Now that the apartment hunting is over, I decided to concentrate on the next steps- one being learning French. I had some language skills before moving, which helps, but I really cannot speak French for more than 15 minutes before I get tired. I still have to concentrate and focus when I am interacting with people and even then sometimes it is not enough.
I know that in order to speak French, I have to speak French. I force myself to go out and talk to people, even if the interactions are only for a few minutes- like the woman who works at the corner boulangerie. I stop by the shop every morning before work to buy a croissant and to chat for a little bit in French. I found out that she is from Poland. She will go back home for the entire month of August, and that she has a cat that weighs seven kilos (15 lbs!). That is always a pleasant, if not simple, interaction. I have also been shopping to prepare for the move into the new apartment. I had to learn new vocabulary. This past weekend it was about bedding: fils (thread count), orieller (pillow), taie d'orieller (pillow case), drap (sheet), housse de couette (duvet cover), coton (cotton), linge (linen), and laine (wool). Vocabulary is expanding.
Shopping also revealed my weakness in numbers. I have to double the concentration when people are spewing out numbers at me. The total for the linens I purchased was soixante quatorze vingt. I remembered that numbers above 60 had a formula for its translation. For example, quatre vingt is literally 4 (quatre) 20 (vingt) = 4 X 20 = 80. Quatre vingt translates to eighty. Quatre vingt dix neuf is literally 4 (quatre) 20 (vingt) 10 (dix) 9 (neuf) = 4 X 20 + 10 +9= 80 + 19=99. So when the women at Linvosge (the linen shop) told me the total was soixante quatorze vingt, in my head I saw 60 + 14 + 20. The 60+14 sounded familiar (soixante quatorze = 74) but the vingt at the end threw me. It was already the end of a long day, so I just threw in the towel at that point and had to confess that i don't speak french. The woman took pity on me and told me in English: 74.20. Of course! We would say seventy-four twenty to mean seventy four dollars and twenty cents. If follows that soixante quatorze vingt, is 74 euros and 20 centimes. Sigh. I have a long way to go.
I am determined to take advantage of living in France by learning French. I refuse to be one of those expats who refuse to learn the language and only interacts with other anglophones. I just need more practice. I tried a few meetup groups, but I found those to have too many anglophones. I spent too much time listening to non french speakers speak French with an accent worse than mine. They also tended to be well attended by college students who are in France for the summer to learn French. Someone at work told me about this group called franglish. During franglish events, they pair one francophone with one anglophones and do a speed dating type process where the pairs speak 7 minutes in English then 7 minutes in French and then change partners to do it all again. I went this evening, and it was actually a good experience. I got to practice speaking French with a native French speaker. I also met many interesting people - a mix of young (students) and not so young (professionals). It met my needs. An added bonus was that it gave me an excuse to go to the 4th arrondissement this evening. Seeing Paris at sunset always reminds me why I should feel lucky to be here.
