Day 24 - mardi

22 fevrier 2011

The weather was better today than expected. It did not rain, and the sun warmed us a bit. Classes were in the afternoon, so I worked at home until 10:30, made my lunch, and headed to school to meet Marina. She did not come, which was fine, but then she was not in either class this afternoon, either. I hope she is not sick.While I was waiting, I had a lovely chat with Elma from Switzerland.

She has strong morals from her Muslim faith and, yet, leans left politically. She has not been able to attend the mosque in Nice because it is just for men here. This upsets her, but she is only here for two weeks. We talked a lot about the choices of a young woman to be sexually active or not. She said it beautifully: (the essence of her words; not exact) “A woman, who says ‘no’ before marriage, is like gold and more treasured than one who gives a little to everyone. If everyone can have some, it is not valued.” A very fine framework for a young person to hang onto, I think.

Mariette is a superb teacher. She had us talking about the various little tasks that one can do around the house. She encouraged us to think of other ways to say things. She makes me feel successful despite my mistakes. Today I understood nearly everything she was sharing.

Tissa, from Japan, is new in both our Standard and Intensive classes. She speaks a little English, so both of us struggling in French is better. This will be very good for my practice in French.

In the standard course, later, I found that I comfortably understood the explanation of les adjectifs. My success on the worksheet, however, proves that I need to study more.

As I was leaving school today, I met Margrite. She appears to be my age. She does not speak any English, but does fairly well with her beginning French. She will be another person to connect with regularly in order to practice my French – it’s still the listening/comprehension that I struggle with.

Walking home today, the traffic was jammed at every intersection. I’ve never seen this before. Michele found out that there was a parade for Carnaval down at the promenade today, so that snarls traffic everywhere. The other observation I made on the way home is that it is no longer completely dark when I get home at 6:15. Yeah! (Or as the French write it – ouie!- pronounced oo-ee-ae, very quickly.)

As Michele and I were having tea, a game show very much like Family Feud came on TV – it is called Les familles d’Or, I think. This game is just my speed because the question comes across the screen, I have time to consider what it means, the contestants give their answers, and if they are correct, that answer shows up on the board. This is a great way to learn new vocabulary.

So it was a good day overall. I hope yours was, too, Dear Reader.