Yo hablo francés, huevon

Hi All,
I wanted to give ya'll an updated. Luis and I have less than 2 months before we leave for France. I am bursting at the seams with excitement! We have our plane tickets, and we are very close to having both of our VISAs. Luis will have a "Scientist VISA". And I will have a "Scientist's Wife VISA". No kidding, it is that specific!

We are in some intense French classes. The professor is from France and is very knowledgable about language learning. But here is the catch, the classes are taught in Spanish. This is a challenge. Half-way through the class, I don't know what language is being spoken. Its all a blur! Luckily, my hearing comprehension of Spanish is very good. And at this point, my spoken Spanish is a solid intermediate. As we improve as a class, the Spanish will be phase out. I think it will get easier for me once the class is all in French. Then all 6 of us will be at the same level!

Here are some of my thoughts about learning a language and moving abroad:
There will be no moment when you are going to say to yourself, "I know this language now!" Point two: You are never going to convince the locals that you are a native speaker. (well, not within 5 years or so.) So don't going into it with that impression.
Also, remember that your language skills don't need to be perfect to start speaking. Just dive and start speaking right away. At first, you just need to make yourself understood. As time goes on, you will learn and correct yourself.

Before leaving Chile, Luis needs to spend lots of time with his family. That means parties and BBQs every weekend! Its a tough life ;) Next up… trying to cram all my clothes and shoes into two suitcases.

I leave you will an image from Condorito, a 50+ year old chilean comic book that is still very popular today. I like Condorito as a chilean astronaut, complete with a soccer ball, a whole chicken and a carafe of vino.