First day at EF in Nice

We got cute notebook books for class in our welcome bag!

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Que Sera Sera

Before coming to Nice for our French course at EF, we both had a pretty solid streak going on Duolingo—over 700 days! But here’s the catch: he was far more diligent. He was watching videos, learning French basics, and practicing pronunciation, while I just did the bare minimum—one lesson a day.

I still remember the hilarious satire article we read when we first started Duolingo. It joked about feeling like you’ve mastered the language through an app, only to freeze up completely when talking to a real native speaker. It was funny at the time, but as we prepared for this course, I couldn’t help but relate to that feeling of panic! He took it as a challenge and doubled down on his learning, even getting into "Learn French with Alexa" on YouTube (check it out if you’re learning, she’s great!). Meanwhile, I sat back, watching the videos and avoiding practicing. I’ve always been more on the quiet side, but I didn’t realize how much it would come into play here in France.

Day one at EF was an experience. The school, tucked away between buildings in an unassuming block, kicked off with a big orientation. I was surprised there were about 25 new students with us. After orientation, we split into groups to be evaluated on our speaking skills. This was based on an online quiz we’d taken earlier, and let me tell you—I recognized a few words but had no clue on the listening part! I was put in a group where the teacher spoke no English, just full-on French immersion from the get-go.

It was nerve-wracking. With context clues, a lot of confused looks, and a mix of hand gestures, I got the general idea of what was expected. We had to introduce ourselves in French—name, age, why we were learning French, the works. The young Europeans in my group were throwing out sentences with ease (thank you, high school French classes), while I pieced together words from my Duolingo lessons. I could tell they were thinking, "This American is lost…" And they weren’t wrong! At one point, we had to pretend we were at a train station and has to ask questions about time schedules, where trains were going, and suck, but as French people, not tourists... all I was able to say was "gare" and "billet" because I had to use it in Paris to buy a train ticket to London...

Meanwhile, he was in a group doing more advanced things, discussing topics I wasn’t even close to tackling yet. He’d really leveled up with all his extra practice, and it was paying off.

By the end of the day, we both had our class assignments. I was placed in the "débutante" class—basically the beginner level—and the teacher finally broke her no-English streak just to tell me that directly when I looked confused. I felt a bit sheepish but relieved, too.

His experience was more advanced, filled with presentations and conversations beyond just "Bonjour, je m’appelle…" Clearly, we’re at different levels, but hey, what matters is that we’re both here, immersing ourselves in French. Maybe next time, I’ll take his advice and practice a bit more, but for now, que sera, sera!

Such a dense area that the sign on the side of the building was the only indication of a school in the alley way.