Hey!
We're done with half of our French lessons now. Three weeks in, and I feel definitve improvement now.
During one of my trips back from Kinshasa I met a German expat on the boat from Goma to Bukavu. A very nice guy, we got to talking (in English), and I shared how embarrassed I was about my French. He told me that actually his French stank as well, but that he gets by with his mistakes because, well, he doesn't have time to learn more. I asked him what he doesn't know, and he said "Well, I wouldn't be able to say 'I wouldn't be able to say' in French. That tense I just don't know." When I thought about it, I realized I had no idea how to say that either, and recognized that his level of french, wherever it was, was still far past my own.
But now I can say that I wouldn't be able to say in French! "Je ne pourrais pas dire" (this translates to "I could not say", which, I now realize, is a phrase in English that has basically the same meaning). I just checked and there are other, more sophisticated ways of saying this ("Je ne serais pas capable de dire"), but I've got the basic idea there. That is a serious accomplishment for me!
On the same vein, this last week two people here in Belgium did not think, when they first heard me speaking French, that I was an American! The first person (who himself is in my learning-to-speak-French discussion group) was just flabbergasted to learn that I was an American. The second time was at a pick-up ultimate frisbee game. A woman started speaking to me in Dutch, and later apologized for having done so. She said that, from my accent, she thought I was Dutch. So while neither thought I was a native French speaker, I took both as a compliment that my accent was closer to real French than to American English. :-)
Our church here in Brussels has been so great. There's a guy in the church who has been such a fantastic host. Last weekend he and his wife invited us over for dinner, and we spent 5 hours with them practicing French, and eating delicious Belgian chocolate mousse. Afterward he even gave us a tour of downtown Brussels, and we didn't get back to our place until midnight! It was the first time to see Brussels get completely dark. Anthony also took me downtown this Wednesday to meet some Americans who are in town... painting, maybe doing a short-term mission trip? Anyway, after some time people started asking me to interpret, and that was surreal but also encouraging. I did terrible, but just fine for what the situation called for.
We have two more days of class this week and then fly to Cluj, Romania to spend a week with my sister, nephew, brother-in-law, and his parents. It should be a good time to relax and not have to do anything except play with my 21 month-old nephew, David. Who is as cute as a button.
We're done with half of our French lessons now. Three weeks in, and I feel definitve improvement now.
During one of my trips back from Kinshasa I met a German expat on the boat from Goma to Bukavu. A very nice guy, we got to talking (in English), and I shared how embarrassed I was about my French. He told me that actually his French stank as well, but that he gets by with his mistakes because, well, he doesn't have time to learn more. I asked him what he doesn't know, and he said "Well, I wouldn't be able to say 'I wouldn't be able to say' in French. That tense I just don't know." When I thought about it, I realized I had no idea how to say that either, and recognized that his level of french, wherever it was, was still far past my own.
But now I can say that I wouldn't be able to say in French! "Je ne pourrais pas dire" (this translates to "I could not say", which, I now realize, is a phrase in English that has basically the same meaning). I just checked and there are other, more sophisticated ways of saying this ("Je ne serais pas capable de dire"), but I've got the basic idea there. That is a serious accomplishment for me!
On the same vein, this last week two people here in Belgium did not think, when they first heard me speaking French, that I was an American! The first person (who himself is in my learning-to-speak-French discussion group) was just flabbergasted to learn that I was an American. The second time was at a pick-up ultimate frisbee game. A woman started speaking to me in Dutch, and later apologized for having done so. She said that, from my accent, she thought I was Dutch. So while neither thought I was a native French speaker, I took both as a compliment that my accent was closer to real French than to American English. :-)
Our church here in Brussels has been so great. There's a guy in the church who has been such a fantastic host. Last weekend he and his wife invited us over for dinner, and we spent 5 hours with them practicing French, and eating delicious Belgian chocolate mousse. Afterward he even gave us a tour of downtown Brussels, and we didn't get back to our place until midnight! It was the first time to see Brussels get completely dark. Anthony also took me downtown this Wednesday to meet some Americans who are in town... painting, maybe doing a short-term mission trip? Anyway, after some time people started asking me to interpret, and that was surreal but also encouraging. I did terrible, but just fine for what the situation called for.
We have two more days of class this week and then fly to Cluj, Romania to spend a week with my sister, nephew, brother-in-law, and his parents. It should be a good time to relax and not have to do anything except play with my 21 month-old nephew, David. Who is as cute as a button.
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| The Cenquantenaire Jubelparc (The 50th Anniversary Park) - Totally built by profits from Congo, finished in 1905. |
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| The "Grand Place" (central square) of Brussels. |
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| This is a famous statue in Brussels. It's of a little boy peeing. It's called (in French) "Mannekin Pis" | I've failed to turn it, my apologies. |
Thanks,Mark!and Mazel Tov on the compliments on your accent! Give lots of hugs/kisses to DR!- Mom
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