Hello! My name is Zubeda and I am a student at the Alliance Française de Karachi, currently enrolled in the B2/C1 session.

I actually started studying French a long time back, when I was 16 years old, but quit learning the language after 1-2 years for reasons I don’t remember any longer (excuses, I know!). When I started a new job in late 2018, one of the requirements for my role was to be proficient in French. Since I already knew the basics of the language, I joined Alliance and was placed with the B1 group.

While my primary reason for resuming classes at Alliance after a decade-long gap was to fulfill my career requirements, the classes and the professors’ method of teaching ignited a passion (dramatic, but true!) for the French language that I hope stays with me in the long run. Despite my busy work schedule, I actively follow the French news to improve my vocabulary and pronunciation, and look forward to my classes every week.

I have also realized that I study better in a classroom setting and I am really grateful to have met my classmates, all of whom are really good friends now. We motivate each other, correct each others’ mistakes, and try to speak in French even when the Professor isn’t around. This camaraderie has helped me improve my French a lot and my classmate, Talha, and I now meet virtually for an hour every day to revise our French and encourage each other to improve our conversational skills.

—Zubeda