Speaking “Franglais” and Making Pancakes in France

I have been in Lacanau, France for 12 days for my Greenheart Travel teach in a homestay program, and right now sitting at the desk in the room my host family is lending me.  My host family is very nice and I think this will be an excellent experience overall.  I have already learned a lot of French and I think I am doing a pretty good job of teaching English to the family, especially the 11 year old girl I am specifically tutoring. Giving the six year old lessons is really adorable, but it usually doesn’t last very long!

The mom is fluent in English, and we speak in “franglais” which I think is cool.  Sometimes she likes to speak English with me in front of her family because she thinks they will begin to pick it up.  It’s exciting to know that people can understand my French even though I have always felt like I wasn’t good at speaking it.  I am becoming more confident when it comes to speaking French with people and it has only been almost two weeks.  I am definitely excited to see where this experience takes me in life!

So far, I have seen the lake about a kilometer away from my family’s home, the ocean, and I’ve even visited Bordeaux, the big city about 45 minutes away.  I went to an old collection car rally with the grandpa and got to see and ride in some really cool, antique French cars.

I made some American style pancakes for the 11 year old’s birthday party, which all 19 of the kids at the party loved and wanted another batch.  I got to know a lot of the family friends at the party as well, it was a fantastic night.

I got thrown in the pool completely clothed by one of the dads at the party.  People got out guitars and played and sang along and there was a lot of dancing. I got to visit a small village an hour away with my host mom and 6 year old host sister in Cap-Ferret, where we swam in the lake together and then did some shopping.