#LIKEACHALLENGE 

A vlog introducing you to my amazing grandad, whose Toyota Corolla I'll be driving all the way to Monte Carlo in July and racing funds for the Help for Heros charity. He was a WWII veteran and also my personal hero. I miss him loads, but I hope he's going to be proud when he sees his beloved car in front of the Monte Carlo casino! : )

Find out how me and my dad are getting on with the prep for the Monte Carlo or bust rally. We've been testing our car in rather extreme weather conditions... and do enjoy my dad's beautiful English accent ;)

It's over half way through the French challenge, so where am I at? Well, I can finally talk about the past as the last couple of days have been about learning 'passe compose', the basic past tense in French. I did future tense a couple of weeks ago, so in theory I know all the verb forms now, but I have to practise, practise and yet again practise to feel more at ease using these in conversation. I had two French lessons this weekend as I wanted to catch up after a busy week

So, first ever blog is finally up. Very humble beginnings, random bits filmed on my iPhone & laptop :) Summary of my first month mastering French pronunciation and memorising basic phrases. And an opportunity to see me with barely any make-up on, wet hair straight out of the shower, sitting in the kitchen. Think I sold it to you..!

Week 5 has been a lot about ‘forcing’ myself to do those 15min of French when I know I’m losing momentum in my challenge and can’t find the same motivation I had in the first week. I did two 1:1 lessons in week 5, so that’s good, but I had to find new, interesting ways of learning in order to not get bored. I guess it’s easier when you just learn French in France and then you’re surrounded by the language all the time anyway. But doing it in London, I have to do (at least) 15

I know a bit more than 'une baguette' by this stage..just finished week 5 of my learning French challenge, but still writing a blogpost about week 4. My only excuse is that...I’ve been learning French plus doing the Vicky’s Secret challenge. So no sitting around for sure! Week four was when I had my first 1:1 lessons and that gave me a massive boost of confidence when it comes to actually speaking the language! You can learn from books, internet or listen to tapes / apps / y

I’ve had some moments of doubt this week pondering if I can ever get past only being able to name things and memorise whole sentences. It’s speeds up the learning process at the beginning, but at some stage you want to express genuine opinions or say how you feel, naturally, rather than delivering a script. I think I haven’t reached that stage with French yet. I’m getting to the point of ‘Tarzan French’ (a name used in the ‘Language hacking’ book), where you simply use whate

As it was an extremely busy time for me work-wise, my second week has mostly been about trying to fit in at least one minute of French whenever I could. On the train, in the cafe, between phone calls, listening to the app when standing in a queue or at 11pm at home before going to bed. This is the reason why a lot of people give up their challenge a few days into it, they just don't find the time. Or rather, they don't even TRY to find the time. We've got work, daily erran

Here’s a few photos from the last Warsaw ‘Barborka’ Rally which takes place every year at the end of the Polish rally season. Over the years, it’s become an iconic event gathering the best of Polish drivers and special guests from around the world. 'Barborka' also refers to the 4th Dec and Saint Barbara, who is the patron...of miners. Still, a relatively big celebration in Poland (mining used to be big here). Also ,if you know any Barbaras or Basias wish them a 'Happy Iminin