Results are in!

We've been back in the good ol' USA for a week now. We're slowly unpacking and I'm looking for a job. Up to this point, we've been readjusting pretty well but missing France like crazy. But this is for another blog post (that is, if I manage to keep writing like I want to. In fact, there are a lot of posts that are in my head that haven't made it to the blog.)

Today I want to share some great news I received upon our return. This may be an extra vain blog post, but please allow me this brief self-indulgence. I'm pretty excited about it. When my dad handed over 10 months worth of mail, he also gave me an envelope sent priority mail from France. What could it be? Nothing other than my Test de Connaissance du Français (TCF) results!

I took the TCF on June 21, after being in France for over 9 months. I set a reasonable goal of placing at C1 (level 5 of 6). But as I studied and took a prep class at the ASLC (which I recommend), I started to worry. A friend told me of an American she knew, a French degree barer I believe, who was really confident and then placed really low, level 2 or 3 I think. Since I continue to struggle with self-doubt, I began to worry. I knew If I placed lower than level 4, I'd be crushed. What would 9 months of immersion mean then?

Sitting at my dad's dining room table, I opened the envelope, not realizing what it was at first.

Attestation

TCF - Test de connaissance du français

Oh! Oh! It's my score!

AYERS

Katherine Ann

blah blah blah

Résultat global: 590 points, niveau C1 du CECR

!!!!!

So, I reached my goal, and I was only 10 points away from C2 (level 6, the highest).

For anyone interested, here's the breakdown of the scoring.

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Niveau C1, 500 à 599 points

Supérieur

Bonne maîtrise de la langue. La personne peut comprendre une grande gamme de textes longs et exigeants comportant des contenus implicites. Elle s’exprime couramment et de façon bien structurée sur sa vie sociale, professionnelle ou académique et sur des sujets complexes.

Level C1, 500 to 599 points

Advanced Level

Good operational command of the language. Can understand a wide range of long and demanding texts and can recognize implicit meaning. Can express himself or herself fluently in a well-structured way on his or her social, professional or academic life and on complex topics.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The TCF scoring is based on European standards and the test composed of 5 examination sections, 3 of which are compulsory if you register, and 2 which you can pay extra to take. I, of course, took all 5. The compulsory sections are Reading, Grammatical Structures, and Listening. The extras are writing and speaking.

I placed in C1 overall and in each section, except one: speaking. I expected to place lower in this section. Speaking really is the most challenging of all for me. But...I placed in C2. It's curious, really. This part involved a 15 minute recorded interview with 6 questions, that went from super easy to difficult. I'm happy, but I'm not sure I agree. I wish the results came with comments or corrections, but it's just a single sheet with scores.

This is another thing I can check off of my "want to do in France" list! I plan to continue listening, reading, writing, and speaking as much as possible, right here in Anderson. In fact, we just switched to AT&T U-Verse so we can watch the French channel TV5 Monde.

Maybe I'll take the test again in a few years, with a C2 (upper advanced level) in all sections being the goal!

Expressions of happiness

I love it when this happens. From a French person's mouth to my ears to my brain in seconds. And I smile.

It's when I hear an expression for the first time. I've seen it and read it before. But now I've heard it, in real life, and I got it.

Today, it happened in the few brief seconds while turning onto the sidewalk, leaving my apartment. A lady yelled down the street, "Ça fait un bail!"

"It's been ages!" is what she said to her friend, a French expression that isn't literally translated.

Sometimes it's really the little things that make me happy. And since learning a language can be so difficult and discouraging, I'll take as many little moments and expressions as I can get.

French with Marie

Whoa, 2 posts in one day, aren't you lucky blog readers!

For a while now, I have been working on my French with a "language exchange partner" who I met at the Tempo Tea Time conversation group. Well, what I thought would be "language exchanges" quickly became hanging out with a friend. A friend is what I was secretly hoping for, so I was pretty happy with that. Marie has shown me and some other lucky anglophones some of the greatest spots in Paris, including an amazing ice cream shop called Berthillon, the Tea Caddy, the Places des Vosges, and the Playmobil exposition.





I had originally envisioned doing 30 minutes in French and 30 minutes in English during our outings- to make sure I really worked on my French. Instead, we just switch back in forth. Sadly, Marie is leaving Paris soon. She just got a job in Germany. I mean, I'm very happy for her. I'm 90% excited for her and 10% sad for me.

I thought this would be a good time to share all the wonderful vocabulary I have learned thanks to Marie. Some are helpful for everyday, and same are downright hilarious.

Here is the list, taken in order directly from my vocabulary notebook (if you think I'm a nerd, Marie has a notebook and a pen especially for English vocab, haha).

se damner
Je me damnerais pour ça - I would sell my soul for that; I would kill for that

un lèche-bottes - brown-noser; suck-up

un cancre - dunce (or the kid who goes to sleep in class)

crade - dirty; gross

un déjeuner-baskets - dine-and-dash

sécher - to skip/cut class (also: to dry)

trinquer - to toast

dégoûter - to disgust
J'étais dégoûté(e) - That disgusted me (can also been that you are jealous)

râler - to moan; to complain

J'hésite entre... - I can't decide between...

le repose merdouille - junk drawer

le gendarme couché = le dos d'âne = le rallentissage - speed bump

un intello - nerd; geek

un montagne russe - roller coaster

There are probably many more I learned when I didn't have my notebook handy.

Thank you for teaching me these great words, Marie, and for showing me around Paris! Maybe it's more like 70% excited and 30% sad.



60%/40%

Listening to French News

Lately, I have started to listen to the news in French online. We don't have a TV (a good thing most of the time, but a TV would help with listening to more French...) and so I've been trying to read and listen to more news. So, I am keeping up with world events a little more and improving my French at the same time.

I listen to two stations online. France Inter and France Info. I listen in "direct" on France Inter and choose stories to listen to on France Info, which has mostly been about Haiti. This has been the best way for me to keep up on the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

I've also read the recent posts of the sister of a friend who lives in Haiti. Her blog is a personal account and is moving and very well written.

Frankly my dear: 4 ways to say "I don't care" in French

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." It may be strange, but I've wondered for a while how Rhett Butler would have said this if he were French.

Since I started learning French, I have always looked for the best way to express "I don't care." I, of course, learned the most neutral expression, which can be found in the dictionary, when I was at AU- "Ça m'est égal," literally "It is equal to me." This is fine for expressing simple lack of interest or stating that you don't care whether you go to this restaurant or that one. However, when stronger emotion is needed, "Ça m'est égal" just won't do.

One reason that I love being able to live in France for 10 months is learning some very useful, though sometimes vulgar, expressions. There are so many ways to express "I don't care" in English, from "It doesn't matter to me" or "I couldn't care less" to Rhett Butler's stronger expression or the same expression with the f word. As in English, there are a variety of expressions in French. Here are those I've learned and heard frequently since being in France. They go from weak to strong, from polite to vulgar.

Ça m'est égal- Again, this is simply, "I don't care," "I don't have a preference."

Je m'en moque- Still pretty polite. I've heard teachers use this in front of their students.

Je m'en fiche- Not the strongest, or the most polite.

Je m'en fous - The strongest. It is vulgar. I've heard kids at school use this, and then tattle on each other for saying it.

Now, I can be pretty sure that Rhett Butler would have said something like, "Franchement chérie, je m'en fous." What may be stranger than my wonderment about the translation of this phrase, is that I've never actually seen Gone with the Wind! Maybe I should put that on my to do list. Do you think there is a version that has French subtitles, so I can see if I'm right about the translation?

Le temps passe trop vite! 3 mois déjà!

Ça fait 3 mois déjà que nous sommes en France. C'est vraiment incroyable. Ma famille et mes amis me manquent, bien sûr, mais je ne veux pas que le temps passe aussi vite! Il nous reste à peu près 6 mois, mais il me reste beaucoup à faire. Surtout, il faut absolument que je fasse plus du progrès avec mon français. C'est peut-être une bonne idée pour une résolution pour le nouvel an? Je suis en France, je dois en profiter! Je parle déjà souvent français, mais il y a trop d’anglais dans les écoles et avec les autres américains au foyer. Il me faut de la structure. Oui, je prévoirai des temps pour parler et écouter le français. Après les vacances, je parlerai régulièrement avec ma partenaire d'échange, et peut-être je chercherai une deuxième partenaire. Je écouterai plus le français sur Internet. Voilà. Je m'y mets*.

Time is passing too fast! 3 months already!

We've already been in France for 3 months. I can't believe it. I of course miss my family and friends, but I don't want time to go by so fast! We have about 6 months left, but I have a lot left to do. Above all, I absolutely have to make more progress in French. Maybe that's a good idea for a New Year's resolution? I live in France, so I should take advantage of that while I can! I speak French pretty often already, but there is too much English in the my schools and with the other Americans at our residence. I need some structure. Yes, I will plan time to speak and listen to French. After Christmas break, I will regularly speak French with my language exchange parter, and maybe I will look for a second one. I will listen to more French on the internet. There. I'm going to do it.

Lots of great posts to come. Stay tuned. Monsieur Ayers might even write soon!

* Je m'y mets. I love this expression! I've seen it mostly in regards to a diet. Literally it means "I'm putting myself there." My translation is "I'm going to start/I'm going to do it."

One Little Word

Si.

Yes, I said si. It's a French word, I promise! And I can't get it into my immediate vocabulary. I know how to use it, but can't manage to remember it fast enough.

What does it mean? It means "if," but also means "yes" in a special circumstance. Oui of course is the word for "yes" in French, but when you are responding "yes" to a negative question, the word is si. And I never get it. It always comes out oui, and as soon as that word slides out of my month I know it's wrong.

A Real Life Example from Yesterday:

French friend: Tu ne l'aimes pas? (You don't like it?) - referring to my new haircut

Me: Oui, je l'aime. (Yes, I do like it.)

French friend: Si. (She corrected me.)

Me: Arg! Je sais! (Arg! I know!)

Time to learn some vocabulary. C'est parti!

Voilà quelques mots et expressions que j'ai appris et que j'entends souvent. Attention! Je ne vous donne pas les traductions du dictionnaire, mais ce que j'ai compris par ces mots. (Here are some words and expressions I've learned and that I hear frequently. But beware! I'm not giving dictionary translations, but what I've understood them to mean).

C'est parti! I have heard this about a million times over the past two months! I can't think of one good way to say it in English. Several possibilities are: Here we go! And we're/they're/it's off! Ready go! It's begun! I also saw that this was used in the subtitles of the movie Away We Go when Burt says "Play ball."

Turbulent. Wild, noisy, crazy. As in: Les CE2s sont toujours turbulents. (The 4th graders are always wild, noisy, and crazy.) Yes, I learned this word from a teacher. I did cheat here and looked up the actual dictionary translation, which is boisterous, but I like wild, crazy, noisy better.

Se débrouiller. To manage, to make it. Several people have told me concerning my French "Tu te débrouilles bien." I'm only managing? :( Not excelling? ;)

C'est chiant! That's annoying! This is very familiar and maybe vulgar (?), but I hear it all the time. The first time I heard it was when my French friend Julie said it. I said I didn't know that word and she kind of smiled when she explained it to me.

Tranquille. Calm, relaxing/relaxed. I've heard people say this when answering to ça va? (how are you?) and comment s'est passé ton week-end? (how was your weekend?).

And now I sleep in.

Today was the last day of my French Oral Expression class at the Sorbonne. It was for five weeks, 8-10am, four days a week. So, in 40 hours of French Oral Expression, what did I learn? Well, not as much as I'd hoped, and I'm not so sure I've progressed much in speaking French.

I was really disappointed that we didn't have much lab time. A few times we went to the lab, had a more or less natural conversation with a partner, and then the professor corrected us. I wish every class had been like that! Another thing I really appreciated was learning more about the different language registers. Not only do you have to distinguish between tu and vous, but you use different language and expressions depending on who you're talking to and the setting. I think I will try to learn more about this on my own.

Now that the class is over, what do I plan to do? Sleep in (a little more) in the mornings! But to work on my French, I am going to continue going to the conversation exchange group on Tuesdays, and I'm going to try to find a language exchange partner. Some one-on-one French time would be very helpful. I also will, eventually, start reading French Colloquial Grammar by Rodney Ball. En plus, I am looking into volunteering, something I miss doing.

It's time for dinner and then that conversation group! Send French thoughts my way!

Learning French from Kids

Après que je me suis présentée aux élèves d'une classe CM1, une fille a dit « Je n'ai rien pigé. » L'enseignant, Monsieur D, a expliqué que ça veut dire « Je n'ai rien compris » mais c'est familier.