Since I'm a few days behind, I thought I'd do a short (shortish) recap on the highlights of these past few days.
I dedicate this post to Olivia for making me stop being lazy.
Wednesday
- I learned it is hard to stay in french. First because it hurts my brain, because the other students look at me like I'm pretentious, and sometimes I just miss english. I want to get better at french, really I do, but sometimes you just want to throw down whatever you're holding and yell, " I WILL SPEAK ENGLISH AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME." Luckily I haven't gotten to quite that point yet.
- I was so proud of myself the other day when I went into Orange (phone store) and solved my phone problem! I spoke in french to this nice old man and he helped me out and also put my phone in english again. Which, as we discussed was much better, because the last time I learned technical terms in french was... wait, never. 'turn on global roaming', yeah I've learned that recently. He sympathized though, he never learned english that way. We bonded.
- Dear students in my class, please stop texting in the first row on the first day. Pay a little attention please. And we're in France, speak french. Or speak english in a quiet, polite voice. Social cues.
- Today I ate mushrooms. Dear god I ate mushrooms in a salad form and I kind of liked them. Stop the presses.
- I totally planned on running in the south of France, nice weather, etc, etc, sun, sounds great. Oh, wait. Then it snowed. And was 19 this morning.
- THE SNOW DEAR GOD THE SNOW.
Thursday
- French is hard, dear god, it is hard. It hurts my brain.
- So there's a teacher. He's my literature teacher but he's super into linguistics. Which is awesome for me, because I do love linguistics and find them fascinating. But he corrects us on a level on which I have never been corrected before. Which is great for my french, but after so many times, it bangs my self esteem upside the head. Especially when it's your last class on Thursday after a long week. For example, the tiny yet noticeable difference between /s/ and /ss/. /s/ is pronounced [z] in french, whereas /ss/ is [s]. And the changing between hard /g/ and /c/ depending on the vowels behind it. And thank god I know linguistics and the symbols used and the ideas behind it. Because the students that don't look so confused. They can't understand his corrections and straight up can't understand linguistics. It's a great class and he's awesome and full of enthusiasm, but luckily it's only twice a week.
Friday
- Nothing interesting happened. Had a treasure hunt around Aix for information like store hours, etc, went to a Tex Mex restaurant (thank god!) which was pretty good, maybe a step down from Chipotle, and finally went to a modern dance show. That was... interesting. Let's say that.
Saturday
- Left for Nice at 8:15AM, yawn. Bus ride, stopped in Nice and walked around. It was really pretty and if I can get my act together, pictures will be up tomorrow. But it was freezing cold. Not that that stopped me from eating gelato. Snickers gelato, yeahhhh.
- Stopped at 'Fragonard' which is a fancy old perfume factory. They make amazing smells and I had to buy one. Splurge. :) It was pretty nifty though, I can't lie.
- Went from Nice to our hotel, which was actually a hostel.
- Went to Monte Carlo and the casino there! It was pretty swank and we watched some guy play and loose a million euros, only to gain back 1.2 million. Sooooo.
Sunday
- Went into Monaco where there was no one because it's off season for tourists. Oh and did I mention it was cold? It's even cold inside restaurants. I have at least three layers on at all times. We did see the Princess of Monaco however!
- Left for another little town and walked around in the cold and my friends and I just ducked into every free art gallery we saw. Which was actually a lot of them and saw some nice pictures of country sides, flowers, poppies (not puppies, mom), and lavender. Quite nice.
- Finally came home.
Monday
It was 19 degrees when I left this morning. Fahrenheit.
So today I helped my friend with her french and she's at the very beginning level and she doesn't even understand the beginning concepts of conjugation and -er verbs. But her homework was to conjugate -er verbs, but the special ones too that change accents and stuff. Which I thought was ridiculous. I appreciate the teaching a little extra than you've taught in class, but that's just a tad extreme, no? She doesn't even know what an -er verb is and you want her to understand that 'préférer' changes accents and 'manger' adds an 'e'. Sigh. (Also, as I sit in the cave doing homework, the maintenance man on the coffee vending machine just gave me free hot chocolate! Oh hoho, the benefits of speaking french and sitting in the cave [basement]. )
On another positive note, people are getting more open to speaking to me in french. I hear them talking amongst themselves and they say, "Well, I guess we should speak in french, I mean it's probably a good way to get better, right?" Yeah, probably. No, but all snarkiness aside, that's good and I'm glad. Also, today I went to read a stupid poem and it was easier! Hooray! Thus, that is good.
Finally, just had an hour and a half long dinner. So long but it's always fun and nice to try and understand more french. But I will never get the hang of the bisous. I know it's only two here in Aix, but I can NEVER figure out which side is the right one. There was extended family over today and luckily they're really nice and joke with me about stuff that would otherwise be a cultural faux pas. So it's only mildly embarrassing. :) I think it's you go for their left cheek, so to your right first? Dear god, who knows.
More Observations!
- Literal translations from french are so funny. I keep laughing in class and people probably think I'm crazy but when I think about exactly what the french are saying in english it's amusing.
- 'truc' is the best word in french. It's like 'chose', only the french actually use it. It's essentially used as 'thing' in most situations. You can cook a truc for dinner, you can do a truc, you can buy a truc, etc.
- Saying a simple 'bonjour' and then 'au revoir, merci' to the shopkeepers makes all the difference in the world, changes a rude person to a nice person. But I mean, let's be real, if you were a shopkeeper, wouldn't you appreciate that?
- The sounds the French make are different than our sounds, like sounds of indifference, confusion, and greetings. I think it's fascinating. There's a lot more clicking--you know, like disappointed mothers? But it's just a thing and I'm picking it up, sigh. They also say 'coo coo' as in 'hey'. Coo coo as in coo coo for Coco Puffs, yes.
- Today I learned that if you say 'Ah, regarde le pingouin' (look at the penguin) (Also 'pingouin' is a great word to say. Try it. Go ahead, right now. ) you are in fact referring to a male who is wearing clothes that are too big and don't fit him right so he looks like a penguin wandering and wobbling around. Lol.
- For one of my classes, finals here are only ten minutes of discussion. We'll prepare a list of 15 topics, pick one out of a hat, have time to prepare, then talk for ten minutes. Everyone was freaking out, but I was just glad it was ten minutes and not thirty. Sooooo, calm down.
- There are some hilarious religious based superstitions, such as: if you step in dog poop with your right foot (you know, the good foot) then you'll have good luck all day. Left foot? Bad luck all day. Also, your baguette has to be upright--with the designy stuff facing up-- or else it's like you put the body of Jesus upside down. So someone will usually turn the bread right side up. Interesting.
And that has been a whirlwind of information.
I dedicate this post to Olivia for making me stop being lazy.
Wednesday
- I learned it is hard to stay in french. First because it hurts my brain, because the other students look at me like I'm pretentious, and sometimes I just miss english. I want to get better at french, really I do, but sometimes you just want to throw down whatever you're holding and yell, " I WILL SPEAK ENGLISH AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME." Luckily I haven't gotten to quite that point yet.
- I was so proud of myself the other day when I went into Orange (phone store) and solved my phone problem! I spoke in french to this nice old man and he helped me out and also put my phone in english again. Which, as we discussed was much better, because the last time I learned technical terms in french was... wait, never. 'turn on global roaming', yeah I've learned that recently. He sympathized though, he never learned english that way. We bonded.
- Dear students in my class, please stop texting in the first row on the first day. Pay a little attention please. And we're in France, speak french. Or speak english in a quiet, polite voice. Social cues.
- Today I ate mushrooms. Dear god I ate mushrooms in a salad form and I kind of liked them. Stop the presses.
- I totally planned on running in the south of France, nice weather, etc, etc, sun, sounds great. Oh, wait. Then it snowed. And was 19 this morning.
- THE SNOW DEAR GOD THE SNOW.
Thursday
- French is hard, dear god, it is hard. It hurts my brain.
- So there's a teacher. He's my literature teacher but he's super into linguistics. Which is awesome for me, because I do love linguistics and find them fascinating. But he corrects us on a level on which I have never been corrected before. Which is great for my french, but after so many times, it bangs my self esteem upside the head. Especially when it's your last class on Thursday after a long week. For example, the tiny yet noticeable difference between /s/ and /ss/. /s/ is pronounced [z] in french, whereas /ss/ is [s]. And the changing between hard /g/ and /c/ depending on the vowels behind it. And thank god I know linguistics and the symbols used and the ideas behind it. Because the students that don't look so confused. They can't understand his corrections and straight up can't understand linguistics. It's a great class and he's awesome and full of enthusiasm, but luckily it's only twice a week.
Friday
- Nothing interesting happened. Had a treasure hunt around Aix for information like store hours, etc, went to a Tex Mex restaurant (thank god!) which was pretty good, maybe a step down from Chipotle, and finally went to a modern dance show. That was... interesting. Let's say that.
Saturday
- Left for Nice at 8:15AM, yawn. Bus ride, stopped in Nice and walked around. It was really pretty and if I can get my act together, pictures will be up tomorrow. But it was freezing cold. Not that that stopped me from eating gelato. Snickers gelato, yeahhhh.
- Stopped at 'Fragonard' which is a fancy old perfume factory. They make amazing smells and I had to buy one. Splurge. :) It was pretty nifty though, I can't lie.
- Went from Nice to our hotel, which was actually a hostel.
- Went to Monte Carlo and the casino there! It was pretty swank and we watched some guy play and loose a million euros, only to gain back 1.2 million. Sooooo.
Sunday
- Went into Monaco where there was no one because it's off season for tourists. Oh and did I mention it was cold? It's even cold inside restaurants. I have at least three layers on at all times. We did see the Princess of Monaco however!
- Left for another little town and walked around in the cold and my friends and I just ducked into every free art gallery we saw. Which was actually a lot of them and saw some nice pictures of country sides, flowers, poppies (not puppies, mom), and lavender. Quite nice.
- Finally came home.
Monday
It was 19 degrees when I left this morning. Fahrenheit.
So today I helped my friend with her french and she's at the very beginning level and she doesn't even understand the beginning concepts of conjugation and -er verbs. But her homework was to conjugate -er verbs, but the special ones too that change accents and stuff. Which I thought was ridiculous. I appreciate the teaching a little extra than you've taught in class, but that's just a tad extreme, no? She doesn't even know what an -er verb is and you want her to understand that 'préférer' changes accents and 'manger' adds an 'e'. Sigh. (Also, as I sit in the cave doing homework, the maintenance man on the coffee vending machine just gave me free hot chocolate! Oh hoho, the benefits of speaking french and sitting in the cave [basement]. )
On another positive note, people are getting more open to speaking to me in french. I hear them talking amongst themselves and they say, "Well, I guess we should speak in french, I mean it's probably a good way to get better, right?" Yeah, probably. No, but all snarkiness aside, that's good and I'm glad. Also, today I went to read a stupid poem and it was easier! Hooray! Thus, that is good.
Finally, just had an hour and a half long dinner. So long but it's always fun and nice to try and understand more french. But I will never get the hang of the bisous. I know it's only two here in Aix, but I can NEVER figure out which side is the right one. There was extended family over today and luckily they're really nice and joke with me about stuff that would otherwise be a cultural faux pas. So it's only mildly embarrassing. :) I think it's you go for their left cheek, so to your right first? Dear god, who knows.
More Observations!
- Literal translations from french are so funny. I keep laughing in class and people probably think I'm crazy but when I think about exactly what the french are saying in english it's amusing.
- 'truc' is the best word in french. It's like 'chose', only the french actually use it. It's essentially used as 'thing' in most situations. You can cook a truc for dinner, you can do a truc, you can buy a truc, etc.
- Saying a simple 'bonjour' and then 'au revoir, merci' to the shopkeepers makes all the difference in the world, changes a rude person to a nice person. But I mean, let's be real, if you were a shopkeeper, wouldn't you appreciate that?
- The sounds the French make are different than our sounds, like sounds of indifference, confusion, and greetings. I think it's fascinating. There's a lot more clicking--you know, like disappointed mothers? But it's just a thing and I'm picking it up, sigh. They also say 'coo coo' as in 'hey'. Coo coo as in coo coo for Coco Puffs, yes.
- Today I learned that if you say 'Ah, regarde le pingouin' (look at the penguin) (Also 'pingouin' is a great word to say. Try it. Go ahead, right now. ) you are in fact referring to a male who is wearing clothes that are too big and don't fit him right so he looks like a penguin wandering and wobbling around. Lol.
- For one of my classes, finals here are only ten minutes of discussion. We'll prepare a list of 15 topics, pick one out of a hat, have time to prepare, then talk for ten minutes. Everyone was freaking out, but I was just glad it was ten minutes and not thirty. Sooooo, calm down.
- There are some hilarious religious based superstitions, such as: if you step in dog poop with your right foot (you know, the good foot) then you'll have good luck all day. Left foot? Bad luck all day. Also, your baguette has to be upright--with the designy stuff facing up-- or else it's like you put the body of Jesus upside down. So someone will usually turn the bread right side up. Interesting.
And that has been a whirlwind of information.
Dear Daughter, 'God' seems to have a lot to do with your discoveries in France. 'Thank God', 'Good God', 'Dear God'... you are truly turning French as they are all good Catholics. :-)
ReplyDeleteCoucou is indeed a word. Note that 'truc' is not used for ideas (je pense qu'on fait des trucs culturels bizarres en France) as opposed to 'choses'.
In the shops, try to remember 'Bonjour messieurs, dames', even if there are no sieurs or dames around. Then 'Au revoir messieurs, dames' as you leave.
AK will be fascinated by the knowledge you are gathering. ;-) Especially with regard to meals and chocolate buying...
LOVE YOU, Bisous,
M
The French are not good catholics! We've had conversations about that. I am an Aixoise these days, not French.
DeleteMeals and chocolates are arguably the best parts of France. Warm weather is too... OH WAIT. Fingers crossed I don't freeze.
I LOVE Fragonard!! It's amazing... I bought a small bottle my first time in Nice during undergrad, treasured it with my life, and, finally, bought some more when I was there last summer.
ReplyDeletePS I love that your mom is still teaching you French via the blog!
PPS I might be emailing you in the next few weeks to pilot some ideas for a study I'm doing this summer about study abroad in France... ça y est?
Yes! That's where I bought my tiny bottle! It smells so good.
DeletePS. I know, she never stops. I can never escape the teacher. :)
PPS. Bien sûr! Just shoot me an email whenever. (I probably spelled that french wrong. Every time I write in french I wait for my mom to come correct it...)
You two are way too funny, NOT!
ReplyDelete