I've always loved languages - I was enrolled in French-language kindergarten, although I switched back to English instruction for 1st grade.

I took classes in French, Spanish and German through high school.

In 1994 I moved to Belgium for 11 months as a foreign exchange student, where I lived with a French-speaking family.

In 2000, I graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Combined Languages: French and Spanish. And then I became a web developer, moved to the US in 2001, and rarely used my French again.

In early 2018 I moved back to Canada. In Ottawa where I live, there is a lot of French spoken, and to get a job with the Government of Canada (the area's largest employer), you're expected to have a certain level of French competence. So, this seemed a good reason as any to refresh my language skills!