Speaker: Rhodri Thomas, Executive Director | J.P. Morgan
What drew you to this kind of immersive travel experience?
Rhodri Thomas: I was living in Paris and I was learning French and making good progress, but not fast enough, and I wanted to get away from the distractions of other English speakers and friends and somewhere where I could have a clear head and make real progress in a short amount of time and really have like a proper immersion experience so that my, you know, my French could move forward, you know, much faster than it would have done otherwise.
How would you describe the overall quality and curation of the trip?
Rhodri Thomas: Ah, everything was. Completely bespoke, uh, really high quality, uh, in a beautiful part of France that I'd not explored before. So, you know, everything about the experience was just really enjoyable. I mean, I was learning, but it felt like a holiday as well, you know, it was, um, good food, good wine, um, nice walks, nice people, um, and obviously, you you, focusing on learning the language, but, you know, everything, it was real France and I've already got, I already got that sense from it.
What moments felt truly unique or unforgettable?
Rhodri Thomas: Two things really stand out as um unforgettable experiences. The first was, I think it was maybe the 3rd or 4th evening we went out for dinner, and even though my French was a relatively good level, you know, I'm probably at the level where I would occasionally slip into English or need to adjust or need to translate, um, and I guess I got to the stage where I remember getting to the end of a meal and realising that we'd basically spent the entire evening speaking just French and I'd actually managed to. You know, traverse some interesting conversations. It wasn't, you know, just sort of boring, um, boring small talk. It was, you know, proper conversations, and I'd managed to sort of, you know, go all the way through that, through that evening, and that was kind of, it felt like a real sense of progress. So that was the that was the most unforgettable bit. Um, I think the second bit was I, I actually took my bike with me and we were in this amazing part of France in the mountains, and I did this like 3 hour cycle and the scenery was stunning, and I just sort of remember thinking like, you know, I wouldn't normally be here, this is not a. Tourist destination normally or like a really famous part but it was, it was kind of stunning and it was, it was um there was some amazing views through the gorges and the canyons and it was just uh, yeah, it was a really, really nice moment for me personally.
How did the experience help you connect more deeply with the language and culture?
Rhodri Thomas: So I was living in Paris, so I feel like I had a pretty good handle of French culture, um, you know, from the people, the food, the wine, everything that goes with it. I think the thing that really made a difference was just, you know, more from a language perspective and being able to actually converse with people, not just my teacher, but, you know, the other people that I met over the week and Some of the locals and, you know, people in restaurants and things like that. I think just being able to sort of speak a bit freer, um, you know, with slightly less hesitation and a slightly more expanded vocabulary kind of just made me feel like I was, I guess, like living a normal life rather than like as a tourist. Um, that, that kind of was the, that was the deeper connection that I felt.
Would you recommend this to someone looking for something beyond a typical retreat?
Rhodri Thomas: Yeah, 100%. I think, um, I guess, you know, anytime you go away and you get the opportunity to speak and learn, it's, it's a positive and I'm sure there's lots of, you know, places where you can do big group classes or or other packages, but I think the thing that felt unique was it didn't, it didn't feel like I was part of a language school. It felt like I was an individual like student that was having everything catered, you know, towards my progression and my enjoyment and my experience, so. You know, I'd say if you know if you're, if you're able to um. Uh, you know, then then the difference between like a really bespoke focused package and, you know, feeling like you're just a student in a class, like that, that really, I think that also helped me feel like I wasn't, you know, I wasn't at school, I wasn't like doing my homework. It was very much like me there to learn for me and that whole experience like really added to that and helped, you know, create that, create that environment that was amazing.
