Survived first night of class
So last Wednesday was my first official night of French class. It was as overwhelming and exciting as I thought it would be. I've been out of school for many years and it was definitely hard to get my brain back into learning mode. A long work day and a stressful commute in rush hour traffic before class also didn't help either. Plus the class ended up being overcrowded (it's being split in two to remedy this) and the room didn't have very good AC (which is a big deal here in the desert since it's well over 100 F everyday). I am sure as I adjust to going to class and being back in school I won't feel so stressed or overwhelmed.
My teacher is very nice. In usual fashion as a native speaker she rushes and thinks things are easier than they really are (at least to us students). It was actually kind of funny. For example she said out loud what numbers 0-60 are and then had us repeat them as a class (once). Then as we continued practicing numbers with verbal math problems she would be like, "why are you looking at the book you should all know the numbers now since I just said them". Um it takes WAY more than hearing something once to have it memorized LOL.
Our textbook is from France. It's called Alter Ego 1 (Méthode De Français A1) hachette Français Langue Étrangére
I was so grateful I had been studying at home prior to class because I would have been even more lost and overwhelmed if I didn't have the little background I did. Self directed study and practice is super important. I can already feel stuff slipping away since not practicing this last week while traveling.
I did go to a French bakery in Seattle while on vacation though and attempted to order in French. I must have sucked because the lady laughed at me...not a confidence builder for sure. Being brave enough to practice speaking out loud is hard and it doesn't help when the feedback is negative, but it's all a part of learning. Guess I just have to keep practicing. I also went to Vancouver, BC (Canada) during my vacation and while that side of Canada does not speak French all of the government signs are still bilingual (in both French and English), so I still got some French exposure.
Unfortunately I had to miss the second class last night since I had just gotten back into town. I am going to be behind now since this summer session is so condensed, but it couldn't be helped. It's back to studying and practicing for now.
Until next time...
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