Tracy’s story

Learning French can change your life! In this video, my student Tracy shares with us how choosing The French Transformation to learn French took her life in a completely new direction. She left behind working as a military contractor to follow her dream of becoming a pastry chef. Even though she began with no French at all, after working with me she was able to train at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris!

Watch the video or if you prefer, you can read Tracy’s thoughts on working with me from our conversation below.

Follow Tracy’s culinary adventures on Instagram.

Introduction

My name is Tracy, and I am currently studying to be a pastry chef at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I’m retired from the American military and prior to this was working as a contractor.

How did you find me, and what made you want to work with me?

I spoke no French at all, but I wanted to become a pastry chef and train at the best school in the world. I saw your posts on Pinterest and then YouTube. I chose you because you seemed very patient, and not judgmental at all. I also like how you explain the reasons why something is done the way that it is.

I needed to take the A2 exam to apply for an internship. You need to prove you have that level of French to work with the chefs at the school, and in Paris. Parisiens will not hire you if you don’t speak French.

What is it like living in Paris? Do you use your French outside of school?

Just living here is fun. I live in the 15th arrondissement now, it is like a local neighborhood so I speak French every day. It’s not like being in the 1st arrondissement, which is the tourist areas. The speed of their French there is challenging! I have some friends who are Belgian and Swiss, we go to the local café and they help me. I’ve gone on a day trip to Champagne, and I’ve been to all the museums.

Would you recommend working with me to someone wanting to learn French?

Definitely! You tailored the program to my needs. Focusing on pastry vocabulary and practicing reading French recipes helped me so much! In class I didn’t need to wait for translation during demonstrations. If I could change anything, I would’ve started earlier.

Final words of advice?

Everyone says “I could never do that” but you can! You can do anything you want. It’s always good to learn another language, especially as an American, we are not encouraged to learn languages. Don’t be afraid to start, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

Your next steps

If you like this way of learning French, you will love to learn with me as a student or client. Please check out:

My 1-1 coaching program, The French Transformation, if you need to improve your French fast.
My group program, The French Fluency Accelerator, if you’d like to join a community of students from all over the world. We have weekly practice calls together and the best online video library to learn French.