Hello

Now that the Top Up Your French on Board’s first summer is about to end, I think it is time for an assessment of what was a “Première”!  I still find incredible that no-one had thought before of offering language sessions on international ferries.  Please let me know if you have come across the same service offered before on a ferry. 
Top Up Your French Onboard has been an overwhelming success in terms of media intere st but more importantly in terms of “customer satisfaction”.  Participants arrived looking shy and feeling under-confident, some even sea-sick, but they left after the session looking far happier and ready to “give it a go!” and not sea-sick anymore, which is a definite plus!  The feedback was absolutely amazing and of course heart-warming so watch out for more “Tune into the Local Language” sessions on more ferries in the near future!
The sessions were not only a success with the participants but they were also very well received in the media, even the French media.  The Paris-Normandie newspaper published two really nice articles about the sessions and a FR3 team came onboard the Côte d’Albâtre last Thursday to film the Top Up Your French sessions. 
 Last but certainly not least, I was interviewed on Seahaven FM last Friday by Nick Mallinson and David Foster.  I think they give their local community a fantastic service and I will write a special blog entry about them next.

There will be no sessions during the week in the winter but I will be organising Weekend Trips to Dieppe including a Top Up Your French Onboard sessions and a guided tour of the town with a “treasure hunt” and a meal at one of the harbour restaurants.  Please email me at babette@cosmofil.com for more info.

Best cosmofil greetings

Babette

It’s already a month since the first Top Up Your French session took place on board the Côte d’Albâtre.  A steadily increasing number of passengers are joining me around the captain’s table with especially more children now that the school holidays have started.  How lovely to hear their laughter and their first attempt at ordering a meal in French! 

I hope you were able to listen to the interview on BH, the Sunday morning Radio 4 program.  The BBC South East Today team will join me on Thursday 14^th of August and I am told their report will appear in the evening program. 

We’ll soon have a link from the Transmanche LD Lines home page.  This is excellent news and I am sure it will bring more people to the sessions.

The Top Up Your French sessions are an essential part of the cosmofil concept.  Helping people to communicate in the language of the country they are visiting is the first step towards a better understanding of different cultures.  This is the message I want to put through to MEP Sharon Bowles when we talk this week.  I am a passionate European and I believe cosmofil can help promote Europe in the UK.

Best cosmofil wishes

Babette