A week in Rouen: learning French on foot with a private tutor
British author Annabel Abbs describes spending a week in the French city of Rouen learning French through walking lessons with a private tutor. The approach cost far less than language schools.
In the north-western French city of Rouen, beside the River Seine, British author Annabel Abbs (writing as Annabel Streets) spent a week improving her French by taking lessons on foot with a private tutor. On the final day she spoke French for five minutes straight, without pausing for words or struggling with grammar. Her account was published in The Guardian.
Why a private tutor
Rouen's language schools were full during the only week the author could travel, and their private tutors were unavailable. She instead found a tutor named Anna on the website Apprentus, at €19 an hour, compared with €60 an hour for language school tutors. Anna studies political science at the University of Rouen Normandy, and the author was her first pupil on the platform.
Last winter the author attended a language school in Montpellier, where the class had 12 pupils from around the world, and she felt she learned little. She cites a study published in Nature suggesting that moving helps people concentrate, remember and learn more effectively.
Lessons on foot
Over five days the two held daily two-hour conversation lessons, 10 hours in total. Anna walked with the author through Rouen's historic centre and along the Seine, correcting her French while showing her favourite places. When it rained, lessons moved to tea houses. Conversations covered student protests and the history of Senegal, where Anna has family roots. They also visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which describes itself as France's largest impressionist collection outside Paris.
Costs
The author travelled by ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, and the return ferry-and-train ticket cost £65. A studio apartment in central Rouen cost under £60 a night. The six days, including food, transport, tutor and accommodation, cost a little over £600.
