Claude and I were discussing some grammar points today, and we got on the subject of rhythm and such. For anyone who doesn't know French, French has a very steady rhythm, where we as anglophones tend to "sing" as we speak aka not steady at all. I really have to concentrate to get a real feel for the rhythm, and if Claude changes it slightly, I don't catch it unless he's warned me about it, but the students will start cracking up right away. I found myself asking how I can improve. He gave me some pointers and then offered to work with me for at least a solid hour each week. So that's what we'll be doing (hopefully) starting next Wednesday - intensive repetition exercises. It'll probably be difficult, but it'll help me immensely. I'm lucky to have someone who's willing to work with me like this.
I know my French has improved. Vero told me this past weekend all the change she has seen just since this past October. And then today, Carole commented on that as well. She also said that I'm much more at ease. I do feel a lot more at ease. There are some things that just come so naturally now. Like, for example, the French tend to say "quoi" at the end of a lot of their sentences. It's a gap filler. Kind of like the word "like" or "you know". I would hear it all the time, and I would want to use it, but it never popped into my head when I was saying something in normal conversation. And even if it did, it always seemed unnatural for me to say it. Today, I found myself saying it without thought while having lunch with Carole. Guess I finally found a replacement for my love of saying "like" a lot for French. Well, that and "ben" (pronounced bah).
In teaching news, my BTSers didn't get on my nerves as much today. Well, let me rephrase a bit. I still love them, and they're still fun, but they've just been troublesome lately and unwilling to make any effort. We've been having some problems, because they need to prepare for their exam, and thus, they don't want to go with me, because that's not as fun as just chatting with me. I thought today would be hell, but I got through to one out of five (once I put some fear into him about how soon the exam is), so I call that a success. I'm sure another one did his preparation the last time we met up, and he could probably wing it if he had to so I'm not worried. The other three took a few notes, so I'll try to push them a bit more the next time. Their exam will be right before I leave, so it's soon!
With my TGM today, not one word of English was said. We went to the ateliers to learn about the new BTS in cooling and air conditioning that my school will be offering starting next year. It was actually quite interesting. I never thought about all the work that goes into preparing food to be frozen and keeping it that way and such. Not too mention different cooling techniques or homes, pools, businesses, etc. I learned a lot. The program also sounds pretty cool. They would work two weeks, go to school two weeks, work two, and so on, and they would be paid for all of that. It's also a high paying field. The starting salary would be about the same as a teacher in France makes at the end of their career.
I laughed so hard at dinner tonight. Surveillant C. made some crazy comments. I thought S. was going to die from laughing so hard. We were talking about fidelity, and S. made a comment about how he could never cheat. C. said something along the lines of "never say never" and then gave some metaphors. One involved a fountain and if you were thirsty, you would drink from the first fountain you saw. Another was if you love meat and eat it all the time, and then one day you eat fish, it would only serve to remind you about how much you love meat. That's what got S. laughing. It was pretty funny. Just the way C. said it. Seriously, I wish everyone could meet this guy. You would understand why I love him so much if you could. Anyway, what I learned from tonight's dinner is to never date C., because he will cheat on you even if it serves only to remind him of how much he loves you.
Oh man, almost the weekend. I'm thinking Paris.
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