A few weeks ago I was panicking about an upcoming french trip due to suffering from a bunch of intrusive memories about my last experience trying to buy something in Switzerland. I posted about my fear of talking to french people in french in the social anxiety forum. I was still rather nervous about it when I went on the trip.

We had some french speaking lessons with someone which I found quite good for boosting confidence, and by the end of the trip I feel like I've improved quite a lot.

On the last day of the trip we got to go off on our own down a street full of shops and, having not eaten a substantial lunch, I went with the group I was with to a nice patisserie/boulangerie. The person in the shop seemed to know some English, but not much. I actually managed to buy a sandwich, a box of macarons and a thing of chocolate mousse without speaking a word of English! I was feeling pretty great about that and was able to do it again at the airport. First I bought another macaron and the only word I didn't understand was boarding pass (the salesman was very helpful) and then I bought a bowl of cold pasta and some orangeade for dinner. I was even able to ask for a bag and use the vous form to try and be more polite! I'm now feeling way more confident in my ability to hold a conversation in (albeit slightly broken) French! Sorry if this doesn't fit here.