Thursday, January 22, 2009

Back to School??


Oh my yes , I've enolled in Conversational French I as part of  Samford University's Metro program.  Tuesday night was my first class,  and I joined 7 other intrepid souls as we tried to see how fast we could slaughter the French language!  Actually, I have more than a few doubts about my pronunciation abilities.  ( Alice, Peter, and Marie-Noyale I can hear your gales of laughter!) I am not sure that it's possible for my southern lips to ever roll that "r" , but I am going to give it my best shot.  As you can see by my photo, I have amassed an impressive library of "how to" books.  Did I think I would learn it by osmosis??  I will keep you all up to date on my progress, should there be any.  Let's just all pray that Madame Delo has infinite patience and can indeed teach an old chien a few new tricks!  

The Tune du Jour is "La vie en rose" 



Discover Patrick Cascino!

34 comments:

Wayne said...

As you know all Canadians are bilingual. If you believe that you probably believe in the tooth fairy.

I can't carry on a conversation in French but I can ask questions. The trouble is, most of the time I can't understand the response.

Pat said...

Felicitations, ma petite Virginie! (sorry--no accents put here; don't know which keys...) It's always better to learn some of the language of the country you visit. You get so much more out of your visit.

Pat said...

P.S. I see your book is open to "I am coming/arriving" and the verb "to sing." That's good---you can arrive and sing, too! I believe that is really you.

claude said...

In his post Bergson tells
"The jogger wears a tee-shirt well matched with the Fall colours."
Me too I try to speak english not too bad !

Olivier said...

bravo tu es courageuse de reprendre des cours, et bravo pour la photo, superbe composition.

bravo you are brave to take courses, and congratulations for the photo, beautiful composition.

alice said...

Bravo, bravo, Virginia, je suis fière de toi! (=i'm proud of you!)And to learn something you is good for our brain! If the teacher is positive, you're sure to improve. Don't worry about your accent: French people love American accent!
Have you click on the link I put today about scarfs and silk?

alice said...

I wanted to write "something new", of course...:-s

Jane Hards Photography said...

Gray has just purchased an online course for moi. Good luck. You'll be ready for your next trip then soon.

Kate said...

I've been trying (okay, half trying) to become conversant in Spanish for my trips to Mexico, but I am the Goddess of Procrastination. It takes lots of work and lots of discipline to learn another language, and I rationalize with just about every excuse I can find. I hope that you are more successful AND disciplined!!

Halcyon said...

C’est un très bon début ! Moi non plus, je n’ai jamais vraiment pu conquérir les “R”, mais les Français vont te comprendre quand même !

Je ferrai toutes mes commentaires en français maintenant pour te faire practiquer.

Anonymous said...

You'll have a French drawl? One time I was on a train to Paris, speaking some really questionable French to impress a prof from the Sorbonne. We passed a graveyard and I pasted together: Who lives in this garden of the dead?

He knew I was easy.

Virginia said...

OUi! A French drawl!!! Garden of the dead. That cracks me up.

Halcyon , I had to resort to Babelfish for translation of your last sentence. Thanks for helping me.

Alice, I see you shaking your head. You've heard my "French drawl" and know first hand what a long way i have to go.

B,
Is is Rosetta Stone? I hear it's a great program.

Kate, I too am a "goddess" which is why I still cannot carry on a conversation.

Bibi, Je chante, tu chantes, il chante, elle chante etc!

W,
Quelle surprise!

Tom said...

I've spoke English all my life but still not mastered it... so to even concider another language I wish you well... ;o) Love the picture you have done..

Tom
Wiggers World

alice said...

Virginia, I don't really understand what you (and altadenahiker)mean by "a French drawl"...Has it something to see with the fact you live in the South?
You speak about your long way ahead but it's a plus: you just can improve!

Bob Crowe said...

Note that the "comment" just above is spam. It happens rarely but it happens.

Really nice composition - the reading glasses are the perfect touch (for people of our age).

I can't say a French R to save my life. The harder I try, the more I fear I might swallow my tongue. I don't have time to do books so I'm listening to Pimsleur CDs in the car while commuting, in preparation for out trip in April. (We might want to email privately about Pimsleur hint hint nudge nudge.) Rosetta Stone products are very good. I tried their Japanese for a while but ran into time issues. Et ils sont un peu chers.

Knoxville Girl said...

love your pile of books; no matter what you say, it always sounds better in French.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Bravo Virginia, je suis sûre que vous allez faire de beaux progrès. En juin vous parlerez très bien français...

Virginia said...

Thanks Bob, I deleted it asap. We'll chat about the program. Maybe I can play it in my sleep-ha

Alice's comment was not the spam!

Nathalie, your name was one we practiced Tues. night! :) Merci for having confidence in me. It's hard!!

Tom Wigley, I'd love to hear your English with that wonderful British accent!

Janet Kincaid said...

My French is limited to about six words. But my German? My German is still pretty good, despite having not lived in a German speaking country for almost 20 years. If you need lesson in that language, I can help. Otherwise, I'm just one more stupid American yelling at a Parisian, asking where the toilette is.

Virginia said...

DC, Thanks but I"ve nailed down "toilette" pretty well.
I finally learned it's not a "restroom"!

Steve Buser said...

Je vous souhaite bonne chance. Bien parler.

Virginia said...

Merci beacoup Steve!
V

Rob said...

Good for you! Always good to keep on learning.

Diederick Wijmans said...

Tu as parfaitement raison!!
Good for you!!

PeterParis said...

You mentioned me here, but you did not mention MY accent, after 35 years in Paris! (... so I will not be the first one to laugh at yours, don't worry!)

tr3nta said...

Great good luck with your new adventure... by the way the photo is great I love the light in it... :-)

Virginia said...

Peter, You are kind not to laugh but I don't think you can compare your accent with mine. Yours is wonderful, mine- not so much! I think you will still be my menu translator no matter what I manage to learn in class. This much I do know , "Je voudrais un verre de champagne s'il vous plait!"

U "R" Us AKA Captain Crowe said...

Lovely photo. I love that late afternoon light in winter. But seriously, this is professional quality stuff - could be used for stock or media. Anyway, bon chance avec votres etudes!

MadAboutParis said...

"Je voudrais un verre de champagne s'il vous plait!" - and what more would you need to learn? That's got it covered Virg!
xx,
M

Virginia said...

Mary,
Well you might be right! Who needs to know if they are on the wrong side in the MEtro or where the toilette is located???

Victor said...

Beautiful still life Virginia. Bravo!

Ming the Merciless said...

I'm sure your French is perfectly understandable, southern accent or not.

Babzy.B said...

hope you will enjoy your french course as i enjoyed my english ones ;) here is a free site witch can may be interest you ...
http://www.francaisfacile.com/

Virginia said...

Babzy
Merci, I tried the beginning test. OH MY!

Ming, My French is so limited a monkey could understand it!