Parlez vous francais

I had cause recently to look into the use and teaching of foreign languages. Apparently giving up a language at school remains the biggest regret from adult Britons' schooldays, according to a recent survey of UK adults. Government plans now underway will make language teaching available in every primary school in England by 2010 - starting young has to be an advantage. And although 300 languages are spoken in London alone, many young people who speak another language with their family are unaware of the benefits that their community language skills can bring them - so that's another task on the Government's language learning agenda. Fortunately for me, I was able to study French up to A level and then spent two successive summers working as an au pair in France, determined to improve my language skills - as well as adventure into a foreign country and earn a modest living along the way. Regular trips to France since then, plus a few years working for the very Francophile tour operator, VFB Holidays, just about kept me au courant. But these days I find that je cherche mes mots as, like most things in life, if you don't use it, you lose it. And I'm off to Bergerac in a few weeks' time, to celebrate a friend's birthday and I've spotted a new gadget called the mi-box, a portable, pre-loaded audio-book which apparently will help me "pick up the essentials of my chosen language quickly and easily". The French version is only £13.99 - I worry that it might be a bit basic - but then again, je profiterais surement des lecons en francais.