I can't really call this post Day One because it is more like Year Nine, Day One. That's how long ago I moved to a beautiful french-speaking town in the monteregie, Quebec. Did I mention I'm from Toronto where we don't speak french? People here know it, I make sure they do. It's less embarrassing and I use it as an excuse for not speaking french. Or at least I did the first 8-12 months of my arrival. And it was acceptable, to both me and the storeclerks and the hairdressers and the teachers. But somehow, nine years has crept up and I've barely mastered my merci and ca va. So the challenge of this blog, more on this later, is to FINALLY learn french, or at least, learn enough of it to keep up with my children.
So, that's partially where the name of this blog came from. If I am going to keep a blog about learning french, I have to figure out where the french characters on this keyboard are. That will be my challenge for Year Nine, Day One. The other one will be to convince myself that I can do this. My husband refuses my explanation that I just don't have an ear for the language. I will leave you with this example and let you decide for yourself:
Since I've been here, I do try to throw around my limited (and garbled) french whenever I can and it's appropriate. I am great at my merci but less great at your welcome. I always used bienvenue but noticed most others used a word, though I've heard a million times now, I wasn't familiar with. So, one day at the hairdressers, I tried it out. She thanked me for my payment, I turned and said (with a smile) derriere! Note to self: study hard the differences (most notably the pronunciation) between following two words:
you're welcome: de rien
buttocks: derriere
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I had my first smile of the day as I read your blog. And a hearty laugh at the end. Marcie, you are a writer!
ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine has taken French lessons for over twenty years. This takes place in a private home with several woman. Their teacher served tea and cookies. They can only speak in French. I am sure they were supplied with homework and were told to practice while making their beds or diapering their babies. My friend has never EVER used a French word to supply an English word with me(but then she is such a modest woman). I suspect I would be showing off.
You rock!
Love Aunt Honey