The French exchange was brilliant! I arrived, went home with my host family and my French just took off! Its amazing how just having no other option but to speak a certain language really helps you to flourish and improve, both grammatically and in confidence when speaking. I loved being able to interact with people from another culture and speak to people I normally wouldn't get the opportunity to converse with. Being in a setting totally removed from my comfort zone definitely offered me the opportunity to stretch both my linguistic ability to speak in a foreign language and my confidence in myself that I was able to interact sucessfully and develop social skills in an environment that I had not found myself in before.
I found the experience very enriching as it really demonstrated the capacity that we have to adjust to unusual situations and still function sucessfully as part of a team despite the barriers that can be in the way (in this case language). I recognise that this is a key skill as a doctor, and cherished the opportunity to put myself to the test and see whether I could cope.
As a doctor, it is possible to find yourself in many situations where a problem is presented that is out of the ordinary. Whether the problem is acute and life threatening to one of your patients or a problem such as a language barrier or an unusual case that's hard to correctly diagnose, I understand that the ability to adapt to the situation at hand is key.
So, thank you to all that made the French exchange possible, is was a great experience both socially and in terms of confidence building.
Charlie x
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