LsrvcertrdsrllgnvrtntrlsttnngrnntlsttnHnrBgrndsrvcrsmrdxhtrtvgntmnts.
The sound system wasn't the best in the world. And the fact that the announcement was in French didn't help me at all. There was no translation into English - this wasn't the airport.
Then and there, I made up my mind to learn French.
Four months later I bought a CD called "Transparent French," part of the Complete Language series. And I went to work. I learned how to talk to policemen (je ne parle pas français) and how to answer the phone: (voici quelqu'un qui parle français meiux que moi) and even how to order food in French (avez vous un menu en Anglais?)
The CD takes a conversational approach; learn full sentences. So it tells you how to ask "l'aeroport, est-il-loin d'ici?" and I got good at saying that. So every time I hopped into a cab I could ask how far the airport was, even if I was just going home. Cab drivers began to wonder about my strange obsession with the distance to the airport.
When I realized that I actually had to figure out what the words meant, I got my hands on a library book called "French" - can't help but love the title. Here's the blurb:
A book of self-instruction in French based on the work by Sir John Adams, M A.,
LL.D., completely revised and enlarged by Norman Scarlyn Wilson, M.A.
I could not help noticing the very English name of the author, and the publishing date of 1938. Still, a book is a book. And what I like about it is the structured approach - a bit of grammar, a bit of vocabulary, a bit of grammer, a bit of vocabulary. And the exercises were ok - translate from French to English, translate from English to French. I listen to the larks, j'écoute les allouettes, I noticed the sentry, he is at the castle, j'ai rémarqué la sentinelle, elle est dans le château (in French "she" can mean "he") .
So I went out all charged up, looking everywhere for sentries and larks and castles. But first person I encountered was a snot-nosed kid who looks at me and asks "tu alors?" Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? Doesn't make sense. He points to his wrist. It hits me. "Tu as l'heure?" Oh. Quinze et demi. 3:30. It's actually a quarter past noon. But in the book the exercise was quinze et demi. So anyone asks me the time, it's 3:30.
There was another problem. Other people wanted to borrow the book.
Back to the library it went. Later I found my own copy on Ebay. You can find anything on Ebay.
Finally in the spring of '06 I took the bull by the horns and signed up for a course at Concordia University. It's a 6 level course called Communication Oral. They put me in at level 2. I spent 4 hours every morning for 2 weeks in July 2006, speaking, listening to, reading, and writing French. The emphasis was on talking and listening. It was great fun. We did present, and passé compose. We did vocabulary - clothing, directions, weather. (neige = snow). How many different ways can you ask for coffee - puis-je avoir de café (can I have some coffee), je voudrais un tasse de café (I would like a cup of coffee).
"David can you come up with a suggestion?"
" Sure. Oubliez le café. Donnez moi une bière."
I took level 3 in the fall of '06 but I did it in the evening. Every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 till 9, for 10 weeks. I felt a bit over my head by the end (in fact by the beginning). But I hung in there.
Now I think about continuing. I think about studying at home. I think about getting someone from among my circle of acquaintances to sit with me for an hour a week and talk to me in French (heaven knows I know enough French speaking people).
But I think that little by little the fog is lifting. I was in the Métro last week, and I heard this:
Le service est retardé sur le ligne vert, entre la station angrnion et la station Honore-Beaugrand. Le service vas récommencer à dix-huit heures et vingt minutes.
It wasn't just the improvement in the sound system. Someone turned to me and said, did she say "LsrvcertrdsrllgnvrtntrlsttnngrnntlsttnHnrBgrndsrvcrsmrdxhtrtvgntmnts?"
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