Propempo International

Well, in English "Pardon my French" may mean something else. But, here, it is an essential polite statement of fact. We say, "Pardon. Je ne parle pas française," and, "Je ne sais pas," a lot.

How is language school going, you ask? French is going great; but it is getting very complicated. There are so many irregular verbs. Then add a layer of different verb tenses. Add a pinch of weird possessive pronouns. Mix in more and more vocabulary every day. Test it all every Friday. Bake in daily homework. And serve it up every weekday.

We can understand more and more. But, if French people didn't use their hands, we would understand less. Still, we're having trouble thinking and speaking fast enough (and with the correct French pronunciation) to carry on much of a conversation beyond introductions. Thankfully, it's a lot further than when we first arrived! PTL!

Here's an unexpected phenomenon: Every other language which we've been exposed comes to mind BEFORE French -- even languages we never formally studied previously. We thinking and sometimes saying words from Spanish, Asian languages, German, Australian, Redneck, Yiddish, whatever!

So, we're planning and praying for more practice verbalizing and doing verbal drills. Lord willing, it'll work. We've only been in formal classes for two-and-a-half weeks, 6 hours, 33 minutes. But, we're praying that we'll graduate to Level 2 at the end of this month.

Bon journée!

Charlie