It’s the third and final week of my language program, and now I’m a returning student. Pas de probleme! I know what to expect, and I even have friends. I’ve settled into a comfortable routine that I like.
New students have arrived—many of them, since it’s now July and the beginning of “les vacances” in Europe. In addition to French, there are many many languages spoken around the school and out front where students congregate at the mid-morning break.
Students outside the IS school
Every other Monday when a new two-week term begins, the returning students like me come at 11:00 am. This week there are “debutantes”-- people who don’t know any French at all. Our teachers told us that they were expecting 70 people in the main program this week, compared to perhaps 30 the two-week term before.
On Monday morning, after breakfast at Isabelle’s, I headed to the Carrefour Bar to check e-mail and have a coffee before going to school. I ran into Sally, the American woman I met last week. We both like the free WIFI. Although Aix is a good-sized city, I have the feeling of also being in much smaller community, as I’ve often encountered people I know around town. (The next day I ran into Sally again—in a totally different part of Aix.) I love the rhythm of life in France, and I feel very much at home now in Aix. If only Charley and Kelly were here too… but perhaps that can happen another year.
Susanne and Urs were at the school when I arrived on Monday. Urs is taking private lessons this week and next, now focusing on learning the French language of banking. Like me, Susanne is here just one more week. On Monday morning there was a list posted on the board, organizing the fifteen or so returning students into a few small groups… to do what, we didn’t know. Susanne and I returned to our old classroom where we were joined by an older American named Paul and a very young and shy British girl. The session was sort of a test, I think. The teacher was Claire, a very enthusiastic young woman who had just returned from her “voyage des noces” (honeymoon). We spent the hour and a half talking about ourselves, listening to Claire, and making conversation. I could definitely see the progress that Susanne has made since we started our classes two weeks ago, and I felt much more confident too. Our French skills were much more advanced than Paul and the British girl… surely we wouldn’t be placed in the same class with them. Claire told us to come back at 2 and check the board again. There were going to be nine classes, and the four of us would be in class 1, 2 or 3.
Susanne and I had lunch with Urs at the café near the school since we didn’t have a lot of time. After the two weeks with our very compatible class of just five, Susanne and I hoped for another small class with a lot of opportunity to talk. We asked Urs to make a bet about how many people would be in our new class, and he thought perhaps ten. But when we looked at the new list, we were shocked to find we were in class 5 with a group of only six people!! This was a big promotion from class 1 to class 5, and a small group too. Most of the other classes this week are much larger.
Our teachers are Christine (one of our teachers from last term) and Marie-France, who is also my teacher this week for private lessons on Wednesday and Friday. Susanne and I both have a nice rapport with Christine, and this makes the class more comfortable. I like Marie-France very much too. She’s an energetic woman, I think a few years older than me, and she’s had an interesting life living in many parts of the world. I really like the approach of having the two alternating teachers.
My new teacher, Marie-France
We're also lucky with our new class members. Our new classmates are three young women and one man. Annefleur is a very pretty young woman from Amsterdam. This is her fourth week at the school; last week she was in class 2. She speaks French confidently with an accent as pretty as she is. Sitting next to me is Sarah, a bright and very enthusiastic attorney from Canada who lives now in Boston. After two weeks in Aix she’s going to work at her firm’s office in Boston for two months… and possibly longer. I have a feeling all of this will be a life-changing experience for her-- in fact, I know it will be. The other woman is Marlies from Switzerland, only twenty-four with a fresh wholesome look. In one of our later discussions she told the class that her dream is to have a farm and raise sheep (“moutons”). Finally there is our only man—Andries—from Ethiopia. One of his parents is Russian and the other is Ethiopian. He works for the Red Cross. This is his second year at the school, and he’s extremely confident in his French… speaking quickly, mumbling a bit, and sprinkling his conversation with words like “donc” and “bon.”
Annefleur and Susanne
Today (Thursday) when we arrived at class, Andries was missing, though this wasn’t a surprise as he has been late every day. Marie-France told us that he has moved to a different class. She said it was because he felt awkward in a class where he was the only man, but I think perhaps he wanted more challenge in the French as well. Our informal discussion this morning related to home decorating, so maybe he was happier not to be part of such girl talk. And now the group is only five—more opportunity for everyone to talk. Next week, when Susanne and I are gone, there will be only three.
This week’s class is much more difficult than the last two weeks, with more complex grammar and activities. We’re working on negation and pronouns, practicing the passé compose, working with real conversations and expressions, listening to taped dialogues and trying to understand what the people are saying. “I don’t know anyone here.” “Nothing works.” “I didn’t buy anything at the store.” “I didn’t go there with him.” Okay, take these sentences and now say the opposite in French. It’s tricky. There are so many little words, and it’s difficult to remember which ones are used when and in what order. And then even when I can write the sentence, it’s even more difficult to say it quickly—or to say it spontaneously in answer to a question. We have about an hour of homework (“devoirs”) every night, and the homework this week is definitely more difficult too.
My new classmate Sarah... enjoying the good life in Provence
Yesterday Christine brought in a stack of the daily newspapers that are passed out for free on the streets of Aix every morning. We worked in groups of two, and each group chose one article from the paper. Susanne and I chose an article about a 30-year old woman who just traveled around the world in a boat and is coming to Marseille to give a program for children. Each group talked about their article with the class, and then everyone talked about the subject. I like the daily informal discussions, and I thought this was a very good activity.
This week we're also doing individual presentations (“exposés”). In last week’s class the topics were simple: our hometowns or our regions. I talked about the Luberon and even showed some photos on my laptop. This week the presentations are more complicated. We’re supposed to choose a topic that might have some controversy and pose some questions to the group for discussion. Yesterday Andrias talked about issues related to poverty and immigration. Today I talked about a brand new program here in Aix where there are bicycles (“velos”) available for self-service rental, an initiative to reduce car traffic, noise, and pollution. Last week I was extremely nervous, but this week I felt much more comfortable. The subject was actually quite interesting.
Lunchtime has also been more fun this week, as I’ve had a small group to eat with every day—various combinations involving Urs and the four women in my class. There are so many great cafes and restaurants in Aix, and I’ve enjoyed sampling a few more of them. Sometimes we do speak in English when the French is just too difficult and we don’t know the words, but we are talking much more in French. Today I had lunch with Sarah, Marlies and Annefleur, and I think we talked 90% in French. Perhaps I'm too often the instigator when the conversation shifts to English.
At lunch with Marlies
I’m definitely excited about seeing Charley and Kelly on Saturday, and I’m looking forward to our time together in Bonnieux. But I also feel badly that my three weeks of French study and my time in Aix is coming to an end, and I wish I was continuing on to complete this week’s term with my new group. Several friends at home and on Slow Travel have said something about me now being “fluent” in French. No way, I’m sorry!! After three weeks of study, my head is crammed full of new information… vocabulary, expressions, grammar, pronunciation and inflection… understanding others, reading written French, making a little speech, responding in a conversation. I know much more than I knew before, and I’ve definitely made some progress, but I’m a long way from fluent. Now I need to find a way to keep on practicing, and hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to come back to the IS school again in the future.
I’m very, very high on the IS school. I think the program has just the right amount of intensity combined with the opportunity to experience the wonderful city of Aix, the broader possibilities of Provence, and the culture and lifestyle of this region and of France. There’s a good mix of students of varying ages and nationalities, here for both personal, professional and educational reasons. I've really enjoyed the interactions with people from so many different countries, and I’ve learned a lot about their countries too. The teachers are excellent, and they make the learning fun and relevant. I’ve loved being here.
