Do you speak english?

Few years ago, I started to learn english as I wanted to have job interviews in english.

I was still at school (business school) and the country I wanted to visit was Canada. That is kind of weird, because in three months in Canada I think I only spoke 3 times in english...

This was the beginning of a new life for me, no more dubbed movies or series, I was discovering the real voice of my heroes.

One of the show I was addict to at this time was "Friends". I was a huge fan of the Chandler/Joey duo (and I still am !), the strange balance between a stupid actor and a cynical businessman... At this time, I would have loved to have a friend like Joey, always ready to do stupid things, here to share the good and the bad moments, someone who could buy me a new Barcalounger after breaking mine...

Luckily enough, I didn't started my life abroad by living in Canada. I lived in Ireland for a bit more than two years. 

Life in Dublin was so different from France... First day in Dublin, a chauffeur was waiting for me at the airport,  to drive me to my temporary flat.

That was a bit weird, arriving in a new country and spending the first 30 minutes with a chauffeur, showing you the neighbourood, the office, the flat, etc. 

The weirdest thing for a French guy like me, was to see that a lot of people was working on a Sunday...

Ireland ... That is a never ending story when you begin to talk about it. Sometimes you hate it, sometimes you love it. You hate it when it's the first country you are speaking english. Why ? Because most of the Irish I've met have a bloody accent !

First time I took the bus, I wasn't even able to understand the driver... Nevermind, I put 2,50€ in the cash machine, and I got my ticket (In fact you have three prices for the ticket, with three different zones, and if you don't have the exact amount, you can get a cashback at the central bus station). And that was just the beginning !!

If you ever go to Dublin, try a funny exercise: Ask somebody to say Dublin.

You'll certainly hear between 4 and 6 different pronunciations...

If you go to Galway, Waterford, Glendalough, Roundstone, Newry, Belfast, Clifden, Limerick, Athlone or any other city in Ireland, you'll find out that english isn't a universal language with a universal accent.

When you are living on an island, the other place you usually practice your english are the ferries. In that particular case, you have to change your accent to a russian/english accent. With this accent, you can score with the girl who will give you the electronic card for your room, you can order a few drinks at the bar, and you can fake you're working onboard with the French people. 

Even if all of that sounds particularly bizarre, I miss a part of this life in Ireland, were everything was always much more complicated than expected, because of the language, and because of the Irish twisted minds.

If you want to catch a glimpse of what I love in Ireland, have a look at Once, PS: I love you and U2 Live at Slane Castle.

My english isn't perfect, my grammar is poor and my vocabulary mainly focused on my personal interests, but after 2 years there, I was able to work in english, and able to understand them. I think that is fair, regarding the fact I began to learn english by watching Friends...

PS: This entire post is for C., she had a english test yesterday, that inspired me...