The learning continues, and the French language continues to become clearer and clearer with each word I hear. Granted, it is a slow journey of progress, but indeed progress has been made.

As I sat watching both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Jeux Paris, I found myself for the first time actually wishing there were no translations as I found I could understand most of what was being said in French (admittedly, I may have paused and rewound a time or two ;)). To recognize words that previously were absolutely babbel to me in years past found me celebrating seemingly small, but, to me, grand progress.

With that said, I am not proficient yet, and I have had frustrations, but I have continued forward and I am grateful I have. Part of the reason I want to share my French language journey with you is to encourage and reassure you that the journey will be long, but the progress will be great, and here is the paradox, only if we both run up against frustrations and keep at it. We can do it!

I shared in the first post to kick off this year's French Week (the 9th!) that international language institutes have found it takes approximately 600 hours of regular learning of a new language to become proficient (this is for the easier to learn languages, of which French is high on that list, being one of the simpler language to learn - yes, it is true believe it or not ;)). And when you break down how long it takes an average student to cover 600 hours, it looks to be about 2-3 years. Knowing this has eased my mind and reminded me to be patient and remain consistently engaged and surrounded by the language - through taking my courses, doing my homework, studying even when I don't have homework and attempting to speak French in class whenever I have the opportunity.

Having concluded FR 202 this past June, two years of online study through Washington D.C. Alliance de Française are behind me and have found me much improved in both my breadth of vocabularly, pronunciation as well as comprehension and yes, even confidence in formulating sentences (however, simple) to carry on a conversation.

The last post/episode in this ongoing series was shared back in February - episode #347, when I wrapped up the 100 level, so now I am back to share with you what I have learned during FR 201 and 202. On y va !

Find the Show Notes for episode #386 here - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast386

When it comes to finances, to solely focus on the numbers actually can hinder the success and outcomes we seek of not only financial freedom, but deep everyday contentment.

Co-host of the established podcast Frugal Friends, Jill Sirianni joins me to not only talk about the founding premise of their show which debuted back in 2018 and now has more than 400 episodes, and also to talk about her and her co-hosts' Jen Smith's new book Buy What You Love Without Going Broke that will be released in January 2025.

Overlapping themes of how to live a life of contentment as well as find peace with our money management drew me to inviting Jill on The Simple Sophisticate as listeners will discover, many of the concepts and skills discussed here on TSLL are founding themes of savvy money management - presence, self-knowledge, gratitude, simplicity and more.

Learn more about Jill Sirianni and Jen Smith's work:

• The podcast, Frugal Friends here on their website
• Preordering their book, How to Buy What You Love Without Going Broke
• Follow them on Instagram: Frugal Friends Podcast

View the Show Notes for the episode (#385) here - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast385

When we make the life changing decision to embrace our true selves, a change that we cannot see at the outset, we open up a world of seemingly magic opportunities, gifts and moments of awe.

Over the years, beginning in 2018 and the post from which the excerpt above came, we've talked about honoring our true selves, what it entails, why it's important and how to stay the course.

The choice to step onto the journey's path of who each of us is must be made consciously, an exercise in self-awareness because we will be pushed and pulled off and over and even emotionally deflated along the way, and each instance will most likely, especially in the beginning and sometimes just at the end, prompt us to question if it is really worth it.

Today, as we are three days away from the launch of TSLL's Contentment Masterclass, I wanted to share with you six of the amazing benefits we welcome into our lives when we choose to honor our true self, something the course will teach you how to do in the first couple of lessons.

Tune in to discover and find the Show Notes for this episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast384