Online Danguaging

So I’ve been speaking about 75% English since being in Paris which isn’t exactly great given that I’m supposed to be learning French (duh)!  I can see my French professors at Exeter crowding around a table as they read this blog post with disgust.  I’m kidding.  I’m sure they’ve got better things to do with their time….

From speaking to a fellow English girl here in Paris, I took it upon myself to take her advice and join the online site “conversation exchange”.  It’s basically a site where you post a profile saying which city you’re in, what your native language is, and which language(s) you’re currently learning.  You can give a level i.e. “beginner, intermediate, proficient” and then you post a little something about your hobbies and other interesting facts and figures you feel like sharing with a bunch of strangers.  I thought this sounded like a great idea; a good way to meet some French people in a mutually beneficial environment where they practise their English and you practise your French.  Hopefully over a croissant or some coffee, or a sandwich wrapped in tin foil (I’m becoming quite the packed-lunch gal to save pennies).

 

When I opened my emails this afternoon I had about 15 responses to my “advert”.  Hooray, I thought, I appear to be popular.  They didn’t have much to go by (my avatar was a picture of a strawberry), but they were obviously taken by my rosy cheeks and sweet smile.  Ha.

As I was reading through the messages I’d received, I realised they all had one thing in common.  They were all men.   My immediate thought:  great, so I can’t really talk about hair, beauty, fashion or celebrities…I’ll have to show a lame interest in football and badminton.  Plus, there’s a higher chance that a man may want to assault/kidnap me.  I don’t know why I have it in me that every man in the world wants to kidnap me, but it’s a fear I’ve been dealing with for a while.  I can’t help being so steal-able.  YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL.

I have heard good things about this site however and I don’t see how it could be hugely dangerous.  Unless of course they ask to meet you on some alleyway after dark with €1000.  Again, you can never be too careful.

So all in all it’s basically online dating for learning languages…which, for the sake of argument, I’m going to call “online danguaging”.    

Watch this space.

Montana