By Holly Burns
Staff Writer

Although I’ve been speaking French for 10 years, I once let my dining companion order le cheval in Paris, both of us blissfully unaware—until I thought to consult my French-English dictionary afterwards—that what he had been munching on quite contentedly for half an hour was, in fact, horse meat.

My point is that it never hurts to brush up on (or, indeed, learn from scratch) some basic words in any language.

Jennifer Schingle started French Toast, a business that offers “a fun and effective way of learning the French language,” after moving to Charleston last summer. A French major in college, Schingle has been speaking French since the seventh grade and spent a year in the west of France teaching English to students.

Many of the clients at French Toast, she says, are people who are going on vacation to France and want to know some basic vocabulary before they go.

 “A lot of my students have friends and family in Europe, and they’re fascinated by the culture,” she explains. “I teach everyone from the complete beginner to the student who knows a little bit of the language but feels that his skills have become a little rusty.”

 If it’s been a while since you’ve been in a classroom setting, rest assured that there won’t be any chalkboards or textbooks at French Toast. Schingle meets her clients at a coffee shop or the library—she’ll even come to your home, if you prefer—and works hard to keep her lessons fun and appealing.

 “We’ll play games in French; maybe I-Spy or Taboo,” she explains. “We’ll read French magazines or look at French e-mails I’ve received. We ask each other questions, and do role-playing and dialogues. It’s not a formal atmosphere; in fact, it’s very laid back because I want my students to have fun. You can’t really learn properly if you’re not having fun.”

Lessons typically last an hour each and Schingle prefers to meet with students once a week. Private sessions are $20 an hour, but Schingle will organize group rates if friends or co-workers want to learn together. Most clients prefer to meet right after work, but Schingle is flexible and can tailor lessons to fit into lunch hours or weekends.

“Most people want to come for a four-week course, just to get the basics,” she says. “But if students want to go more in-depth than that, I’m certainly willing to work with them to get them up to speed.”

 For the most part, says Schingle, her lessons focus on learning vocabulary that would be useful in everyday life.

“I make my students go over simple tenses, for communication’s sake, but I let them know that if you’re in France and you’re trying to get around, you’re going to be all right as long as you make an effort,” she says. “I try to teach them useful things they might hear on the street. It’s colloquial French, more than anything else.”

And there’s no need to shell out for textbooks if you don’t want to; Shingle provides all the learning materials you’ll need at French Toast.

“I may suggest that you get yourself a French-English dictionary so you can keep learning at home if you need to look up a word, but everything else is included,” she says.

If you do get a dictionary, however, here’s a suggestion from someone who now knows better: keep a bookmark in the page with “le cheval” on it.

Get a Life investigates activities for those looking for a little “me” time outside the office.

CONTACT:

French Toast 

906-2279

jschingle@excite.com 

Private lessons $20 an hour

Call for group rates

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