I don't know if I've really gone into much about the language here. I know I've mentioned the accent once or twice and more than likely in a joking matter with the film "Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis". We were talking to a guy at the bar last night who lives down in southern Aisne (Aisne is the department I live in... kind of like a American state). Anyway, his accent is much clearer than what you find around here. He went on to describe some other cities in Aisne - a lot of which we have heard of or have been to, like Soissons and Coucy-le-Chateau. Well, he said that the accent doesn't become Picard until you hit Chauny and then continue further north. That's where you stumble across the horrible accent. So if you're in those other towns, people speak more or less normally. But then you come to Chauny, and well, it all goes downhill from there. So yes, I live in a city that has one of the worst accents in France.
My big fear is that I might have picked up the accent a bit. Yes, I speak with an American accent. It's hard not to. I also speak with other Americans in French a lot, and let's not forget the Brit and the Colombian. Not one of us has a French accent. When I was down with Veronique, she made a comment that my accent is worse now. I can't see myself speaking more American than before... I would say my accent was only American in October. But I do question if it's a bit Picard. Vero said that I wasn't annunciating enough and was eating my words. That describes Picard in a nut shell.
I've been thinking for awhile now, it's so hard to see if your language skills are actually approving or not. I mean, I still feel lost half of the time and will get freaked out if I am put on the spot. A part of me was wondering if I have made any progress or not. It's not like there's some kind of exact science to measure this. I also have to keep reminding myself that I am in Picardie, and the accent here is horrible. Not to mention that Picard words are often thrown into the conversation. When I go to Paris, I'm surprised that I can understand everything that is said to me! We've all often remarked on this point. That's one good thing about being here, I can now understand a lot of the accents here in France, because I'm living up here with the worst one.
But I am really curious as to how much I've improved since Day 1. When Alyssa was here a month or so ago, I realized that I have improved a fair amount. I was translating the things Claude and my students said to her without missing a beat. I barely needed to think about it. Granted, I am around these people all of the time, but when I first got here, I often wondered what language these people were speaking. That's not to say that I understand everything, but it is a lot better. But it's more with certain age groups/people now. Like awhile ago, my group of secondes (who take German as their first foreign language) and I were having loads of difficulties understanding each other. Possibly due to the fact that they use a mixture of languages instead of just saying it in French. Then, G. the surviellant came in to talk to me, and I had no problems whatsoever communicating with him.
Of course, I'm probably going to leave here saying certain words with the Picardian accent ("Ch'ai pa moi" is probably the one I use most often) and using some strictly Picardian words ("Piche toi?"). And Claude also loves teaching me lots of Picardian words and phrases.
Okay, enough language talk. Well, okay. Along those lines, yesterday, we met an American and an Australian and their son who are living in Chauny for the next year at the park. They were speaking English and the husband looked so American, so we asked them where they were from, and they were super nice. The wife was so happy to meet us, because she doesn't know really any French. She's sad that we're all leaving soon. If I come back next year, I can so meet up with her though.
Yes, I leave soon. Thursday to be exact. I am not ready. And bien sur, I have not even started packing.
Also, our friend M. is like the nicest guy ever. We spent a lot of this weekend and today with him, and he's just awesome. We love him!
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