Language

I got lost yesterday. At night. I had a general idea of direction I wanted to go in, but I was not sure. Usually, I write down directions, and once I've gone a certain places, I rarely forget how to get there. But last night, I tried out a yoga class, which was in a residential area I hadn't been to before. It was a 15 minute walk, but I got lost on the way there. So I decided to take a different route back. I walked toward what I thought was Foch, one of the main streets in Angers. It was well-lit enough, but a little creepy as the buildings are tall and are right next to the curb. It was about 9:30 on a Wednesday, so there weren't many people out and about.

I looked down street after street, they could have been perspective drawings from an art class, all buildings in straight lines, with no one and nothing down them. It also reminded me of that Red Hot Chili Peppers music video that's all in black and white, and they sit on top of buildings and whatnot. It might be Californication. (Update: it's otherside from Californication.) I saw a church that I had never seen before. It had a banner in front that said "950 years, 1059-2009." How cool is that? Most churches at home are like, "We've been around 10 years? We need a bigger building. With lots of useless extra rooms. And a pool."

Anyway, I finally saw a Pizza Hut, which I knew was on Carnot. Pretty far from Foch, but I found it and knew where I was. I walked by a café where people were watching a soccer game, I'm not sure who was playing, but when I got to Foch someone had won because the fans had decided to drive crazily around the roundabout waving a flag (couldn't tell which) and honking their horns and screaming.

It was interesting to be lost at night in a place I thought I knew. I didn't feel unsafe, and I really wasn't. It was quiet and calm and kind of like a small adventure.

Some Commentary on Language: (with stories!)

Language is interesting to me. I have never really thought about it before, despite the fact I studied English and French. At the time, it seemed more like the study of literature, not a language. And, in many ways, it was. In all of my classes, I read. It was assumed (and I guess rightly so) that I possessed the vocabulary, the grammatical rules, the intellect to take the words on the page and make them mean something other than JUST the word.

For instance, "the dog is black" doesn't just signify a black dog, the image that comes to mind, it also references many other black dogs, the type of dogs that are black, the instances in which you or I have encountered a black dog. It can be broadened to encompass what we know about the history of many and dog, and in the context of the text it can carry many other meanings: it could be a symbol for something dark to come, or it could simply be the portrait of the American family with the trusty lab at its side.

(I have a point)

But all of this meaning, codification, is assumed, taken for granted. So, when learning a new language, there are vast gaps in your knowledge because you cannot possibly be aware of all the significations a word could possess.

All of that goes to say, I've learned some words, and I'm learning to speak, but I can't ever beFrench. That is obvious, but it's difficult to realize that as much as I learn there will always be something missing that will make the language totally click.

Maybe I'll change my mind about this in 8 months. (Can you believe I've been here almost 2 months?!)

So, when I say that language is interesting to me; I find facts like this fascinating:

The students at my schools all of these things called "les ardoises," which translates to slate.

Imagine the stories of one room school houses with the school marm at the front calling out sums, which the students furiously write on mini-chalkboards. Yes, children in France still have those. It's mostly to practice mathematics, and maybe spelling. Many of the boards are of the white board variety, with expo markers.

I had never heard the word before, so one of the teachers explained that Ardoise means slate, as in the slate used to make the roofs on French houses. I think she said that in the olden days (whenever that was) the students actually used slates from the roof for class. Anyway, they kept the name even though many students have white boards now.

They also love using them. Maybe it's because they get to wave them in the air to show me the answer.

Another language thing:

Would you refer to elementary school kids as students? I would.

In French, the word for students is "les étudiants." But you cannot refer to primary school children as les étudiants. You must use the word "les élèves," which translates to pupils. When I made this mistake, someone laughed and said "you can't call them students, they aren't studying anything." I had never even thought about the fact that student means "one who studies," nor had I considered the fact that elementary school children don't really study.

For the British assistants, this makes perfect sense as they use the word "pupils," but I'm almost 100% positive that I had elementary school teachers who referred to the class as "students."

There is a French verb for which the infinitive is "faire." When you learn French, it's one of the first irregular verbs that you learn. It is almost always translated as "to make or to do," like that: both English words with "or" between them. One can faire les vaisselles, do the dishes, orfaire un gateau, make a cake, but one can also faire un fête, make or do a party? While it's amusing when foreign people say things like "let's make a party," it wouldn't really be an accurate translation, would it? I think that's the problem with translation, and again with learning a language.

A final language thing:

In France, you're pretty much required to say "bonjour" to everyone you meet. Once you know someone well (I think) you are allowed to say "salut." Additionally, once you know someone really well, you can greet them with "coucou." But, at one school, there is a teacher who always says "Salut" to me, I guess because we're close-ish to the same age. There is another teacher who invited me to a party (another story for another day), and when he texted me he said "coucou." Some of the girls in the foyer say "coucou" to me, some say "Salut". I said "Salut" to someone in the foyer, out of habit, but I don't really know her. She responded "Bonjour" rather coldly. None of this makes sense to me, and I think "coucou" sounds dumb.

I'm going to go ahead and post this, I have more stories, esp of the kids (!), but I feel like I need to churn out some kind of writing, even if it's just this blog!

The dog is black:

:D