Baby boy is going into French immersion

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it -- he's going into French immersion.

I did not have the advantage of a good French education when I was growing up. During those early years when I was a sponge for acquiring new languages, I attended an all English school. French classes were a part of the curriculum, but all we really did was conjugate verbs and read silly stories. I was only taught the simple verb tenses, and only the most basic skills in oral French (i.e. bonjour et au revoir).

Every day I curse my parents for not putting me into French immersion. My life would be a lot different now if they had.

Right now I'm stalled in my career. I have all of the necessary skills and experience to advance up the ladder, except I'm not "fluently" bilingual. Or, more accurately, I can read and write in French quite well, but I have trouble speaking the language.

I've been luckier than many of my western colleagues. My organization sent me for 8 months of full-time language training in 2005. In that time I went from almost square one to an intermediate level. This is something I'm really proud of. But at the same time I can't help feeling a little discouraged. I still have a long way to go to get to the language level it takes to get ahead in my line of work, and it's hard to do on a part-time basis when you are balancing a career with motherhood. My life is complicated enough right now without adding a second language!

Tonight I spent two hours doing French homework, constantly flipping back and forth from my page to the French-English dictionary. This in itself was an indication of just how much work it will take to get to the next level. One thing is for sure: once I get there I can't lose momentum because if you don't use it, you lose it.

I think that putting the little guy into French immersion will have a lot of payoffs down the road. It will also be a chance for us to learn together, because we're both going to be in it for the long haul.