Voila!

Summer is in full swing in Cotignac. The days are warm, sunny and dry (we haven’t had rain since June), and the nights are cool with a light breeze. Markets are filled with ripe tomatoes of all varieties, figs, golden apricots (my favorite), juicy peaches, and squash blossoms (which we haven’t yet figured out what to do with). The grapes are turning a deep purple and the olives continue to grow. Cotignac is buzzing with activity. There is an endless variety of markets on the Cours – pottery, santons, antiques, local artisans. When Alison and Katie were here, we walked into the village after dinner at about 9:30PM. The place was hopping! We could hear laughter and the buzz of activity before we reached the bottom of the hill. Every table was taken and every chair filled. There are posters all over town advertising musical events, art shows and performances in neighboring towns. There is no shortage of activities!

While we make the most of all these activities, some are easier than others largely because everything is in French. Everyone asks how my French is going so I thought I would write about what I’ve learned about learning French.

1. The time to learn a new language is as a child! It’s easier, the mind remembers better, and it sticks longer. But, I can’t roll back the clock so I work harder. Learning this language was a personal goal whether we came to France or not. I’ve been studying it for some time. I took a couple of community college classes for beginners, completed Level 1 of Rosetta Stone and worked with a French instructor, Lailee, in Annapolis. The bottom line – it’s hard, at least for me. I’ll take calculus any day. There’s a dizzying array of sounds which are not part of English, beaucoup (many!) extra letters that aren’t pronounced, and verbs, verbs, verbs. Ugh.

2. Do a variety of things with the language. I’m listening to French radio and TV (the professionals speak clearly and more slowly), doing grammar exercises, and taking lessons from Catherine Brousse. She’s great and has done wonders with my pronunciation, and she explains the origins of the words which helps me remember. Catherine says that learning a language is geometric. One day, I’ll hit the curve and my understanding will take off. I’m waiting! And finally, there’s talking with real French people.





3. Be in a place where people are helpful. Mike and I are continually surprised by France’s reputation as being unhelpful with their language. That has not been my experience at all. I can’t say enough nice things about their patience with my haphazard words and sentence construction. When I tell locals that I’m learning French, they immediately help. They correct my verb conjugations, tell me French names, and, of course, attempt to fix my pronunciation. That part always leaves me laughing.

I am an endless source of entertainment due to misspoken sentences. Dominique has been particularly helpful. She owns and operates the Institute de Beaute in Cotignac. She speaks English and is happy to help me with French. Her daughter starts college in Aix this September and will study English and Russian. Wow. Dominique smiles and patiently waits for me to correct myself when I tell her, “I am an appointment” instead of “I have an appointment.” Those little words can trip you up!


4. It’s okay to use everything at your disposal – note pads, pantomime, pitiful looks, smiles. Some days I’m pleased with my improvement. For example, it’s been warm here lately so we wanted a fan. The French word for “fan” is “ventilateur.” Makes sense, but I always worry that I’m saying it wrong. So, we went to Mr. Bricolage (Home Depot) where I asked the information lady where I might find the “ventilateurs.” Just to make sure, I pantomimed whirring blades and blowing. She looked at me quizzically as though I’d lost my mind and said, “Oui, oui, Madame. Bien sur.” She apparently thought that I thought she didn’t understand her own language. We found the fan, life was good, and I felt I was making progress until our next adventure.

My sister asked me to measure the length of my foot. (She bought a pair of those funky shoes with the toes to try and help my foot problem.) We didn’t have any type of ruler – zip, zero, none. Thus began the search for a ruler or “une regle.” We asked at all the shops – hardware store, Spar market, stationery shop. No “regle.” (We ended up downloading a ruler from the Internet – Mike came up with that idea. He’s such a smart guy!) The next week we were in Frank’s hardware store when I noticed a shelf full of tape measures. Humpt. Then we were poking around the stationery shop and there was an entire rack outside by the door filled with rulers for kids. Duhhhh.

5. Vocabulary grows in relationship to your experiences. My vocabulary has definitely grown. While that’s great, some of the words – from necessity – are not necessarily needed in normal conversation. For example, I know, “fourmi,” “guepe,” “moustique,” and “lezard.” These are “ant,” “wasp,” “mosquito,” and “lizard.” I’m your girl for any type of bug spray!

Although – now that I think about it, I don’t know the French word for “spray.” That’s okay, I can make blowing sounds!

P.S. Since we can’t photograph the French language, I’m using some of the wonderful images that Katie took around our house during her visit, including the one that is our new blog front page. Thanks, Katie!