Adventures in Japan no. 4 (French Class)

In my French classes we speak what you could call “Japanese-French”. I am a native English speaker, my students are native Japanese speakers and together we are trying to speak French – it can be really interesting at times! I expect them to understand my English mutterings and they expect me to understand their Japanese concerns.

In a “Japanese-French” class it's not unusual to hear a mixture of Bonsoir (it's an evening class), Konbonwa, and Hello. To express what we like we say bon, bonne, J'aime, bien, ski and I like. I don't understand their native language and they don't understand mine – our only means of communication being the small amount of French we know. When an L is pronounced like an R and an R pronounced like an L you know it's going to be tough.