Thursday, March 12, 2009

When in France - via New York


Had French class tonight. I was way less confused than I was last week, but the batard gave us a pop quiz! What is this, high school? I am here to learn cool stuff, not be ganged up on. Of course I am only defensive because most of it was on the articles: le, la, les, du, de la, un, une, des etc. And I SUCK at the articles. Frankly, I don't care what is masculine and what is feminine. And that is why I am home alone wearing a Snuggie. (une Snuggie?)

I clearly am not giving enough importance to what nouns are penile and what are vaginal, and though I was fascinated by the partitive when we covered it, I am so past that now. I just want to sound cool and get ooh la las from native speakers.

Articles, schmarticles.

I have to admit that my thought is: "if I say un poire instead of une poire those cool French people with the cool friends and dinner parties that I will be at will be so into my witty banter in French about a pear and will not give two figs that I screwed up the gender of the article!"

This is the belief that will keep me from advancing beyond "the pencil is yellow" for the rest of my jours.

I truly want to get good at this language. I really, really do. I podcast stuff, I read Le Monde on-line. I talk to French people on the bus. I am into it. But those pesky articles and verb conjugations.

They will just hold you back from skiing in Charmonix and having coffee around Les Halles.

Why can't they just drop this nonsense so I can speak the language?

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