Fifth Form French Revisited

Sometimes, after a day spent sorting out things like cracked windscreens and dented bonnets and car insurance... I am reminded in a funny way of high school French lessons.

I have the vague sensation that my life is a fifth form French oral exam, where, for example, you have 10 minutes to prepare the following scenario:

"Imagine that your car has been damaged by freak hailstones. Do the following tasks: Call your insurance company and explain the situation. Call a garage and arrange for the car to be repaired. Specify that you have a child and a job and no means of transport. You have ten minutes to plan what to say. You may make notes if necessary."

I suppose the fact I can now accomplish all this without even making prior notes or looking up vocab means that I've come a long way down the path to bilingualism since high school days...

So what's the moral of the story?
Fifth form French exams ARE useful! But maybe the scenarios should be updated a little to reflect the real-life challenges of modern (wo)man...

Poor new car suffers from a rare form of automobile chickenpox...


BB, unfazed, tests out an alternative form of transport