Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? Je parle francais, vous ne?

It's looking like we won't be assigned to a country this year for USAID and will most likely need to wait until the end of next year's bidding cycle (next May – July time period). However, my colleagues that already passed the test for fluency in a second language, will most likely be assigned soon (we hope - I will let you know when for sure and the exciting places they will be going – we can live vicariously through them!) and the agency has provided an exception for those of us that do not know a second language fluently, to go to language school starting in September, even without an assignment. Yippee! Yeah! This is a real win for us, because the agency policy has been that you can't go to the language school until you have an assignment and that would have put us three years in D.C. without ever going abroad (the whole reason we joined the foreign service). So, I am very thankful for this exception and the blessing of learning French over a 9-10 month period starting September 2nd (and I get to enjoy a nice summer with the family until then - yeah!). Although my background is in Spanish, AID would like me to learn French, since there are many African French speaking nations that are recipients of AID’s funding and programming. Although, I’d be lying to say I’m not scared to death about this endeavor, as the French level needed to pass the test is very high. I will need a level 3 out of 5 in speaking and a level 3 out of 5 in reading. The five level is the equivalent of a natural born native French speaker at a college level or above, so 3 is a pretty high level. And unlike many of my Foreign Service colleagues, I am not a naturally linguistic person at all. In fact, I remember struggling hard in my first year of college Spanish to keep a “B” in the class (and I very much preferred "A"s in the first place!). This is way beyond that level and French is more difficult than Spanish. It will be a full immersion language training, so I’m hopeful miracles can (and will) happen! I look forward to the experience and see it as a real opportunity. However, any and ALL prayers are welcome and VERY MUCH needed. I’m CERTAIN I will not be able to do this on my own! I know a few people that took 40 weeks of training (the maximum the agency will pay) and still did not receive the required score. Unfortunately, it will be up to them to somehow pass through their own study during the five years allowed before tenure, or they will have to leave the agency. I DO NOT want to be in this same bucket if at all possible, as it will always be hanging over my head through the five years (well the four that are left) and who knows the financial burden it would put on our family to pay for additional training. The biggest driver to me, is to not only learn the language, but get it behind me (reminds me of that horrible CPA exam)! I’ll be approaching it like the other (what seemed to be) impossible challenges I’ve had in my life (CPA exam, ½ marathon, Foreign Service appointment, marriage, raising kids (lol!)) . . . with a diligent, full force, pro-active plan and one day at a time! If I am somehow blessed by reaching this goal in the end, I will be forever thankful and a proponent that miracles really do happen!