I’ve started to forget English words. That is not to say I have only been speaking in French, or that I am fluent, far from it. But I get so used to serving the guests and explaining the food options in French, that if I’m suddenly required to speak English it completely throws me.
There haven’t really been any English guests so far (except from a keen visit from my parents in week three) but the odd German couple will pass through and English is required. When explaining the ice-cream flavours the spiel is so ingrained in my head (vanille, cassis, pomme, rum rasin, menthe, framboise, citron vert et café) that when asked to translate into English I spend far too long hesitating and stumbling over my words that the guests tend to glance doubtfully at the British flag on my name badge. Similarly, last night my colleague Clara wanted to practice her English so tried to talk to me en anglais the whole service. She asked the names of all the utensils and when it got to une pince (tongs) I completely blanked. In my defence pince does seem a more logical name (like a crab’s pincers?) tongs just makes me think of underwear. ..
The confusion continues if I have to speak Spainsh. I have been studying Spanish for two years now and I really love it, but inevitably the more French I speak, the more Spanish I forget. A Spanish family is here this week so I have an opportunity to practice but I feel like when I eventually arrive in Spain I’ll be back to square one. I will also face the challenge of maintaining the progress I’ve made with French when I spend eight months speaking Spanish… It’s a case of too many languages and not enough brainpower at the moment. Let’s hope I can eventually master all three!
Update on the injury: I am sporting a large bruise on my back and the transition from sitting to standing is very painful. Other than that I am fine and I am grateful that it wasn’t worse. I have also been given an extra day off next week (possibly out of sympathy/guilt)!
Adventure is Waiting 