If I don’t know a word in French then I will usually say it in English but with a French accent. Then I hope for the best. Sixty percent of the time this method of mine has served me well. Where I often go wrong though is when I think a French person will do the same. Meaning, if they don’t know the word in French, to think that they will say it in English with a French accent too. That’s me.

When one is sitting in the dentist’s chair however, this is no time to be taking risks with one’s vocabulary. The first time I went to the dentist about my toothache I thought she was talking about the “resin” (on my crown) wearing off (which is close to what probably happened anyway). Come time again to sit in the seat I had the nagging feeling that my French had failed me. I was right. I put one and one together quickly to finally realise that the dentist was referring to an infection on my racine, or root (which is pronounced much the same way as the English word “resin”). It’s moments like this that I come to know the meaning of the word enlightenment.