Tuning up my French

I took many, many years of French and used to be quite conversant, but alas, like many other skills, my French has suffered due to lack of use. So in preparation for the upcoming trip, I bought a book and CD package called Tune Up your French.

The book is intended as a refresher for someone whose French is a little rusty, which was perfect for me. It focuses on conversational French and especially the use of idioms and other fillers that enable you to maintain a good conversation flow. The most fascinating thing I learned was about the use of the expression "Oh La La". It does seem like a bit of a cliched French expression - often used in broad comedy skits in a exaggerated French accent. But I did learn that not only is it a great exclamation to use in unfortunate situations, you can also add more "la's" to the end depending upon the gravity of the situation. So if you dropped your bag of groceries, you could say "Oh la la la la" but if you dropped them while crossing the street in a busy intersection spilling all your groceries everywhere, it would be perfectly appropriate to say "Oh la la la la la la". Seriously! Try saying that with a straight face...

15 days before we leave on our trip :)