Fluency Update: Month 1

I knew taking my classes in French would be hard, and I accepted that challenge, but it is turning out to be more difficult than I expected. My notes for the anthropology classes that I’m taking with French students are just a series of words I identified. I’m having a hard time understanding full sentences and the main ideas. Sometimes I’m not even sure when the professor is lecturing or just talking about administrative stuff... so those classes are definitely a problem. Unfortunatley none of the anthropology classes have any required reading so I have to find reading material on my own and that isn’t always easy when a teacher has their own agenda. Not to be negative, but this is how it has been. Luckily my French classes with other foreign students are easier. The professors speak slowly for us so we can follow. This definitely helps me better understand pronunciation so I can use those words myself.

Overall, my use of French and understanding of it has improved. I can understand more than I did before and I can carry on a conversation longer. I noticed that after speaking English all day, then speaking French at dinner with the family, I take more time to figure out how to say something. However, on days where I only speak French (which is really hard to do when I’m surrounded by Americans all day) sentences come to me much more quickly. Obviously I need to speak the French all day every day but when Jill and I can’t figure out how to say something in French to each other, we resort to English and its all downhill from there. However, we’ve gotten much better at returning to French. 

Recently, I’ve had a few moments where I could notice my improvement. First, two weeks ago on a train I was listening to a French song on my iPod and I understood EVERY SINGLE WORD. Not only did I understand the words, but I also understood the ideas...and thats a big deal! Secondly, I went to go see two films: the first was in Spanish with French subtitles (tangled language speghetti!) and the second was entirely in French. Surprisingly I felt that I understood the majority of both! Even though the waiter at the restaurant we went to afterwards said we misunderstood the relationship between two characters, I am convinced that that waiter was wrong! Also, this weekend my host dad said that my French has improved since I first arrived at their house. I definitely believe it because, looking back, Jill and I were so silent at dinner with them at the beginning, but now, if we get a chance to talk among all the people, we have full length conversations. 

I only have 10 months left to achieve fluency! I hope I can do it!