Nous Sommes en Cours (Our French Progress)

Ruby can count to 10 in French and says ‘bonjour’, ‘au revoir’, and ‘merci’ very comfortably now. Very funnily she’ll say, ‘Mommy let’s talk french’ and reel off ‘un, deux, trois, etc…’ repeatedly, doing the same on her pink mobile phone on the bus – something which actually makes the French smile.
Sam can count to 10 as well but not as keen to practice as Ruby. Like us adults he thinks he sounds silly, so we just keep encouraging him. Doing pretty good at his French ‘dictee’ (spelling tests) and is very good at both English and French maths (is there a difference, apart from the metric system???) However he has, unfortunately, also picked up the English pisstake of the French already, and loudly copies the voice on the bus at each stop (with a very good French accent), giggling wildly afterwards, NOT making the French smile so much.
Tom and I – the competition is rife. We are apparently at the same level yet he got the ‘intermediare’ exercise book (flirting with his teacher) whilst I’m flying through the ‘debutant’. Ah, if only my teacher was Marcus instead of Marguerite!
On a practical level, I’ve successfully purchased ridiculously expensive shoes and boots for Ruby (getting the right size), ordered contacts and got Sam’s ‘lunettes’ repaired, and have directed 3 people in the right direction in French…….nearly a local! Tom on the other hand is not keen to talk French with me at home and it is therefore difficult to discern how he’s getting on as he’s too absorbed in year end at the moment. Le Francais continuez….