Thursday, June 19, 2008

Parlez Vous

My French is up and down. Some days, I feel that I'm on top of the basics, not fluent by a long shot, but at least able to manage daily life. And then on others, I feel like I'm moving backwards.

I was on the upswing earlier this week. My French class went well. I conjugated the required verbs correctly in half a dozen tenses. I understood the article the teacher read from the paper and even managed to offer an opinion and made myself understood.

A couple of hours later, I was walking down the street when two ladies stopped me. One spoke quickly and I stood there staring at her, my self confidence crumbling, thinking, "My god, I don't understand a word she's saying."

"Je suis désolé. Je ne comprends pas," I mumbled.

She paused for a moment and then said, "Vous n'êtes pas portugaise?"

No wonder.

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