French Classes

I have completed my third day of classes and thought it would be good to share with you a little about my classes.

Practicing French with Professor & Other Student

Each weekday I have a group class for four hours.  During this class, I and two other students attempt to learn the French language.  Because no English is allowed, when we have questions we must ask them in French and get the answer in French.  It is easier for our professor to make us understand what she is trying to say than you would think. What is hard is to learn all the rules.  The vast amount of memorization that is required is time consuming.  Learning what is masculine and feminine is tough for me as there seems no logic.  Why is a boat masculine but a car feminine?  Or for that matter a chair feminine but an armchair masculine?  Imagine my disappointment in learning that I must learn gender for each of our 50 states.  I would have thought all states would be one or the other. 

The View

In our class discussion, it is very difficult for me to figure out how to say what I want in French.  Each day generally begins with us telling each other what we did the day before.  I must admit that four hours is a very long time for me (and then I have so much to review and study after class).  During two of these classes, we have gone on field trips, which made the time go faster.  On our second day, we went to the bakery and the cheese shop.  (This is the area known for goat cheese (crottin du Chavaginal.))  On the third day, we went to the post office to mail a letter.  Each day we stopped at a cafe on the way back to school and had a drink.  Although it is frustrating to try and talk in French, we are struggling and seem to have a lot to share with each other. Today we had a conversation about how territories are treated in Canada and the U.S.  This is not a subject I know a lot about and having to say what I do know in French was a challenge.  I’m sure this kind of conversation will help expand my vocabulary and improve my grammar, especially with our professor there to correct us.  My professor is wonderful and seems never to tire of helping us. She is very patient and has an amusing personality so this helps.

In assessing my first few days, I did not realize how hard classes would be for me.  I guess I should have realized that having not been in classes like this for decades, it would be tough.  It is tough to do the homework.  I am used to working hard, but I am usually accomplishing something.  With my homework it is hard to be motivated to study for hours.   I am hoping over the weekend to be able to do a lot of studying and thus I will find next week easier.

I think I’ll stop to keep this from getting too long.  In subsequent posts, I’ll write about my fellow students and the city.    I think I may like the idea of speaking French more than I like learning to speak French.