vocabulary which is still stuck in my brain.  When the subject comes up on those tea-time game shows I often get those questions right without having to think too hard. I think that after the year we have had of being forced to stay at home with relatively little to keep us occupied, I should have got started by now, but no.

Another excuse I have often presented myself with is that I cannot see any time in the future when I will have a reason to put such a skill into practice. I have no intention of crossing the channel again but being stuck at home has taught me how to make use of the telephone and internet more efficiently.

There are now quite a few free internet sites that claim to be able to help you improve many languages if you will dedicate just five or ten minutes a day to learning, and there are also quite a few internet websites which will help to team you up with someone who is equally as interested in learning your mother tongue as you are theirs. 

I wrote this a while ago but, with a bit of luck, we will all be free, out and about by now so, whether you prefer to find a real class or prefer to go online; whether you know a few words or want to start from scratch, and whichever language you want to get your teeth into (European or not), this might be a good day to get past the planning stage and get started!

FC, Essex

Fc shares a little about the celebration…

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… help with making a language choice…

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.. and where to start even if you only have five minutes a day to spare…

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