Friday night, there was a potluck for the French host families and the American students that had been there a week. I was invited so off I went.
At first it was a bit awkward because I'm not really student nor professor. Luckily, a friend turned up - she did the exchange in 2002 and her mom still helps out.
When she left, I looked around for the friendlies/least awkward group to sit with and found some of my premières (juniors), some Americans, and one terminale student (senior). I had a total blast as we joked around for quite a bit. It was fun to relax with them - they're great kids.
They spent a lot of time teaching each other informal slang and swears. There was a lot of French white girls saying "What's up, homies?" with accompanying "gangster" hand gestures. Also, my students agreed we would all pretend we hadn't hung out without the teacher/student hierarchy. (That being said, i refused to teach them any swear words or do anything else that would compromise my role as a teacher.)
Also, some fun quotes from the evening:
Student: All the Americans are leaving tomorrow.
Me: What? I don't count?
Student: No, you're part of the lycée now!
My students were asking me for words - to help translate between the American and French students.
Me: I'm just a dictionary to you.
Student: But you're a very nice one!
One of the French professors who had been in the States had taught a student a vulgar phrase in French. So on Friday, my students told the American student to go up to Philippe and say "Vas-te faire foutre." As he walked off, I asked the Americans students if they all knew that meant "Go fuck yourself." Nope, they didn't.... until the professor translated. He was cool with it, but his wife was horrified because she thought Philippe had taught the American student how to say that.
lundi 26 mars 2012
lundi 19 mars 2012
How is it already March 19th?
The german assistants (well, except for one of my friends who got an extra month on her contract) go home in two weeks. And my contract ends a month after that. I am in denial that about half of my friends leave in two weeks. This also makes me realize that I am really not ready to go back to the United States. (I mean, excited to see people this summer, but in terms of the next school year, can I stay please?) I love being an assistant. Cross your fingers that I get one of the two assistant jobs I applied for next year. Until then, I'm back to denial about how quickly time is passing
samedi 17 mars 2012
Are you looking for a French spouse?
My physical therapist likes to talk. Which is cool - he's interesting and moving to the US next year, so we talk about cultural differences and such. (Although for the record, massaging the muscles over my lungs does not help my French prononciation.)
Oh, and this story is funnier if you know I have to take my shirt off for PT. But less creepy if you know he has a wife and kids.
So, back to the massage where I try to get out understandable French while my lungs get moved around:
Him: So are you looking for a french spouse?
Me: Actually, no. I have a big family and France is very far away.
(we revisited the subject later)
Me: Well, getting a visa is pretty easy with my contract cause it's basically through the government, but otherwise it's much more complicated.
Him: So you should find a french spouse
Oh, and this story is funnier if you know I have to take my shirt off for PT. But less creepy if you know he has a wife and kids.
So, back to the massage where I try to get out understandable French while my lungs get moved around:
Him: So are you looking for a french spouse?
Me: Actually, no. I have a big family and France is very far away.
(we revisited the subject later)
Me: Well, getting a visa is pretty easy with my contract cause it's basically through the government, but otherwise it's much more complicated.
Him: So you should find a french spouse
vendredi 16 mars 2012
Electoral College
One of my favorite quotes from today:
We've been talking about the American elections in class, including the electoral college.
One of my students (Swiss German but has spent the last four years in Ireland) stayed after class to ask: "Wait, but if [you have this electoral college system], how exactly are you a democracy?" He was totally serious. And I didn't have a great answer for him.
We've been talking about the American elections in class, including the electoral college.
One of my students (Swiss German but has spent the last four years in Ireland) stayed after class to ask: "Wait, but if [you have this electoral college system], how exactly are you a democracy?" He was totally serious. And I didn't have a great answer for him.
jeudi 15 mars 2012
Are you fluent yet?
It's an interesting question: at what point do you become fluent in another language?
I had a South African man observe the end of one of my classes at the private English center I work at. When the (all adults) students asked him how long he had been in France, his reply was "un petit moment" aka, a little moment (lit,), a bit. His definition of a little moment turned out to be ten years. We all seemed to disagree with him that that's "un petit moment"
But what is more interesting (to me at least) was when the students asked him if he was bilingual in French after living here for ten years. His reply was no.
After class, we talked for a second. I told him that people think I must be fluent after getting my undergrad in French and now living here for six months. We both laughed - probably remembering all the times we still don't know the right words, use incorrect grammar, or don't understand the slang. For example, I had no idea how to say mink in class today. Do I need to know that word to be considered fluent?
It's an interesting discussion - do I check that box that says I am "fluent" in another language? (Yes, there was one on a job application I did.)
The South African guy who has been here for ten years still doesn't speak like a native speaker. Even my french professors in university - who had been in the states for more than a "petit moment" -- still had French accents. How well do you need to speak a language to be considered "fluent."
And the other question I have started to ask myself is: How much do I really care?
In French there is a word "debrouiller." It kind of translates to "make it work," but it is used a lot and in many situations. In french, I would say that I can "me debrouille" in French.
Yes, my accent still gives me away (and probably always will). I am working on my pronunciation (note to self: recheck out that book on how to pronounce French) so that the times when people don't understand my pronunciation of a work continues to decrease. And yes, I still have grammar to perfect and (many) words to learn
I still have a lot to learn to be at the level I would like to be at. But I am also pretty sure that I will never speak like a native speaker.
Perhaps the goal is to be able to "se debrouiller." If the point of learning a language is communication, well then I can definitely make it work. Cause as much as I like setting high goals (my goal was 4 languages by the age of 21 - so I'm a bit behind) -- I'm not sure how many people can ever learn to speak the language like a native speaker (fluently and without an accent).
I had a South African man observe the end of one of my classes at the private English center I work at. When the (all adults) students asked him how long he had been in France, his reply was "un petit moment" aka, a little moment (lit,), a bit. His definition of a little moment turned out to be ten years. We all seemed to disagree with him that that's "un petit moment"
But what is more interesting (to me at least) was when the students asked him if he was bilingual in French after living here for ten years. His reply was no.
After class, we talked for a second. I told him that people think I must be fluent after getting my undergrad in French and now living here for six months. We both laughed - probably remembering all the times we still don't know the right words, use incorrect grammar, or don't understand the slang. For example, I had no idea how to say mink in class today. Do I need to know that word to be considered fluent?
It's an interesting discussion - do I check that box that says I am "fluent" in another language? (Yes, there was one on a job application I did.)
The South African guy who has been here for ten years still doesn't speak like a native speaker. Even my french professors in university - who had been in the states for more than a "petit moment" -- still had French accents. How well do you need to speak a language to be considered "fluent."
And the other question I have started to ask myself is: How much do I really care?
In French there is a word "debrouiller." It kind of translates to "make it work," but it is used a lot and in many situations. In french, I would say that I can "me debrouille" in French.
Yes, my accent still gives me away (and probably always will). I am working on my pronunciation (note to self: recheck out that book on how to pronounce French) so that the times when people don't understand my pronunciation of a work continues to decrease. And yes, I still have grammar to perfect and (many) words to learn
I still have a lot to learn to be at the level I would like to be at. But I am also pretty sure that I will never speak like a native speaker.
Perhaps the goal is to be able to "se debrouiller." If the point of learning a language is communication, well then I can definitely make it work. Cause as much as I like setting high goals (my goal was 4 languages by the age of 21 - so I'm a bit behind) -- I'm not sure how many people can ever learn to speak the language like a native speaker (fluently and without an accent).
mardi 13 mars 2012
International Sociology - mind blown
What was most interesting for me was the discussion with Mme. Direnberger afterwards. She has a phd in Political Sociology and her dissertations was entitled: "Genre et Citoyenneté politique en Iran et au Tadjikistan" (Gender and political citizenship in Iran and Tajikistan).
It was so interesting! And so different from what I think of when I think of the Sociolgy PhD track.
Her dissertation seems to have mostly focused on feminism in Iran. She went and lived in Tehran, giving lectures at the university and doing her research (and has obviously also researched in Tajikistan, but that was less the focus of the talk).
When I think of political sociology, I don't think of people writing their dissertations about Iran. Based on the sociology courses I took in university, including a political sociology course, it seemed that we tended to focus on the US - and sometimes the US in comparison to other countries (these were usually northern European countries). Her research in Iran seemed so different from the usually US-centric (and sometimes European-centric) sociology I had seen in university. (I am sure there were some exceptions, but they were rare.) And when I think of political sociology, I don't think of feminist movements - although that's less of a jump from my political sociology course.
So I went up to her after. First, I asked her if she spoke Farsi - which apparently she has learned in order to do her research. Ok, so she got to combine learning languages with sociology? So cool! Can I do that? My second question was less a question and more of a this isn't the type of sociology I saw in university... And her response was that she was not the only one. Plenty of other people are researching/working in similar subjects.
So basically, you can combine study social justice (see feminism), international contexts (see Iran) and Sociology (see PhD)? It's like my two big spheres of interests - sociology and international contexts/languages - just collided. So I don't have to chose? That's incroyable! I'm working on learning more about what other people in that field are doing. And totally geeking out with excitement in learning about this subsection of sociology.
vendredi 9 mars 2012
Some random updates
So first some things I find interesting:
Edited to add: The postal workers in Saint-Etienne take the tram with their roller-bags of mail (like the ones people use to carry their groceries here sometimes) to get to their route. Not sure if it's all postal workers, or just some, but it always makes me smile when I see it.
1) The Help (the bestselling book and movie) translates to La couleur de Sentiments, aka The Color of Emotions. Interesting - and actually, it makes much better sense for a French title since "the help" translated would not have the same cultural connotations. (Ok, I'm a bit of a language nerd.)
2) I am sort of thrilled about how much time I get to spend on google translate and wordreference.com. I love being surrounded by foreign languages and working on learning more. It makes me smile that the addition of "bing translate," which can automatically traslate a certain amount of stuff on facebook just by you clicking "translate"- is something I get to use frequently. (Ok, still a huge language nerd. But I love my life.)
Edited to add: The postal workers in Saint-Etienne take the tram with their roller-bags of mail (like the ones people use to carry their groceries here sometimes) to get to their route. Not sure if it's all postal workers, or just some, but it always makes me smile when I see it.
1) The Help (the bestselling book and movie) translates to La couleur de Sentiments, aka The Color of Emotions. Interesting - and actually, it makes much better sense for a French title since "the help" translated would not have the same cultural connotations. (Ok, I'm a bit of a language nerd.)
2) I am sort of thrilled about how much time I get to spend on google translate and wordreference.com. I love being surrounded by foreign languages and working on learning more. It makes me smile that the addition of "bing translate," which can automatically traslate a certain amount of stuff on facebook just by you clicking "translate"- is something I get to use frequently. (Ok, still a huge language nerd. But I love my life.)
3) That being said, when I tried to google translate some german in a facebook message from friends, this is what it gave me: "orthorhombic dehei?" No, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean in English....
4) I am having a huge pancake dinner for about ten non-american friends on Saturday. I can't wait to introduce them to pancakes and maple syrup.
5) I am now being tutored in Spanish once a week by my friend Rodrigo, who is from Ecuador. It's awesome on so many levels.
mercredi 29 février 2012
Lady Gaga in StÉ
Lady Gaga coming to this small village??
Nope! The colloquial language/slang for StÉ/the Stephanois is called gaga. I kept seeing ads for a movie/play called "Bienvenue chez les gagas" (Welcome to the gaga's) and was like, that's awfully pop culture for this store. Nope, it's the local dialect/slang.
Still makes me laugh
Nope! The colloquial language/slang for StÉ/the Stephanois is called gaga. I kept seeing ads for a movie/play called "Bienvenue chez les gagas" (Welcome to the gaga's) and was like, that's awfully pop culture for this store. Nope, it's the local dialect/slang.
Still makes me laugh
lundi 20 février 2012
An interesting vacation
Although technically I am at the end of my first week of vacation, I haven't worked for two weeks (I was in the hospital for a week). It's weird, I already miss classes. But, I'm also glad to have time to take it easy and to.... go to Barcelona! It's on my list of places to go (a very long list that just keeps getting longer the more I travel) and I am so excited. To make it even more exciting, dad is meeting me there :)
I love StÉ, but it's a small town, and after all this health stuff I am also just excited to get out of my town for a bit :)
Time to explore!
I love StÉ, but it's a small town, and after all this health stuff I am also just excited to get out of my town for a bit :)
Time to explore!
Why I came to France
I came to France for many reasons. To practice French. To get a chance to teach English as a Foreign Language. To learn more about French culture. Because I have always dreamed of living in another country for a bit. Etc etc.
But another reason was that I wanted to take a risk, to grow, to become more independent. Both I and my friends, before I came to France, reminded me that it would be a challenge - a fun challenge, but a challenge all the same.
My university was near NYC and most of my friends post-grad live in the area. It would have been easy to move there - I already had a social network there. I already knew the city. Hell, I even knew the language ;) I already had a safety net there.
Here's the thing, that whole "go to France to grow up thing" -- I really didn't expect it to be this much fun!! I didn't expect to love my job so much (little secret - I like the vacation right now, but I miss my students), to make such good friends, to so thoroughly enjoy it here!
But another reason was that I wanted to take a risk, to grow, to become more independent. Both I and my friends, before I came to France, reminded me that it would be a challenge - a fun challenge, but a challenge all the same.
My university was near NYC and most of my friends post-grad live in the area. It would have been easy to move there - I already had a social network there. I already knew the city. Hell, I even knew the language ;) I already had a safety net there.
Here's the thing, that whole "go to France to grow up thing" -- I really didn't expect it to be this much fun!! I didn't expect to love my job so much (little secret - I like the vacation right now, but I miss my students), to make such good friends, to so thoroughly enjoy it here!
dimanche 15 janvier 2012
The Zombie Apocalypse in France
So this week my students have been preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse. My friend wrote a scenario where the students are going home for Christmas break and eventually find themselves trapped in our train station surrounded by zombies. I have sent them a text saying "Geneva" so they think their only hope is to make it Geneva.
This has been one of the most fun and successful lessons so far. Every class so far has gotten totally into.
BEST STORIES SO FAR:
*a musical version, which they performed, with acting. Also, one of them had sprained something, so she is on crutches and did it all on one leg. Oh, and pegasus flew them to the moon.
*A version in which I was leading them into a trap. So they fought us, exploded me -where i then turned into chocolate, and they ate me.
*They were all allowed to choose an extra person - and one group chose their eraser - gave it a name, drew a face on and said it was a trained CIA agent who could kill zombies by twisting their noses.
*Another group chose Mary Poppins, who was going to fly them all to Geneva on her magic umbrella. I forget how they were going to save the rest of the people in Geneva - but they were also planning to do that. (Points for being the only group so far to think about saving the rest of the students trapped in the train station!)
*One group turned themselves all into animals. Part of the plan included one of the students laying eggs - which were bombs - on the zombies.
Did I mention my students are awesome!
This has been one of the most fun and successful lessons so far. Every class so far has gotten totally into.
BEST STORIES SO FAR:
*a musical version, which they performed, with acting. Also, one of them had sprained something, so she is on crutches and did it all on one leg. Oh, and pegasus flew them to the moon.
*A version in which I was leading them into a trap. So they fought us, exploded me -where i then turned into chocolate, and they ate me.
*They were all allowed to choose an extra person - and one group chose their eraser - gave it a name, drew a face on and said it was a trained CIA agent who could kill zombies by twisting their noses.
*Another group chose Mary Poppins, who was going to fly them all to Geneva on her magic umbrella. I forget how they were going to save the rest of the people in Geneva - but they were also planning to do that. (Points for being the only group so far to think about saving the rest of the students trapped in the train station!)
*One group turned themselves all into animals. Part of the plan included one of the students laying eggs - which were bombs - on the zombies.
Did I mention my students are awesome!
samedi 7 janvier 2012
Back in Saint-É
So I'm back in Saint-É!
I started my first full day by waking up at 4h30 am (several trains involved) and going to see the French neurologist my home neurologist found me. He wants me to spend a week of my February vacation in the hospital as they change my migraine meds around(also, 2-3 trains and a taxi required to get there, so I doubt anyone would visit) and then another 7 days (minimum) recovering. Almost as cool as going to see friends in London.... (Did I mention I am terrified of hospitals?) I am waiting for my US neurologist to decide if this is a good idea or not. Also, he promised me less pain and a better life.... no one has been that optimistic in awhile. Interesting...
I tried to see friends Friday night, but I'm just pretty much exhausted. And tonight was spent with a migraine, but then it got better because... MODERN FAMILY!
If you don't watch Modern Family, you really should! The best brother ever gave me the first season for Christmas and it's SO FUNNY! I also brought it to France, and think I will use it to teach my students English :)
I started my first full day by waking up at 4h30 am (several trains involved) and going to see the French neurologist my home neurologist found me. He wants me to spend a week of my February vacation in the hospital as they change my migraine meds around(also, 2-3 trains and a taxi required to get there, so I doubt anyone would visit) and then another 7 days (minimum) recovering. Almost as cool as going to see friends in London.... (Did I mention I am terrified of hospitals?) I am waiting for my US neurologist to decide if this is a good idea or not. Also, he promised me less pain and a better life.... no one has been that optimistic in awhile. Interesting...
I tried to see friends Friday night, but I'm just pretty much exhausted. And tonight was spent with a migraine, but then it got better because... MODERN FAMILY!
If you don't watch Modern Family, you really should! The best brother ever gave me the first season for Christmas and it's SO FUNNY! I also brought it to France, and think I will use it to teach my students English :)
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