It is hard to believe that I have just under two months left in this French adventure. The time has literally whizzed by. Parts of this journey have been extraordinary, while others have been rather arduous. With such a short time left, I know that I will not be fluent in this beautiful language, but I now have come to understand that it was unrealistic to think that I could. What I initially thought possible to accomplish in six months i.e. fluency, will more likely take years. When I arrived, I had very little French "under my belt" - school was such a very long time ago. Most of the students in my classes, even those as young as sixteen years of age, have studied French for several years and speak at least a couple of other languages. They definitely have the advantage. Lately, it has not been fun for me. This prof speaks too quickly and I don't understand a lot of the material. I would even go so far as to say it has been more stressful than enjoyable. However, every time I think about returning to B1, someone talks me out of it.
I now wonder if all the grammar I have learned (and I use that term very loosely because I seem to forget or become confused) hasn't impeded my language acquisition. My head is so full of pronoms demonstratifs, complément objet direct, plus-que-parfait, adjectifs possessifs, articles partitifs etc. etc. that it is difficult for me to string a complete sentence together. When you think about how children learn a language, they don't question if they should use the passé composé, they just speak. I feel like I am a child learning a language, but at an old age. I don't have the vocabulary either and that will take time to acquire. After school is finished here, it will be time for me to just practice, practice, practice without the stress by spending time listening to French radio, watching French films and TV, reading some simple French books and finding people to listen to and talk to in French. I don't think I will open another grammar manual for awhile.
In case you hadn't caught on, that was the arduous part. The extraordinary part has been living in southern France. The culture, the architecture, the history, the weather, the food and of course the wine have been amazing! I feel quite at home in this apartment and community. I have met some wonderful people, most especially, Patricia. Recently I have gone to a few French films. Although I don't understand a lot of the dialogue, I get the general gist of the stories. I also paid a visit to the caviste my prof had recommended. I met Delphine, the co-owner who originally comes from Ottawa. Her wine store or cave specializes in wines from small operations in the Languedoc-Rousillon region. I enjoyed a glass of wine while we chatted. Before I left, I purchased a couple of bottles of reasonably priced wine that were very good. She also invited me back to the cave Feb 1 for a wine tasting and art appreciation event. I think I'll go. This weekend, one of the local women is hosting a ladies night for women in the community. Patricia and I were invited. Once again, I probably won't understand much, but I'll give it a try. Last week, I went to my first Babel group and I'll return this week. Hopefully there will be a few more people who want to converse in French. My new friends have also been very kind inviting me to join them for coffee or whatever.
As you know, I have travelled extensively while I've been here. France is a beautiful country with so much to see and do. This Friday, the school is hosting another excursion to the city of Nimes. I haven't been there yet so I think I'll take advantage of the opportunity. I'm running out of time and I realize there are still so many places to visit. Oh well, if I don't see it all this time, I guess I'll just have to come back....oh, darn!
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