Adrien and Ted's excellent adventure

shocked by his son's inability to speak the most basic French, Amanda Mitchison sent on an exchange visit to a family near Paris, with unexpected results

One night two years ago we fought through the French dinner with our host, William. It was a grave man, the young monosyllabic. My husband, Jeremy, had asked local dishes in Lyon and I would use "Do you live in a suburb or city center?" However, every ball he throws the conversation came as a paper weight on the grass tender.

So I was getting a little desperate. And I did what all parents in despair - turned to my children. I went to my 12 year old son and said cheerfully: "Teddy has learned French at school, do not you Ted?"

Ted has no eyes.

"Come on, Ted," I said. "Show Guillaume. Say something in French. "

"WOT?" Said Ted.

"Go ahead. Whatever."

Ted embarrassed. He shrugged his shoulders. Then, in a robotic voice said: "I live a teddy bear."

And, for once, William smiled.

So my suspicions were confirmed. Ted had been learning French at school for two years, but still could not say anything remotely reasonable in the language. It has still not speak French, and probably do not think anyone is doing. French was a language, but a school subject.

horrified me. How could I let this happen? What do you think my brother? Her five children to communicate with the joy in English, Italian and French, and speaks Gaelic as their mother tongue. I'm not like him, an extreme polyglot. But I do not speak, to varying degrees of fluidity, three foreign languages. But anyway, with only two children to raise, which had completely failed to pass all language skills.

in the way of the tiger mother, I went to work. A couple of weeks later, I told Ted that I had organized an exchange of the French was to him. I talked to the lady on the phone, Adrian was a sports guy like Ted and his family lived outside of Paris. Ted went to France to stay with Adrian during the summer, and later Adrian come to us. I asked Ted. I made the change in the French language as one of those things I had to do - like going to school, or to recycling

Ted, of course, protested. No one else in her class had a French exchange, why should I? I noted that, outside of football and Xbox, which had zero extra-curricular activities, performed without musical instruments, hobby did not improve. Try not to appear too dark, adding: "It'll be fun" But Ted had attended "Do you live in a neighborhood?" Dinner and he looked at me skeptically.

Later, I tried another tactic. If Ted went to France, I said that I learn French, untreated. No boring vocabulary lists. He would learn without realizing it, easy Peasy. French became a school subject does not need to work for a GCSE in a dish. That's it.

This struck a chord - his cousins ??put additional highlands in Scotland, with almost no effort. But Ted was still doubtful. Then the lady a new email. She was most apologetic. The dates for the trip to Paris in search of Ted complicated. Would it be possible for him instead of joining them in their summer holidays in Corsica? Adrien grandmother had a cottage in a fishing village. There were sandy beaches, fish restaurants, water sports. Teddy cares?

Back in England was cold and rainy. If Ted had to go to Corsica he would miss the end of the term. Is it important? Why do you ask?

Ted flew to Corsica in an extraordinarily expensive tickets for unaccompanied minors and for the next 10 days the lady sent me pictures of mobile phones each day. Ted sunglasses on the beach, plunged into a mountain pool Ted, Ted with a bunch of French guys, Ted market, Ted deeper into a huge ice cream sundae, pizza, Ted, Ted a drink on the course veteran trees, Ted and Adrian holding a plate of sea urchins that had captured. I was a great moment.

Ted turned brown and very happy. He had developed a Gallic shrug and a taste for iced tea Lipton. He also has an unhealthy obsession with fireworks and Bristol pursued by high and low of firecrackers. He had learned a language as well. He was fluent in French to the English accent. "Ze buttergh Pleeze pass." Now, we had our own little house in the dark.

• Adrian came to us a couple of weeks later. We were in Edinburgh to visit my father and my cousins ??in Gaelic. I felt that the exchange was not quite right. When Ted had sandy beaches and sunshine and French food, Adrian in Scotland, which is really an adult pleasure. Children do not drink fine malt and not "have" points of view.

normally have left my children to slouch around the house of my father and above all fun. But now, I had Adrian felt compelled to raise. We had to do things. I followed the example of the lady and put it on a grueling schedule. We sailed in the North Sea and canoe through the mist in the Trossachs. We visited the castle and took trips around Edinburgh. We visited friends, went for a walk with the dogs in the mud.

Doing things seemed

to pay. Adrian has prospered. And he and Ted clicked. I mean that literally: Adrien Teddy learned to smack their hands in the air so that the bones of his fingers snapping right-click

While traveling in southern England, the boys are sitting together in the back of the car: "clickclickclick". We went to the movies: "clickclickclick". We visited the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, "clickclickclick"
Instead of Just William at home, were now two.

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