I started a conversational French class this week, what they call
here 'francisation'. It's basically a group conversation course,
taught by a native speaker of Quebec French - actually it's better
than that, as the instructor speaks both English and French and did
so from a young age. So he can explain the nuances of both languages
and how they might translate. I'm rather jealous of his ability to
switch freely between languages. For me, I just want my French to
get to a basic conversational level, where I don't have to struggle
to find words. My goal is to be in a conversation with a native
speaker, and _not_ have them switch to English, something that
happens a lot. I don't blame them, they see someone struggling and
want to help, or maybe they are busy and don't want to
wait. Sometimes they even want to practice their English.

I have a decent base for learning French - I studied four years in
high school and a semester in college. So I have the pronunciation
and basic grammar down. I can also write in (basic) French, simply
because I can take all the time I want to translate something. And I
can read enough to get by in daily life. But speaking has always
eluded me, mainly because until now, there has been no one to speak
French with. Hopefully this rectifies that shortcoming.