Bonjour! Je m’appelle Lydia.

Lydia in front of Ponts de Martel

Switzerland!  Wow, I can still hardly believe that we are here –a very beautiful country! And French! –wow, is it hard! In some ways, it is similar to English, but in other ways vastly different!

I have to say the first week was a bit overwhelming with all the change.  Not having communication with home (friends and family), and feeling isolated because of not being able to communicate with those around me, I find challenging; however it is getting easier.  I’ve been very grateful for the few at church who speak English.  I’m still working on “My name is Lydia.  I speak only a very little French.” I remember the first time when I went to a store without Fred and the clerk asked me a question and I was excited to say my newly learned phrase; however, any pride I had quickly faded as it took me four times of saying that I only spoke a little French before she understood what I was saying! Hopefully in three months I will only have to say it once!  One of my friends said, “Chocolate is key for learning.” And considering the chocolate here, we should be doing great!  Maybe I just need to eat more?!

God knew what I needed one of my first few nights here when I came across Hebrews 11:1 (NLT), “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”  Studying French is requiring faith!

Right now, I’m starting to understand what I’m reading in our lessons in French; however, being able to speak it and even more so being able to hear and understand it has been a real challenge.  Why do the French only speak half of the letters in a word?!  Fred says it is the “language of love” . . .  that is two people can hear the same phrase and yet understand two totally different things!

Where we learn French

Our classes  are small, but diverse.  Fred is in the level 2 class and I’m in level 1.  In my class there are 8 of us total, and my classmates are from Lithuania, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, China, and Tennessee (the other missionary couple here with us).  It’s been amazing and humbling to meet these people (most my age or younger!) who can speak 3 to 4 other languages.  They are learning French in English, which for them is not their mother tongue, and they can speak and understand more French than I!  Most of them are here for work or studies and live either local or as far away as France (a 50 minute train ride).  I’m praying to get to know each one better as we study together,  although, this is not always easy due to  very limited time and to people having to make travel connections.

We have a lesson for 3 hours in the morning with about a 15 minute break in the middle.  During the break, I usually check in on Noah at the church next door.  The teachers, who alternate between classes, are local and also speak 2-3 languages. They have shown themselves to be encouraging and, overall, good at teaching; however, they are getting harder on us and are now expecting us to ask any questions we have in French and not English!

We would appreciate your continued prayers for our French studies!  And thank you so much for all your encouragement and prayers so far!  We pray that God is continuing to bless you with the faith needed for the challenges in your life.

(See our recent pictures and updated prayer requests!)