I've finally gotten a handle on the usage of "vous" (formal "you") and "tu" (informal "you") and am fairly comfortable in choosing the correct form. But the usage still doesn't fail to catch me off guard. Today, after being stopped in the hall and questioned by a new surveillant (she thought I was a student), she quickly switched from "tu" to "vous" with me when she learned I was an assistant. Which is weird. I hate when the surveillants use "vous" with me, but luckily, most of them use "tu" now. But that's not that thing that's on my mind. I was just more shocked that she thought I was a student than anything else.
Right afterwards, I was waiting in the hall with two of my BTSers. We greeted each other and the one used the very formal "vous" with me. I pretty much stopped in my tracks. Did he really just use "vous" with me?
When I first arrived, all my students used "vous", but soon after, pretty much all of them switched to the more informal "tu". I, for one, do not have a problem with that. I've always made it clear that I am there to be more of a "friend" and that they can speak to me casually. I'm not their teacher. That's the whole point. Plus, I'm a lot more comfortable with them using "tu" with me especially since the age difference is very small. There's a few who still use "vous" with me, but they're mostly the younger students. I don't always play close attention, so maybe more students than I realize use "vous" with me, but a BTS student?? Obviously, the ones I have seen outside of class use "tu", but I do really think almost all of them have started using "tu". We are about the same age after all.
The student in question today is at least my age if not older. He's always been really nice to me, and we always chat a bit in class, but I never caught the "vous" until today. And today, he got really chatty while we were waiting out in the hall. He was talking a mile a minute about his BTS projects, his exams (finally got a clear explanation of the English one), and a lot of other things. He apologized for speaking in French instead of English, but I told him it was good for me. Hey, it feels good to be able to understand someone with a Picard accent talking quickly about complicated things. Also, let me just say this... their exams (and the subjects they have to take) sound so difficult! I would so fail!
Okay, back to the "tu" versus "vous" thing. I know it's a sign of respect, and he wants to treat me with as much respect as he would an actual teacher, but still...
So a question for you (especially for assistants and former assistants), what do your students use with you? What ages are they?
No comments:
Post a Comment