I don't have a ton to say, but I haven't posted for a week....
Most of my life these days revolves around studying mass media, marketing, the continuing decrease in daily newspaper purchases, the rise of free newspapers and the implications of the fact that they're 100% paid for by ads and therefore potentially influenced by the advertisers, the nightly news, the end of ads during prime time for France Télévision...
And tutoring English. I was supposed to tutor a student in Prépa this afternoon, but he called and canceled around noon. My dilemma is whether to continue tutoring him or not. The pros: I get paid a lot. The cons: he's only available on Sundays and alternates with a math tutor, so I only see him every other week. Then he cancels at the last minute, so I'm never really sure if I'll tutor him or not (and so whether I can plan things Sunday or not). As B says, "il a posé un lapin".
I celebrated my birthday Saturday night with 6 friends and our raclette machine. I got everyone to sing a bit on SingStar and later we tested our movie trivia knowledge with Scene It! I made an Angel Food cake as something light and American for dessert. Sadly, it was my last mix from the States, so the next time I want to make on, I'll have to separate 10 eggs and beat the whites myself. It's the first time since I was studying abroad with other Americans that I've organized something with friends and had a party for my birthday. I felt a bit out of practice hosting a party for my own friends as well. I've moved around so much, or lived in places without any young people that I'm rusty on welcoming people to our place.
Other than that, I feel like I've reached a plateau with my French, or even regressed, and I notice mistakes I make. I've felt tongue tied a couple times in class when trying to ask questions. B is probably right when he says it doesn't help that I don't read any papers/magazines in French or watch much French tv. Last year I felt like I was losing my English (less articulate, unaware of what was going on in the States) so I decided to read a lot more in English, download NBC nightly news, and subscribe to The Economist. But now I'm really out of touch with the country I live in and I've tipped the balance towards English instead of French. I bought L'Express (it has a special Toulouse section this week) and so many articles are about people or issues I just don't know. On one hand, I wish I could express myself better and knew more of the references and was up on French news. On the other hand, I feel like I've lost my curiosity for all things French. When I was first learning French I only wanted to listen to French pop artists. Now Garou and Eve Angeli are marketing ploys used by the recording companies. When I was studying in Montpellier I bought Nouvel Obs and struggled through the articles. Now I read The Economist. I used to think of learning French as a process that would help me unlock the secrets of another culture, another country. Now it's just a way to communicate with people when they don't speak English. There are no secrets to be learned, just frustrating grammar rules and vocabulary I don't know.
So that's where I am..... and still waiting to find out about a couple internships I applied to.
3 comments:
I think any unreliable students just aren't worth the money because they waste something even more valuable- your time. Plus they will probably quit in the end anyway, the unrealiables are never really committed and just fade away.
Maybe you could ask him to pay you for the month's lessons upfront- I'm sure he will think twice before canceling at the last minute.
Would if I could... but I tutor through a company and the families give me a coupon with a bar code once I've finished the lesson and I use that on the company's website to get paid. One of the downsides to working through a company, of course, though I do "cotise" for my retirement.
don't stress about the language. You've probably reached what is known lingusitically as a "plateau" or "stagnation" where you can say whatever you really need to in French but there's little incentive to reach the really good level. You'll get past it but you need to make the extra effort (i never have). As for the culture, perhaps you don't talk to enough french people? I have an English boyfriend so we've created our own little bubble of English here at home, its not good....I need to actively seek out french and make the effort to listen to french music, watch french films, read french books..its hard if you're at work all day
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