Bonjour à tous!
Here are a few pictures of my school:
This was my first week of school and to say the least it was very interesting! As I said before, I took the placement exam on Monday, found out my results that night (A2.6= Advanced Beginner..ugh), then Tuesday was my first day of class. Throughout the week my class times vary from either beginning at 8h30 or 12h30 and are 4 hours long. In these 4 hours we have lecture for 3 hours and then the language lab for an hour. Depending on the day, the hours of when we have lecture and lab also rotate. You could start with the language lab and have 3 hours straight of lecture or the lab could be in the middle of class or during the last hour, it all depends. Tuesday was a 12h30 day with 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of lab, and then another hour of lecture. I arrived at the CUEF about 15 minutes early, found my classroom and took a seat by the window overlooking the courtyard while waiting for my professor to show up. As I’m looking around at the people who are also waiting, I begin to notice a trend….they were all Asian! I look around trying to see if there was anyone else from a different nationality, but there was nobody. Great, I am the only American, let alone “white” person in this class...Ah!! Now, before I go any further I just want to say that I am not racist or discriminatory, but Asians trying to learn French is not something you would picture as ordinary. Noticing this was also an indicator for me that this was definitely a lower level of French because Asians were in it, but I was going to go into the class with an open mind.
As open as my mind was, after 20 minutes of this class I knew this was not the correct level for me. When no one in the class could understand what our professor was talking about as well as not being able to speak French AT ALL, l definitely knew I needed out! Even when they tried to speak French, their accents were so heavy that I could not understand one word they were saying- it sounded like they were speaking Chinese or Japanese still. I don’t even know how our professor could understand them but props to her for trying!
Another reason I knew this level was too easy was the material we were covering. If any of you have taken language classes in high school and/or college, one of the first things you learn is how to conjugate verbs, adjectives for masculine and feminine words as well as adverbs. And voila, that is exactly what we did in this class! It basically was a review for me and that is not what I came all the way over to France to do. I want a challenge in my class that will help me better m French language skills and help me build a better vocabulary and actually be able to say I am fluent in French! On the bright side though, I did learn some new vocabulary from our reading we had to translate, so at least I learned something. However, I didn’t talk to my professor after class because it was the first day and also because Wednesday through Friday we were going to be having a different prof because of the way the CUEF set up the program (on Mon & Tues we have one professor and then Wed-Fri we have a different one).
As the week went on I was nervous to go and talk to my professor because 1.) I didn’t know how the system worked and if I talked to my teacher would she be the one to even change me, 2.) Anytime we were having a group discussion and my professor called on me asking me what I thought about someone’s response, I didn’t know what to say because I could not understand what they were saying!! I did answer with my own opinion of what we were talking about, but my professor kept saying ‘well that’s good, but you didn’t answer in response to what your classmates said’. What was I suppose to say?! Umm sorry, I CANNOT understand a word of what they just said because they can’t speak French! And 3.) I was going to speak with my program director first to see how to go about moving out of this level.
I am glad I waited though to speak with my professor, because on Friday, she came up to me and said that she doesn’t feel this level is appropriate for me and that I am superior over the other students so she was going to be moving me up! When she told me this I couldn’t stop smiling!!!!!!! I was so ecstatic that she saw my skills and ability and moved me up. I was planning on speaking with her on Friday anyways, but what a relief for me that she felt the same way. I moved up 3 levels and am now in A2.9. That is still under the classification of advanced beginner, but the levels in France are different compared to the levels in the States according to my professor. Advanced beginner here, well at least the level I will be in, is more like Intermediate level in the States, which is where I felt I should have been placed, so this is a good sign! Plus there are only 10 people in the class I am transferring to, 11 with me, so it will be more individualized and I am hoping to learn a lot more and practice my speaking skills more and more as well!
During the week there also was a big snow storm that came through! I looked out the window one night and what do I see? SNOW! Everything was covered in white! It was very pretty to watch the snowflakes falling from the sky and just enjoy the beauty of nature. The storm only lasted for a day, well I guess night, but this was the longest snow storm I’ve seen since I’ve been here and the snow actually stuck. The next morning walking to the bus there was still snow on the ground.
And to make this weekend even better, it was my roommates 21st birthday yesterday!! To make her feel more of a birthday girl and little more at home, I bought her some flowers at the grocery store (hot pink tulips…so pretty!) and sang “Bonne Anniversaire” (happy birthday in French) to her at midnight :) As a group, we all went out to dinner last night to celebrate at this amazing fondue restaurant called ‘A Confesse’. It is right by the CEA office tucked between the many apartment buildings on the street. You wouldn’t think this location is prime for business, but it was hopping! I think almost every table was full and people kept coming in one after the other, so you know the food has to be good! I’ve never had fondue before but was excited to try it because I could eat it (no gluten, yay!). We ordered 3 different types of fondue for the table and the chef was very accommodating and was able to bring out potatoes instead of bread for me. The fondue I was most excited to try was made with white wine, cheese and herbs..and OMG it was to die for! One of the unique characteristics about this restaurant was the hanging bread baskets hah Every table had a basket hanging over it and so there is more table space for the fondue and plates, etc, they put the bread pieces up there and when you are ready to have your bread, you lower the basket and it hangs just over the table and the food. It is a very unique contraption to say the least.
Towards the end of the meal, when everyone was ordering dessert, I snuck away to the bathroom and asked our waitress if they did anything special for birthdays. As soon as I mentioned the word “birthday” her eyes lit up and said that she would take care of it. As we’re waiting for our dessert, the lights start to flicker and we were all thinking, oh my goodness not another power outage, but to our surprise it was to quiet everyone down so we could sing happy birthday! We then see our waitress coming out with Lexie’s crepe and a firecracker lit on the plate as well haha it was priceless! They bring it to our table, Lexie was very surprised and had no idea this was coming, and the whole restaurant started singing to her! I could tell she really felt like it was her birthday and seeing her smiling face made me happy too! To say the least, dinner was a very good start to the weekend (minus the rain).
Today we are either going to go to watch the soccer match at the Stade des Alpes if the rain can hold off or we will be going to the London Pub downtown to hang out and watch the rugby game between England and Ireland. That’s all for now, but check back soon for my adventure next weekend to the Cote d’Azur!
A bientôt,
Stephanie
Here are a few pictures of my school:
le CUEF
view of the Alps from school
This was my first week of school and to say the least it was very interesting! As I said before, I took the placement exam on Monday, found out my results that night (A2.6= Advanced Beginner..ugh), then Tuesday was my first day of class. Throughout the week my class times vary from either beginning at 8h30 or 12h30 and are 4 hours long. In these 4 hours we have lecture for 3 hours and then the language lab for an hour. Depending on the day, the hours of when we have lecture and lab also rotate. You could start with the language lab and have 3 hours straight of lecture or the lab could be in the middle of class or during the last hour, it all depends. Tuesday was a 12h30 day with 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of lab, and then another hour of lecture. I arrived at the CUEF about 15 minutes early, found my classroom and took a seat by the window overlooking the courtyard while waiting for my professor to show up. As I’m looking around at the people who are also waiting, I begin to notice a trend….they were all Asian! I look around trying to see if there was anyone else from a different nationality, but there was nobody. Great, I am the only American, let alone “white” person in this class...Ah!! Now, before I go any further I just want to say that I am not racist or discriminatory, but Asians trying to learn French is not something you would picture as ordinary. Noticing this was also an indicator for me that this was definitely a lower level of French because Asians were in it, but I was going to go into the class with an open mind.
As open as my mind was, after 20 minutes of this class I knew this was not the correct level for me. When no one in the class could understand what our professor was talking about as well as not being able to speak French AT ALL, l definitely knew I needed out! Even when they tried to speak French, their accents were so heavy that I could not understand one word they were saying- it sounded like they were speaking Chinese or Japanese still. I don’t even know how our professor could understand them but props to her for trying!
Another reason I knew this level was too easy was the material we were covering. If any of you have taken language classes in high school and/or college, one of the first things you learn is how to conjugate verbs, adjectives for masculine and feminine words as well as adverbs. And voila, that is exactly what we did in this class! It basically was a review for me and that is not what I came all the way over to France to do. I want a challenge in my class that will help me better m French language skills and help me build a better vocabulary and actually be able to say I am fluent in French! On the bright side though, I did learn some new vocabulary from our reading we had to translate, so at least I learned something. However, I didn’t talk to my professor after class because it was the first day and also because Wednesday through Friday we were going to be having a different prof because of the way the CUEF set up the program (on Mon & Tues we have one professor and then Wed-Fri we have a different one).
As the week went on I was nervous to go and talk to my professor because 1.) I didn’t know how the system worked and if I talked to my teacher would she be the one to even change me, 2.) Anytime we were having a group discussion and my professor called on me asking me what I thought about someone’s response, I didn’t know what to say because I could not understand what they were saying!! I did answer with my own opinion of what we were talking about, but my professor kept saying ‘well that’s good, but you didn’t answer in response to what your classmates said’. What was I suppose to say?! Umm sorry, I CANNOT understand a word of what they just said because they can’t speak French! And 3.) I was going to speak with my program director first to see how to go about moving out of this level.
I am glad I waited though to speak with my professor, because on Friday, she came up to me and said that she doesn’t feel this level is appropriate for me and that I am superior over the other students so she was going to be moving me up! When she told me this I couldn’t stop smiling!!!!!!! I was so ecstatic that she saw my skills and ability and moved me up. I was planning on speaking with her on Friday anyways, but what a relief for me that she felt the same way. I moved up 3 levels and am now in A2.9. That is still under the classification of advanced beginner, but the levels in France are different compared to the levels in the States according to my professor. Advanced beginner here, well at least the level I will be in, is more like Intermediate level in the States, which is where I felt I should have been placed, so this is a good sign! Plus there are only 10 people in the class I am transferring to, 11 with me, so it will be more individualized and I am hoping to learn a lot more and practice my speaking skills more and more as well!
And to make this weekend even better, it was my roommates 21st birthday yesterday!! To make her feel more of a birthday girl and little more at home, I bought her some flowers at the grocery store (hot pink tulips…so pretty!) and sang “Bonne Anniversaire” (happy birthday in French) to her at midnight :) As a group, we all went out to dinner last night to celebrate at this amazing fondue restaurant called ‘A Confesse’. It is right by the CEA office tucked between the many apartment buildings on the street. You wouldn’t think this location is prime for business, but it was hopping! I think almost every table was full and people kept coming in one after the other, so you know the food has to be good! I’ve never had fondue before but was excited to try it because I could eat it (no gluten, yay!). We ordered 3 different types of fondue for the table and the chef was very accommodating and was able to bring out potatoes instead of bread for me. The fondue I was most excited to try was made with white wine, cheese and herbs..and OMG it was to die for! One of the unique characteristics about this restaurant was the hanging bread baskets hah Every table had a basket hanging over it and so there is more table space for the fondue and plates, etc, they put the bread pieces up there and when you are ready to have your bread, you lower the basket and it hangs just over the table and the food. It is a very unique contraption to say the least. 
Towards the end of the meal, when everyone was ordering dessert, I snuck away to the bathroom and asked our waitress if they did anything special for birthdays. As soon as I mentioned the word “birthday” her eyes lit up and said that she would take care of it. As we’re waiting for our dessert, the lights start to flicker and we were all thinking, oh my goodness not another power outage, but to our surprise it was to quiet everyone down so we could sing happy birthday! We then see our waitress coming out with Lexie’s crepe and a firecracker lit on the plate as well haha it was priceless! They bring it to our table, Lexie was very surprised and had no idea this was coming, and the whole restaurant started singing to her! I could tell she really felt like it was her birthday and seeing her smiling face made me happy too! To say the least, dinner was a very good start to the weekend (minus the rain).
Happy Birthday Lexie!
A Confesse- the door was an old door to a confessional (like you would see in Catholic churches)
Today we are either going to go to watch the soccer match at the Stade des Alpes if the rain can hold off or we will be going to the London Pub downtown to hang out and watch the rugby game between England and Ireland. That’s all for now, but check back soon for my adventure next weekend to the Cote d’Azur!
A bientôt,
Stephanie
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