21 weeks of learning French

I haven't done a great deal this past fortnight because I've been so busy but also I had some problems with my ipod. It's an older model and holds a whopping 40Gb. I knew that there was NO WAY it could be full but iTunes kept telling me it was full. So there was obviously a problem and I needed to reset it. But before I reset it I needed to back it up (before everything to deleted). But I couldn't simply copy the songs back into iTunes... ARGH. Anyway it's finally all sorted now and it's only 1Gb full instead of being 40Gb full. Phew! So I can continue FSI now...

So far I have:

• Done up to the end of Coffee Break French - Lesson 57 (of 70 lessons)
• Done up to the end of Assimil - Lesson 92 (of 113 lessons)
• Done up to the end of Live Mocha - Lesson 26 (of 50 lessons) (none this week)
• Done up to the end of French in Action - Lesson 20 (of 52 lessons)
• Done up to the end of FSI - Lesson 56 (tape 8.5) (of 189 lessons) (none this week)
• Done up to the end of FSI French Phonology - Lesson 3 (tape 2.1) (of 20 lessons) (none this week)

A town like Paris - Bryce Corbett

Being so hot yesterday, I didn't do a great deal. I was very lazy and lethargic. Having been lazy and lethargic (and still boiling hot) I wasn't the least bit sleepy and I actually stayed up till 2am reading this book which I bought a few months ago but never got around to reading yet, A Town Like Paris: Falling in Love in the City of Light

I'm pretty sure the title is a parody of the novel (and subsequent film) A town like Alice. At least, that's what I thought of when I read out aloud A town like Paris.

I shouldn't really comment on it yet since I haven't finished it but so far, it reads like a male version of Sarah Turnbull's Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris. They are both Australian, both from Sydney, both around the same age (27-28) when they start their journey, both work in the media and later as freelance journalists... however I found Sarah far more likeable and Bryce seemed rather immature and arrogant sometimes. I even skipped a few pages where he goes on and on about his binge drinking nights. It makes me feel 'old' that that sort of behaviour is just so childish to me!! or maybe because I'm not a 'real' Australian I just don't see the point of getting drunk for the sake of getting drunk?

Still, I do find the book a fun read.. the 'sticker bitch' chapter is particularly hilarious and my favourite so far. I'll do another blog post when I've finished the book so stay tuned!

Oh, and I discovered the author has his own blog here.

Busy week

I've had a pretty busy week, and it's been one of the hottest weeks of the year. In fact, I seem to spend a lot of time talking about the weather and temperature because it occupies my mind so much! It's 39 deg C as I type this and expected to hit 41 :(

Speaking of which... I know that you can't say je suis chaud(e) to mean I'm hot, you have to say j'ai chaud(e) (which means 'I have hot(ness)/heat' but I like to translate it as 'I feel hot'), but I was describing something and wanted to say that it's getting hotter and hotter (in my room, in my suburb...) and I'm feeling hotter and hotter.. and I said je deviens chaude which brought on lots of chuckles... I knew it sounded 'wrong' as soon as I said it but I couldn't think of another way to say it (it basically means I'm getting (sexually) excited) LOL...

I also came across another word, the verb jouir, which means 'to enjoy' but I believe it's a bit old fashioned, and nowadays it means something entirely different. It was in one of the homework exercises we were given and when I went over it with one of my French chat buddies he explained what it meant, then in class the teacher explained it has multiple meanings. I tried very hard not to blush or laugh because I already knew what it meant (and the teacher didn't go into details so I don't think the rest of the class knew exactly)...

I met up with 2 French people (in real life!) and spoke with them for many hours each. And they both said my French was really good for having only learnt it for 4 months. They both come from the suburbs of Paris, and I impressed the first person with my knowledge of Paris (since I did so much research as I originally wanted to live there).

I also did an evaluation at the Alliance Française which finally confirmed that I was better than I thought! The teacher said I was too good to be in the beginner classes (and there are 8 levels there!) and said that I should go into the intermediate class.

Everyone I'd spoken to said that my French was at a good level but I guess I found it hard to believe because I'm quite a perfectionist and hard on myself, and I'm usually modest, and I tend to think they are just being nice... but having had my level confirmed at the AF I feel a lot more confident now :) My friend kept saying "I told you so! You never believed me..."

This week was full on for me French-wise yet I hadn't done that much more personal study so I'll skip my weekly update and catch up on it next Thursday/Friday