Kolb’s learning cycle, how an experience of mine fits…

Concrete experience

In May 2006 I moved to Paris to work as a dancer. Moving to a new country where I could not speak the language was hard, even the simplest of tasks like buying phone credit to ordering a taxi were extremely hard.
I had a very basic knowledge of French from school so I tried hard to speak to people to people the best I could, but it being Paris in springtime I found that the Parisians had little time to entertain my efforts and often responded to my broken French in fluent English. This was confidence knocking.
Although I worked with a few French girls they spoke English and so I spent most of my time speaking in English. In fact I spent most of my first six months in Paris with other English and Australian girls. I did not make a big effort to integrate into the community because we had our own social circle and depended on the fact that the French people could speak English. It was easy to find comfort in the familiar.


Reflective observation

Six months into the contract Audrey, joined the cast and was sitting in my changing room. She spoke little English and so it was hard to communicate with her. Her arrival made me think about the past six months and how I had not made as much progress as I could with learning the French language and that this had resulted in me being dependant on people for help a lot of the time, for example when I wanted to negotiate with my landlord, get the internet installed and deal with the plentifully French administration system.
I had spent a lot of time with the same people, who were great but I did not have much of a life outside of my English-speaking work friends. I felt a little Ignorant going through my life in this amazing city making little effort to connect with the people around me. I felt because of this I was missing out on certain experiences of living in a foreign country and the culture that comes with it. I do the job I do because it allows me to travel and experience different people and places,


Abstract conceptualisation

Not being able to communicate freely with Audrey at work and with the people around me on a daily basis was frustrating me and was limiting my experiences in Paris.
In order to fully appreciate the city I would need to be able to communicate more with people and in order to do this I would need to learn the language and make more effort executing it. I also needed to spend more time around French speaking people and make an effort to socialise with people from a wider range of places.
I learnt that once you are around French speakers you must really try not to become dependant on them and to persevere. When you start your sentence in French, don’t be discouraged if the person looks back at you blankly. I have now realized how much the accent matters to the French and how that can be the difference between them understanding you or not.
If I wanted to become more into the community I would have to be very confident and forthcoming.


Active experimentation

At first I began by learning a phrase a day In French. I would often come to work and try my phrases out on Audrey, who humoured me greatly. I made a concentrated effort to ask more questions in French. I found that little by little my vocabulary increased. I also listened to conversations between Audrey and Axelle another French girl in my changing room. In time I met more people from Paris ad although I spoke to them mainly in English I still learnt a lot more about Paris as a city, Places to see, restaurants and bars to try out. After a further twelve months in Paris I was by no means fluent in French, but I had made a life for myself in an amazing city.
The majority of my active experimentation however came almost Ten months later when I returned to France to work just outside of Strasbourg. I was living in a small village, and the boss of the theatre spoke only French. I immediately threw myself into speaking as much French as I could and enrolled in French classes at the university where away from my work I made friends and developed my language skills.
It is also helped me professionally as I needed to be able to communicate with my boss and with the audience of the show when I met them before the show for photos.
Living in a more rural area there is a stronger sense of culture. I tried harder to embrace this, but there are aspects I’m still working on. Living in the fast pace of London where things are at your convenience coming to accept that a shop can (and will!) close when it likes is not easy!