My blog writing has taken a turn for the worse as has my excitement level here in Nice. I really can’t think of much to indulge my eager readers with (and I know you are all so very eager :p). It’s pretty much the same ol’, same ol’…but now my nights are more often filled with movies and crossword puzzles (thanks for the book of crossword puzzles, mom. It’s doing wonders for my social life!).
Let’s see…
I went back to work the beginning of last week. The kids are still the same, although I think they mellowed out a little bit since before the break. Which was quite a welcomed change. I started this time around by teaching them about English Speaking Countries. It was pretty awesome for me because I know a lot of people here who are from Canada , Ireland , Scotland , England , and even New Zealand , and so I made some of them sit with me and compile a list of words that are different in the different countries. I will share some with you here. These are equivalents in England and America (this is how you know my blogs are going down the crapper…)
Girls = birds
Sweater = jumper
Red head = ginger
Underwear = pants
Pants = trousers
Sneakers = trainers
Bathing Suit = swimming costume
Winter hat = toque (this is Canadian)
So that lesson was brought to you by the letter H and the number 5.
I downloaded some National Anthems for them, too, from the different English Speaking Countries, and I have to say… South Africa ’s national anthem is pretty awesome. It’s got a groovy back beat to it, and it makes me soooo want to go back to visit!
I also made a worksheet for them with flags that they would have to color in. And then I made them vote on their favorite flag (choices were: UK , England , Scotland , Ireland , America , South Africa , Jamaica , India , Australia , and Canada ). Amazingly, the Canadian flag was a multiple time winner. Who would think that the maple leaf could have such an impact on little Frenchies J. However, in talking to my Canadian friend here, we realized neither of us knew the origins of the colors on our respective flags. So I promised him research, and was quite disappointed to learn that in both cases, the colors were just chosen without specific means. Just *poof* these are our colors. I don’t like it.
Furthermore, I had previously written my first French teacher when I first arrived, to see if she would be interested in doing a sort of correspondence between her students and mine. She was very receptive to the idea, and she created a club that meets at lunch, and they compiled a bunch of letters, newspapers, postcards, and pictures of themselves and sent it to me about a month ago. I took the opportunity to present their things at the last lessons, and I had them respond by writing letters of their own back. Which makes for further blog material. One moment please…
Ok…so there was a verbal battle between two letters that my students wrote. Clearly these will not be forwarded to the American kiddies…we’ll call them the Freedom Fries, but I offer you the content of said letters:
Hello!
My name is A…. or 50 Cent.
What’s your name?
I am from Lebanon .
How old are you?
I am 10 years old.
How are you?
C… est une tête du vache. (C... is a cow’s head)
J’adore le football américain et le bascket. (I love football and basketball)
Yeah, so that was just an insult that was slipped in on the sly. And here is the responding letter…
Hello!
My name is C….
I am 10 years old.
How are you?
How old are you?
A…. est ugly. (A... is ugly)
A… est laid. (A... is ugly)
A... est trop bête, ugly, laid, et est un caca et une tête de vache (meeuuhh) ! HaHaHaHa et il est un KINDER. (A... is very stupid, ugly, ugly, and is a caca and a cow’s head (moooo) ! Hahahaha and is a KINDER [I have to look this one up in the dictionary and get back to you on this one, folks.]).
And that was the letter battle of the day. It was like the “8 Mile” of the French Primary School world. Although I guess it would be like “20 Kilometers”. Woo! Is this thing on [taps mic]?!
The only other weird thing going on at work is that lots of my little French fry girls have been asking me if I am married. And act surprised when I act surprised. I guess I am already looking spinsteresque to them.
Other than work, the going out is the same…Wayne’s, Thor’s, and Ma Nolan’s still remain our places of dancing and ingesting zee alkie. You know it’s bad when you know everyone’s name at the bars. But unfortunately, there aren’t that many cool places here.
Anyway, I think that’s all I got for you for now. You got off easy this time. I, however, did not, seeing as to how I am watching some really weird murder mystery movie with that guy from that show. Yes you think about it. I can’t think of the name of the show, but it had the down syndromed son named Corky. Oh, and a quick side note…we have an Italian channel, and they have “Let’s Make A Deal!” on that channel all the time, and the Italian version is the bomb diggity. It’s not over until the contestant cries. Whether be them happy tears, sad tears, or terribly stressed tears. And the host…well, he dances. Yes. DANCES. But anyway…that’s all there is.
I miss you all very much!!
XOXO
Dina
And P.S. .. Um, bone to pick time…where are my e-mails? Ian, Megan, Lianna, Mom, and Jerry are off the hook. You, too, can be off the hook if you send me e-mails, send me a package, come visit me, or merely put money in my bank account. Think about it…
P.P.S….some promised pictures from Megan’s visit are here now…Oh no. Star Trek just started in French. I must end this so I can change the channel.
P.P.P.S…I just saw a commercial where a woman got beaten by her husband and she’s crying on the floor and her 5 year old son goes over and looks down at her and then kicks her in the ribs. “A man who beats his wife teaches his children the same thing.” The French know how to do commercials!
No comments:
Post a Comment