French and i...

Despite being in france for nearly 3 years,
my french sucks.
It seems like french is oil
and I am water,
we are never going to mix together perfectly.
I dont think French and me love each other so much...
Its not helping that Im working full time in english environment
I felt that French is slipping away faster than before
I remembered times where i could speak more fluent french
and now it seems even harder to do so as before.

Initially the plan was me being unemployed 
and french classes to start in mid september,
however, i started work full time
and classes got started too.
Its crazy that im working OT daily,
which is uncommon in France,
if im a french, im supposed to threaten to sue my company
or go on strikes,
till they pay me the extra hours that i worked.
Sadly, Im not french
and i want to be employed more than threatening my company,
so im the perfect employee to be exploited, haha

I tried to attend class once last wed..
I didnt knew that there was different level of classes
and accidently went to the basic class
because i managed to left work early 
and wasnt half dead yet.
Despite class starts at 8pm and i end work at 7pm,
it was a good 12mins walk from the station/my home to classes
I never expected the class to be so basic,
that we were learning a,b,c and 1-10!

Anyway, the teacher realised im above this level
and looked totally dead and bored,
oh, im the only one working in the class,
and i guess working full time is rarer,
she recommended that i go for the Tue and Thu level 2 class instead.
The class ended at 945pm and i reached home at 10pm.
The next day, i felt like a zombie 
and didnt force myself to go for the level 2 class.

Class is supposed to start officially in October
and i hope ill be able to survive this...

Love-hate relationship with french classes - 5

I unofficially terminated my french classes

I cant find an easier way to explain what happen

except by a timeline:

9 dec - first day at new school with all the drama

10 dec - no school

11,12dec - MC

15 dec - Despite being sick, i went to school

i think i was sounding really bad

or feels like im trying spread my virus to others

that the teacher say i can leave class

after signing my attendance

which was done first 30mins of the class

but i stayed till 12pm

Had difficulty to catch up in class

16 dec - the day before,

teacher told me that i can stay home if im still sick

so i stayed home

17 dec - no school

Received a text from classmate N

there will be a level A2 test

the next day

is normal to have a level test to make sure we understood the level

before the end of the course

considering how many days i missed,

how yucky the previous teacher was,

i know i wasnt apt for the test yet.

18 dec - I was sure i will need to retake this level in 2015

and that im going to miss 3 last days of the class

because of christmas holidays

which means i wont complete enough hours to get the certificate of completion

i decided to stop attending the class

So, unofficially, i stopped attending my class.

And im glad i did it

at least i appreciate the time to recover,

to prepare for christmas

and enjoy the last bit of holiday

before work restarts in January.

Just to follow up on my class buddy's story.

After her 1 week holiday (which the previous teacher approved),

she tried to contact the teacher but she didnt reply.

When the teacher finally replied by text,

how professional huh,

she told class buddy that there is no more vacancy in the new school,

she will need to retake the level A1 in January 

and to pay on her own 

since gov funding is only for 2014.

Eh, in the first place

at the beginning of the course,

class buddy told them that she cant attend the course

because she has a 1 week holiday

but the school was desparate for money

that they told her is fine to go for holiday

as long as she attend the rest of the course

now they simply kicked her out,

because she went for holiday???

All of the sudden, it became her fault

I missed class 2 days for my trip to bordeaux too

but lucky for me,

that happened in the old school

where the previous teacher dont mind

I am speechless.

Anyway, i guess since we are going to be paying customers

we will definitely not choose this school 

to repeat the course.

I guess I really appreciated my first course

that helped me to improve my french

but for this second course,

I am glad that it is over...

 

Love-hate relationship with french classes - 4

Luckily or unluckily
i fell sick and need to see a doctor
and ended up with 2 days MC
So, i didnt went for class.

First, i receive a text from classmate N (lucky 4)
that she was alone, 
none of us came
so i told her i will be back on Monday

then, i receive a text from classmate T (unlucky 2)
that her name is not in the class
so she is leaving and to find out what to do

after, i received 2 calls from the school
asking why im not in
and i explained that i have 2 days MC
both calls reminded me to return to the new teacher class
on monday
i guess that means i definitely can continue my class
in the new class and teacher
and shall see how it is

im worried for my class buddy
because she is away for vacation this week
and will only be back on Monday
I am unsure what her arrangement will be
because unlike our teacher 
who claims this class is not required
and we can go for vacation
the new school is super strict
like checking whether i really have a MC

I really felt that we are abused
no explanation
last minute changes
although the classes are free
i guess the governement pay the school
and i think we deserve better
not sure how its going to work
since i wont be able to attend class after 23 december
i wont be in paris for the week
husband and i think that we may need to write a formal email
to complain and request that i can continue in January
frankly, after all these dramas,
im not sure whether i want to continue the class here
oh well,
i hope all will be fine on Monday....

love-hate relationship with french classes - 3

Since my friends were here from Singapore
I tried not to be bothered by the drama
and just wait for the call / text
but till 7pm,
i received nothing
whats new right?
i texted our teacher for the location and hours for thursday
and now she insist that nothing is changed
im to go for class with the new teacher
WTF??!!

The crazy thing is i received a voice message 
from our replacement teacher 
that i can join her class in the afternoon
and she will text me the address
which she did not.

But its totally crazy to expect me go to point A to have class at 9am
and at 1pm to go to point B to have class
so i text our teacher what am i supposed to do
then she claimed that she couldnt contact our replacement teacher 
so i just go back to the new teacher
so much for being responsible and organised huh!

Next my classmates started texting me
because they didnt receive any calls or texts
so i just told them that our teacher asked us returned to new place
nothing is resolved again
and we are back to square 1
No idea when our class will end
and not sure how long we are to stay in this class..

And i shall see what happen the next day...

love-hate relationship with french classes - 2

Husband thought its wonderful i get more hours
but anyway,
i woke up super early on Tuesday
and was happy to see my classmates
because we have no idea which class we will be in
Initially, we waited outside the class of our level
and i realised there were 7 of us!
Must be the effect of changing teacher
haha

After 10 mins,
we were informed that the class is full
it is impossible for all of us to attend the class.
I guess our teacher didnt check it before sending us here
and we returned to the waiting area
where i think our presence totally freak out the receptionist
and this wait became a wait of 3 hours!

Our teacher was uncontactable
she claimed she is in class and will call
finally she called and explained the situation
to the receptionist
but it was not helpful
because the class is full!
Ended up it felt more like a class gathering
than a class

At 11am,
some of us were thinking to leave
and our teacher finally text us to wait for her till 1130am
finally, a ray of hope!
I guess we didnt mind whether there will be class for the day
but we just want an explanation
then till 1145am, there was no sign of her

at 12pm, she texted again to say wait till 1230pm.
I dont know whether is because im sick
But i was really pissed off
At 12.15pm,
the receptionist informed that we are to split up into 2 classes
for me, i was among the lucky 4 to be in the same class
for 2 of my classmates, 
they are to attend moning class with group A and teacher A
and attend afternoon class with group B and teacher B
which i feel is totally unfair and bad for learning!

As the receptionist rushed us to join the class
since it will be lunch time soon
I called our teacher, and guess what?
She said she wont be coming and she want us to go to the class now!
WTF?!
It means from 11 - 1230,
she was never on the way??
We will simply waiting for someone to come up with a solution?!
Despite my explanation that is unfair for the 2 and the split up issue,
she simply tell me that she will call us to explain.
I WANT A FACE TO FACE EXPLANATION
NOT BULLSHIT AGAIN!!!
Which till today, i didnt have it...

By the time, we went to class,
it was lunch time so we need to wait till 130pm.
And the 2 classmates left because they want to call our teacher
and clarify what is happening.
I was a little worried about the class
becaue im unsure whether we are of the same level
especially when my classmate spoke to the teacher
before the class,
and the teacher insisted that she should be in class A1
and not A2 because her french is not good enough

Lucky, all was well in the class
except my terrible headache
which i think was worsen by the morning drama
apparently the class started a week after us,
so we are about the same level
but then the news came,
the class is to end on 31 december!
which means it is going to screw up my christmas holidays
because initially my class was to end 23 december..
WTF

But the class was nice 
and after we did the usual self introduction
the lessons started
and i think this teacher is better than our teacher
in terms of her ability to explain and engage
so, it seems great that i can finally stay in the class...

i have no choice but to text our teacher
to ask when is our end date
now, she claim she will be checking with our usual replacement teacher
to take us in from Thursday onwards
and we can end the class by 23 december, 
so all we need to do is wait for her call on Wednesday

And as usual, shit continues...

My first french exam - part 2

After a short drink
We returned to the exam halls
We will put in waiting rooms randomly
There are 7 examiners
Who went to the rooms and search for candiates
I guess they can reduce search time
If they have made us sat in certain order
Oh well

My appointment was 1130am
And i was called at 1140am
All was done by 1150am
It was really fast!
Unlike trial tests,
The examiner dont ask much,
Dont ask you to stop,
Or give any response
So you are to babble on
Till you say you are done for the question

I dont know is it im nervous
Or the question is hard
My grammar was all over the place
And i was struggling to continue to speak
I was really glad that it was over...

Since i need a total of 50/100 
I guess i should have no problem passing it
Even if i did badly for my oral
Oh well, shall see the results in january
By the way, in age of internet and rapid post,
We need to go down to collect our results..
Sigh

Anyway is holiday!
currently enjoying our short weekend
At bordeaux
Visiting grandparents
And stuffing ourselves with awesome food!

My first french exam - written

Finally the time came
For my first french exam
Well, the only compulsory one
For my visa.
I was feeling quite confidence
After scoring 93/100 on my trial test 
And now in class A2
Which is 2 level above the exam
But i knew that oral will be tough
Because i will be super stress.
Anyway husband helped me
To practice the oral questions
And i did 2 more trial tests at home
Thats all for revision!

For most of my classmates 
9am written exam at place A
4pm oral exam at place B
Lucky for me and class buddy,
We are having both exams at same place 
And before noon for oral
Means can get it over in 2hours!

As usual,
french admin never fail to surprise me
We were reminded to arrive early
So we arrived at 840am
We were asked to go to the respective rooms
Indicated on our letters
The room opened at 905am
We were asked to find our seats

The tables and chairs were placed so close
That i only have the width of the chair
Between 2 table
Basically the table is pressing on my tummy
And not because i have a big tummy
Oh and my row of lights were not working

After the examiner mark the attendance
One by one
And we waited till 9.30am 
for latecomers
Finally, the exam starts at 935am

I guess there are some students
Who are really not ready for the exam
Be it unable to understand the instructions,
Or not listening well,
For whatever reasons,
Is sad that the examiner was so impatient
Or maybe just being french
Opps

But she is like saying 
- you understand nothing, why you are here?
- i repeated 5times, all of you cant understand french?
Added by her impatient tone and look
I think she increased the anxiety
Of the students

But i guess she really want everyone to pass the exam
Because she is constantly repeating
The instructions
The questions
Sometimes even the answers
But to the last moment
When the next question was starting
So i found it so distracting

Anyway i found the questions
A little more difficult
Than the trial test
But im sure that i attained the 50/100
To pass even before the oral
The exam ended at 10.40am
So class buddy and i went for tea
While we wait for our oral exam...

School and Work

So officially on Monday,
I completed my required hours for my french class
Before i can enjoy my holiday
i received a call on Wednesday from my previous teacher
and she informed that we can continue for level A2
for 150hours for free!
and i was to attend the orientation on thursday

So after the orientation, the following was mentioned:
basically, all the foreigners are to attend free french classes
sponsored by the government (immigration dept)
after we attend the required hours, 
we are to pass the required exam
thereafter, if we want we can continue for higher level of classes
however, the gov only fund for a physical year
for me, it means only for 2014
anything after, i will need to pay on my own
so initally, im quite sure that i will be paying for future classes
since i will only sign up for classes after i receive my results
and after our trip back to SG

but apparently, the school was so keen to help us
which i think is more an attempt to take money from gov
the school requested for gov to fund us 
to continue the higher level of class
to the end of december 
I am definitely keen to continue the classes
but there are 2 concerns

first, the level A2 is much more difficult than what i attended
the teacher emphasized like 24541234654321 times
and we will be having the same teacher
ehh.. the one who never seems interested in teaching
and i never really learnt much since she took over
despite my classmates' complaints
it seems we have no choice

secondly, the class will require 4 full days per week
in order to complete 150hours by end of december
or rather before christmas
this reinforce my idea that the school just wants money
because they insisted that level a2 is really difficult
and after some calculation, 
i realise it is impossible to complete 150 hours before christmas
The classes will be 9am to 3pm
on Monday, tuesday, thursday and friday
since i will be working on tues and thurs
i can leave the class at 2.30pm.

However, i am really concerned my ability to work 
after a long day in school
well, the youngest girl under my care
still treats me like i killed her father
and im still getting super stressed up at the thought of seeing her
yes, im trumatised by a 3 year old girl
during my previous class,
i end class at 1pm and get to rest a little before my work
and i was still exhausted
so, how is it possible for me to attend a longer and more difficult class
and go straight to work?

I guess there are 2 choices
i quit my job or the class
and definitely the class is more important than my job
i admit im really happy if i can quit my job
and this seems like a good excuse
opps

so last evening, i told their mum
that i may not be able to work 
from monday to end of december
and to my surprise,
she offered to give me a month off from work till Jan!
She is such a nice boss 
when im just trying to quit my job...

i told her that it is unfair for her to be without a babysitter 
for a month
and i understand if she needs to hire a new babysitter 
to replace me
but she assure me that it may be alright
that she will speak to her husband
and confirm with me on monday

although, it seems i didnt get the chance to quit my job
and i will be stuck with the girls
im still looking forward to being just a student 
till the end of the year...

31 and counting...

Is my first birthday in france!
but with the cold autumn
and to save money for our upcoming trips
i didnt want a big celebrations
or expensive gifts
okay..maybe im just becoming old..
haha

anyway since my birthday was on a Saturday
is kinda hard for the husband 
because of there is no excuse to not go out!
husband's ide of a good celebration
must include a trip to the restaurant
and im thankful that my in-laws bought me a groupon voucher
that we can go for a good meal
without burning our pockets!

So on Friday,
i went to class and thereafter, 
went shopping with my classmate
birthday is always a good reason for shopping!
haha

Thereafter, i met husband to go dinner at the restaurant 
We have a beer at the nearby pub
and were shocked when we arrived the restaurant
well, when it is totally empty on a friday night
we should know the food will be bleahhh...

I dont really know what kind of cuisine it was
husband mentioned that it some sort of french island cuisine
well, it tasted more like aeroplane meals
and microwave food
we had different plats to share
but strangly, everything tasted like they were cook in the same sauce!
And it was the fastest meal we ever had in a restaurant!
I was shocked that if we didnt had the voucher
the meal would easily costed us 100euros

After the restaurant,

we met husband's friends for a quick drink

and went home early

another sign that we are getting old...

The next morning,

we literally took our own sweet time

for breakfast and receiving my birthday gifts!

Husband got me a tablet and a french book..

The tablet is of a lower range 

but i think it will be great for our upcoming trips

the book was part of my new year resolution

to be able to read a french book by end of the year

flipping through, i think it is still a little difficult for me

its recommended for 9 years old

and i think i only have 6 years old level of french

Finally, it was the highlight of the day

We went to visit les puces

which is a big flea market in Paris

i think it is quite famous because Aven wanted to go

when he was here

basically it was similar to bugis street

with plenty of clothes, shoes etc stalls

but we were more interested in the antiques areas

where old furnitures, posters, pots etcs were sold

praying that we may accidently buy something for 5 euro

and turns out that it is worth 2millions euro

but it didnt happen...

however, there were plenty of interesting shops and things..

Before we left,

we found a cute jewellery shop

making personalised jewellery for 5euro

so ended up i have a new bracelet from husband!

although i dont really think my name was obvious

haha

oh by the way,

im really bad at reading cursive writing

that the only time i wrote cursive

it was in primary school for some english classes

and i realised that almost all french writes in cursive!

even in their comics!!!

and the girls that i am babysitting

and writing in cursive...

apart from trying to understand french,

i have to decode the writing..

AHHHHH

For dinner,

husband was nice enough to cook korean food

despite his lack of love with it

we had a nice kimchi soup and beef bulgogi

which i forgot to take photos

hehe

and that sums up my birthday!

i admit that i was feeling a little blue being 31

it seems i havent achieve much in my current life

no house, no car, no huge savings

no career, no kids...

but i guess i should be thankful that

i have a wonderful husband

i have the time to learn a new language

and to live in a new country

I guess next birthday will be better?

So, how is my french?

I lost count of the times, 
im being asked "How is your french?"
by husband's friends and family
and people from Singapore
Definitely the french asked more often..haha
and my constant answer is "Un peu"
which means a little.
I definitely improved compared to 6 months ago
but i still repeat the same answer
because im afraid of great expectations
well, low expectations from others is always good
haha

Just to summarise my current level of french,
i can do the following:

- the usual helo, bye, thank you
which i guess any tourist can do so

- vulgarities
the most initial and important part of french
that i learnt since i arrived
hahaha

- introduce myself 
name, address, personal info...
answer questions on a typical form

- Make sentences of 10 words
only in the present and near-future form
but not in the past and future form

- count to 100 
as if french prononciation is not difficult,
the french count differently!
eg 70 is said as 60+10
95 is said as 80+15
apart from knowing french, you need mental sums

- daily life stuff
Okay, i still need to improve on this
but for the basics,
eg ordering food, supermarket
it is much better than before
I do recall the times that i would wear my earphones
at the supermarket's cashier
so that i can ignore what the cashier says
opps

- simple conversations with husband
im happy that we can at least converse in french
for 30 minutes or more 
as compared to before, 
1 of us will give up to speak in french after 5 mins
well, most of the time that was me..
the problem is, husband insisted that my french is good
that i can converse well
but i often stressed up when i want to speak to others
i guess its always easier to speak to someone close
because i need not fear to look stupid
it is still very difficult for me to converse in french
with husband's friends and in-laws
especally when i need to translate english thoughts into french
before i can speak
and during the moment of processing
i get stressed out...

- writing/ reading in french
Since i can form sentences, i can write and read
To force me to write, i tried to text in french
and my phone is switched to french
the problem is,
i think im losing my english
i lost count of the times 
i rewrite a word because i wrote it in french
when whatsapping with my friends and family
I guess husband's english may be affected in long term
if we begin to speak more french than english
haha

The main problem is still understanding/ listening to french
i tend to need time to listen and translate in my head
and often the conversation is too fast for me to do so
nowadays i can briefly understand what people are speaking
but with the speed, different accents
 and "shortcuts" (a little like singlish, where grammar is ignored at times)
it is still difficult for me
but i guess i see a little more light at the end of the tunnel..

I will like to take the official exam
for my level of french.
However, i can only do so after i receive the results 
of the first offical exam
since my exam is in december,
i guess i will probably receive my result only in 2015

After, i will probably check the procedures to take the next exam
i guess i may need to attend class again
before i can take the exam (thats how schools earn money)
even though i completed the required level
Although im not required to take another exam,
unless i want to become a french citiwen where i need at least level B2
but i think it will be good for me to be certified in higher level
for future job opportunities.
at least, i suceeded in completing 1 new year resolution...