L’autre jour (the other day) I needed an important insurance document. One of my professeurs sent an email telling me what I needed, and as with many important documents it had a long and complicated name.

Une attestation personnelle d’assurance de responsabilité civile
A personal proof of civil liability insurance

Before I left mon appartement (my apartment), I made sure to memorize it. I didn’t want to be lost not knowing how to say un tournevis again! I repeated the whole thing over and over until I could say it sans y réfléchir (without thinking).

I went to find the office, but once there I saw a sign reading:

Fermé
Nous avons déménagé
Notre nouvelle adresse est…

Closed
We moved
Our new address is…

I knew the street of the new address so I didn’t have a problem finding it, but as I was walking in the door I realized I had forgotten the name of the document! La secrétaire (the secretary) greeted me as she took care of another person, and I was glad to have time to try to remember how to say the word!

Bonjour ! Vous pouvez attendre là-bas.
Hello! You can wait over there.

I sat down and looked for une brochure (a brochure, pamphlet) that might have the word I needed to say. As I was looking through the various types d’assurance (kinds of insurance) it came back to me!

Une attestation personnelle d’assurance de responsabilité civile

I repeated it over and over to myself until la secrétaire spoke to me.

Bonjour monsieur. Comment puis-je vous aider ?
J’ai besoin d’une attestation personnelle d—
Vous avez besoin d’une attestation de droits ?
C’est pour un stage.
Oui, d’accord, je peux le faire pour vous.

Hello sir. How can I help you?
I need a personal proo—
You need proof of insurance?
It’s for an internship.
Yes, alright, I can do that for you.

After all that I didn’t need to say the whole thing, even if I will never forget it now. I left the office knowing sometimes French is easier than it appears!