Language Learning

Posted on September 14, 2009 by David

I’m learning there are a few things about learning a new language that they don’t really tell you in orientation or anywhere in the book, so I thought I would share them.

  • Don’t ask why do they do it that way, just memorize it and move onVery important book to have
  • Spelling is important (correctly)
  • Conjugations have rules about the rules
  • Just laugh when you say something wrong in class
  • Don’t be afraid to say it wrong
  • When you learn a new phrase share it with your next door neighbor who keeps asking if you know any more French
  • When the checkout person asks you a question just smile and shake your head (yes and no at the same time)
  • Learn a funny phrase that can distract your instructors when they ask you a question and you don’t know the answer (DeAnna’s favorite is saying the 3 French letters J P T – zhay pay tay, which means I passed wind)
  • Your six year old will learn vocabulary faster than you, and his homework will also be harder than yours which requires a dictionary just to figure out his instructions to tell him what he needs to do
  • Don’t forget that spelling is important (did I mention correctly)
  • Repetition is helpful (particularly with spelling)
Posted in France, Language Learning | Tagged , | 3 Comments

French cheese tasting

Posted on September 13, 2009 by David

Yummy French cheeseWe are learning many things as we live in France. We knew that there were hundreds of different cheeses, so we have decided that we would purchase one or two different cheeses when we go to the store. We learned in our Living in France seminar that when you are cutting the cheese that you should take some of the crust (moldy part) with your cheese so your guest doesn’t have to eat all the crust, DeAnna cut all the crust off the first cheese though. So when our family sat down to try some new cheese we had the boys also try a bite of each of the three cheeses that we had purchased. The first one was very mild and everyone liked it. The second one according to Jonah tasted like Play Doh, I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing at first or why he has been eating Play Doh. But I thought the cheese tasted fine. The last cheese had a very strong odor as if someone has cut the cheese before the cheese had been cut. It looks like I will be eating all of the last cheese since everyone else thought it tasted as bad as it smelled.

Posted in France, home, Kids | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Fun with phones

Posted on September 10, 2009 by David

We currently have a phone and a dsl modem in our flat, but we only have one working phone jack in our flat. At least that’s what I was able to deduce from the French telecom worker that showed up to install the line on Anderson time; 25 minutes early at 7:35am. It took him about 30 minutes to tone out the line to the street and I really wanted to offer to help since it seemed that his tonner was your basic fluke and he was really having problems using it. I’ll need to learn some new vocabulary if he comes back.

What's wrong with RJ11?

What's wrong with RJ11?

I was informed that the only jack that worked was the jack in the middle of the room closest to the table we eat at and there really isn’t a close power outlet for the modem. So I currently have a telephone extension cord being held up with blue tape that is not designed to be used with a dsl modem and is causing interference with the phone which doesn’t ring but you can make calls on it. I’m also trying to learn what type of connection the French use so I can fix the socket in the bedroom.  But first I need to study for my test tomorrow and finish my homework.

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Parent Teacher Conference

Posted on September 5, 2009 by David

Tonight was Joshua’s parent teacher conference. This was my 5th trip to the school today, so I walked close to 10 miles just going back and forth to his school today. I had my little notebook that I carry around to write down words to look up when I get home or phrases I hear so I can learn what people are saying. His teacher was very nice and although the entire hour was completely over my head in French, I was able to write down all the words that were written down around his classroom with the hope of helping him learn these words as I learn the words. I didn’t realize that there were different forms of cursive handwriting and it looks like Joshua will be learning the French cursive; not to worry though because once you get out of school you only use it to sign your name. I’ve accepted the fact that all paper is A4 paper, just slightly different from 8 ½ X 11; but I can’t figure out why all the notebook paper is either blank or graph and either has 2 holes punched or 4 holes punched. Hopefully the internet will be working tomorrow; it’s been 3 days since we’ve been online and I’m starting to go through facebook withdraw. I might make the hike to McDonald’s to use the only free Wi-Fi in Massy. (I just finished uploading them all and this place is packed on a Saturday night – We should have internet again on Wednesday.)

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5 verbs and 2 adjectives

Posted on September 5, 2009 by David

I was encouraged as I listened to the phonetics teacher share with us from Luke 9:10-17 today in French. I was able to follow along in my new La Bible (French translation) and was able to understand enough of what he was saying that what seemed impossible to the disciples, feeding 5000 people with 5 loafs of bread and 2 fishes was totally possible with Jesus Christ. Though learning French seems like an impossible task to us; God can take our 5 verbs and 2 adjectives and also perform a miracle with us. As I study, I continue to pray that God will mold our hearts and minds to do his will and that we know that this is part of the plan that he has for our lives.

Posted in France, home, Language Learning | Tagged , | 1 Comment

First day of school

Posted on September 5, 2009 by David

All four of us made it through our first day of school. DeAnna and I are in different classes because the school separates the spouses to keep down the competition for the beginners, like that would happen with us. But we have made it through our orientation and the boys made it through their first full day of classes in French. I’ll need to use Google to translate what the boys brought home from school since it looks like we need to sign something. Jonah was changed to a different school at the last minute so that made for some tense moments this morning determining where he was going to be, but it turned out fine (he didn’t want his mommy to leave though).

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Adventure in Paris

Posted on September 5, 2009 by David

The day before school started we had our first day trip to Paris. We walked to the RER station and took the C train all the way to the Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel stop, it took about an hour or 16 stops since Joshua was watching the map and keeping track of where we were at. As we walked around the base of the tower we had two little boys who said that they were hungry so we decided to find lunch instead of going up in the Eiffel Tower, not to mention I’m cheap and didn’t want to take the elevator when the steps were half the price. We found a sandwich shop that looked like a good place to pick up some food and then we sat down by the Seine River for lunch and tried to keep the boys from feeding the rather obese pigeons that were circling the bench we were sitting on. We then managed to cross the river and walk to one of the largest round-abouts in the world, the Arc de Triomphe, where 12 intersections meet. As we approached we realized quickly that j-walking would not be a wise move not only would you probably get hit but if you made it across the police were waiting to issue you a ticket on the spot. We did walk to the top of the Arc, 284 steps, and had some pretty amazing views of the city. We managed to make it back to Massy by taking the C train to Notre Dame where we hopped on the B train for a more direct trip home.

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Adventures in shopping

Posted on September 1, 2009 by David

Although Cora looks like a really big Wal-Mart there are a few differences that we are learning about.

  • Produce needs to be weighed in the produce section not at the register
  • We still haven’t figured out what to do with the card we signed up for, but they scan it every time we go through the line
  • Still trying to figure out all the cheese – But we found one that tastes like cheddar cheese and we found string cheese for the boys. We haven’t braved some of the other flavors yet, but we will let you know.
  • Same issue with the bread as the cheese, the fresh bread gets hard really fast but taste better then the sliced bread in a bag
  • We found a yogurt that we liked but I couldn’t find it at another store, I even wrote everything that was on the label
  • The bulk items are sold in the first level of the parking garage
  • I’m learning about different types of instant coffee, I guess we will try the tea soon since there is an isle devoted to the different types of tea and we don’t have a coffee pot
  • The carts the sell for 5 Euro to haul your food is only good for one trip then the wheels break, my advice is to get the more expensive cart the first time
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Walk around Massy

Posted on September 1, 2009 by David

Here are some pictures of one of our walks around the town we are living in:

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Map of the flat comples we are living in

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USS Pilliwog is at one of the local parks

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Local Park

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More at the park

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Garden Across from the school

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Boys in front of the garden

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The local Aldi

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Picture of Les Cedres

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Another Pic of Les Cedres

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Front door of our Flat

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Back of the flat

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House at the end of the street that DeAnna likes

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Walking down the street to school

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silly brothers

Posted in France, home | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Internet

Posted on September 1, 2009 by David

We’ve managed to get signed up to have internet in our flat, French Telecom will come and turn it on in 10 days. So until then we will have limited access to the internet at the school. There is a lady that works at French Telecom 3 days a week that speaks English so we were able to communicate what we needed, it’s kind of difficult to sign up for internet when you can barely tell someone your address. I’ve also learned that numbers are hand written different in France then the way they are typed. For example a 1 looks like an upside down V and a 9 looks like a lower case g that does not go below the line. We are still waiting to get a cell phone, you can’t sign up fro a cell phone until you have a French debit card and ours should arrive within a few days.

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