Monday, April 4, 2011

patati patata. . .

i started french language class.  i've always wanted to learn a third language,  in fact i finished the first module of  Spanish for beginners many years ago,  but wasn't able to continue as Instituto de Cervantes moved to a farther location.  this year, i felt the need to take up french when my daughter egged me for her to enroll in a french class for kids - and to make sure she can make the most out of it,  i plunged into the adult class so she can have someone to talk to - in French  :)

my knowledge of french is close to zilch - i didn't even know that excusez-moi  was a legitimate french phrase.  Our professor was a young pleasant Filipino gentleman named Robert - when he entered the room,  he started talking to us in French -  i knew that was their style,  to sort of force students to get used to listening to the spoken language.   My Spanish teacher did the same thing.   The students all had blank faces,   including myself.     3 hours of  french class for beginners caused major overload.  But Robert  patiently taught us.   i began to comfortably respond to questions answerable by oui (yes),  non  (no),  d'accord (okay)  or ca va  ( pronounced as sa va, it has multiple uses, but generally means okay) .    I went for a second session and the interest has been building up.  i even got myself a small phrasebook and i've been going thru the various sites available that offer free tutorials in French,  thank God for the internet.

I'm looking forward to my third 3-hour session,   but  i don't think i will be ready to blog in French anytime in the near century. i don't even know how long it will take for one to comfortably converse.   In the meantime, i am just enjoying learning the language.    by the way,  my title is the french version of blah blah blah. . . .

Jusqu' a mon prochain blog. . .

4 comments:

  1. I love your writing style! Look forward to hearing how the French lessons are going for you and your daughter! I have always wanted to study Italian and French but never really had enough desire I suppose, otherwise, I would have done it! But you are doing it and I so admire that in you!

    Please drop by my New Prairie Woman blog site to leave a comment and follow if you can.

    newprairiewoman.blogspot.com

    Best wishes to you always!
    Susie

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  2. hello there Susie, thanks for your message. all of these blog stuff are relatively new to me hence i take it one baby step at a time. Besides, when the "moment" is there, i know i can comfortably add to my blog folio. But you, you are one good writer. . . i am still in your first few blogs and they're so nice to read. I am definitely following :) i'm enjoying french and i have about 3 more sessions to go but i intend to go up the next module...
    looking forward to your blogs. . . have a great day!

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  3. I salute your courage my friend. I have the stamina for Nihonggo and Spanish, but never for French! It's just too inconsistent - the sounds and spelling just bog me!
    Good luck and enjoy!!

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  4. hello my friend "cnote"; yep, the spelling is a challenge, but i found out that french sentences are constructed, more or less, the same way as english sentences are, and to me, that makes up for the strange spelling. another real challenge for me is to determine which noun is feminine or masculine - this could be a real test because there doesn't seem to be any rule...

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