Tu Compris?

Monday, September 12th, 2011

The most common phrase these days... Do you understand? And a common response from me: un peu. Seems that's all I can ever understand, unless there is one person directly speaking to me and they are willing to gesture and speak slower than normal. I know my French has improved already, but I just want to be fluent NOW! All I want for Christmas is to be fluent in French... ;)

1st Class: First class today was French. Actually, it was the start of what was expected to be a long day for me... Out of my 8 hours today, 6 of them were French. That's a total of 400 minutes of French, of not being able to understand every other word, of using context clues within the classroom or trying to make out what exactly what it is that I was reading. Yep, definitely was going to be a long day... Luckily I wasn't going to be there the whole day!!! (But that comes later..) Anyhow, yep French with what I think was the 4th class. Of course, they were once again really excited that I was in their class. I mean, you would think that everyone would have gotten over having Americans and Australians here, but people are still in awe by the Aussies... And they have been here since January! But I guess that I could be in a country where everyone basically hates Americans and won't give them the time of day... So I am definitely accepting this as the alternative! I had it with the really nice teacher once again... I think that my couselor must know a little bit of what she is doing, because all of the teachers that I have had so far have been really nice and supportive of me, and definitely very understanding of my lack of French and comprehision of the actual class... Hopefully soon, i will be knocking out the homework and getting A's left and right. Or whatever they do for grades here... It's hard from going from the top of your class to not knowing anything... I have a lot more respect for the people with learning disabilities now, or whomever struggles in school, because now I know what they feel like and it's not so fun.

2nd/3rd Class: Yay a double period of 6th year French!!!! (Not....) I was happy at least that I was having another class with kids my age and some of my future friends... But once the class actually started, I definitely understood why it was exactly that my couselor put me in a class with kids a year younger than me. As soon as the teacher started talking, I was lost. Her accent was just one that was impossible to understand, and she was speaking so darn fast that  Icould hardly even tell if what she was saying was 20 different words or all one... Needless to say, it was a pretty hard double period. I tried really hard to understand at the beginning, but after an hour of tiring my brain out, I kinda sorta checked out and wrote a letter... But soon, and very soon (I am determined) I am going to understand and follow along just like the rest of them!

4th Class: Well, now I had study period. And I was happy to have study period, because it seemed like all of the peopel that I had kinda been talking to were in the same study hall! And, well, since it's the beginning of the school year and no one has really assigned any homework yet, we just sit there and talk. It's a nice chance to get to know people, even if I don't always know what they are saying! But before the fun started, all of the 6th year that is the general track were gathered together. then, the principal started out calling out people's names and I realized that he was completely changing the classes around. I wasn't very happy about that, especially since I really liked my class and was starting to get used to everything and my whole schedule. And of course, they change the exchange student. So now, you are looking at a member of class 6B. Now, the only peopel that i had even really talked to before that were in my class is these two guys and Constance, the nice girl from the first day that had been the first person to speak to me. But hey, it could have been worse, I could have had absolutely no one! Then, towards the end of the study period, I had to leave for my weekly lunch with my Rotary club. I knew I was getting picked up at this specific bus stop at 12 by some kind of Rotary person, and that at the very least I had a 10 minute walk ahead of me. But  iwas just chilling with my friends, and then I looked down at my phone and it was 11:50. Everybody was kinda confused as I to why I was leaving even though the bell hadn't rang yet, and I really didn't have that much time ot try and explain it to them in French, so I just said it in English and hopefully they understood...

5th/6th/7th Class: Yep, the Rotary meeting took away half of my school day. And to think, this is going to happen every single Monday! I am glad that my school is tolerant about it, I really kinda feel bad that I leave for half the day every week... But if it's what Rotary expects me to do, I am ok with that. And I am not going to complain about getting out of a little bit of school on a Monday.. And mean, anything to make Mondays a little bit better! So anyhow, I booked it down the hill to the bus stop and made in just in time. The guy came to pick us up like 2 minutes after I got there, and he was really nice. During the meeting, we ate again and talked a lot in French about things that I didn't quite understand. But then again, between school, Rotary meetings, and trying to understand Pascale and my friends, I am used to not always understanding. It's just something you gotta deal with, and hopefully soon I won't have the feeling so much! The meal that they served us this time was A LOT better than last time. I was really hungry by the time we actually sat down to eat, and the meal was absolutely delicious. So, I guess we just came on an off day for the restuarant last time. Along with the main meal, we were served a side of something that looked a bit like a cheesestick. I was delighted, thinking it was a cheesestick, and ready to have a little taste of home. But once I actually cut into it (Yes, we use forks and knives for everything here... Whenever I am by myslef I try to eat with my hands as much as possible, because the rest of the time I can't..), I discovered the inside was mashed potatoes. It was a really weird thing, mashed potatoes with a fried outside, but it was actually pretty good, as was the rest of the meal!

8th Class: When I finally got back to school (the kind man that picked us up offered to drop us off at our schools, but he misunderstood me and went to the wrong school, so then we had to back track to the bus stop and I had to walk back...), I had to start my new schedule. Now, I didn't really know what that was because they ran out of copies for class 6B, as well as the fact that I am a special student, but I just made the smart decision that I would go where everyone else was going for the remainder of the day. So, anyhow, I got ot walk into a double class of English, havign already missed one entire block and being 15 minutes late for the other. But once I walked in, everyone was just like "Oh, it's Morgan..." and continued on with the lesson. I'm glad that everyone pretty much knows who I am, because then they do the explaining in French if the teacher doesn't understand me... Luckily, the teacher was really chill about me walking in late and I think the couselor told my teachers, so  Ithink she knew already. But then again, with the whole schedule change, I'm not so sure.

9th Class: Well, my for my class I was supposed to have the recovery period of history, something that was a bit easier to understand than actual French class. But no, LUCKY ME, my new schedule had me going back to French with the other 6th year students. It was almost too much to handle... I have decided (well, not on this actual day but as of now...) I am going to bring my Dictionary to those French classes and rather than only understanding like 1/8 of what the crazy fast talking teacher is saying, I am going to study basic French words or verbs or something along those lines. I feel like it might be a better way to spend my time.. So, another school day down, another day closer until, well, I don't really know what!