learning french with Eddie Izzard

ccheeecckkkk it out.

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...I would have embedded it... but the code is unavailable. :(

oh my! hello again!

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Eeek! Where has the time flown?
In the last week I have:
taken two quizzes and a final for french 101
witnessed pirates landing on Alki Beach with a very tired little boy
eaten popcorn...dreamed of cupcakes
worked on wedding invitations
visited the ferry four times
gone for a few long walks, cramming vocab along the way
gone to Lake Goodwin on a rainy day
watched Ice Age 3 in 3D
eaten fries at Red Robin
gone on a few emotional roller coasters
watched Good Will Hunting, cuddling with my philosopher
my tumblarity has gone from 98 to 2
and... well... I have learned that
I NEED TO TAKE MORE PICTURES.

Je suis très cultivée.

{from here}

I came home from class yesterday to a UPS man at the gate.
He had a nice little package from Amazon with my name on it.
I'll admit, it makes this whole test-every-other-day arrangement
much more bearable when my weekly routine is punctuated by
special packages, jamba juice, and sunny afternoons.

Also, as I've gotten into quite the foreign-language-kids-books-kick
I've been remembering the books in Spanish I read back in high school.
There are quite a few good ones cheaply available here in the US.
I think {this} might be my favorite.
But I love {this one} and {this one} and {this one} too!

Honestly, I think it is only a matter of time before the market
for kids books in foreign languages greatly expands.
After all, every one knows that
the best time to learn languages is during childhood.
Wouldn't it be great if kindergarten classrooms across the country
had story time in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, etc...?

silver lining part one

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While going to my French class is miserably brutal and enduring multiple quizzes per week is not my idea of summer fun, there are quite a few great things about learning French. Not least of which is getting to read this book, and this book, and this book in a new language! Okay, maybe I'm not quite to that last one. But I can hold my own with The Giving Tree!

Plus, of course, there is always the food. Oh the food.

ick.

{PHDComics}

A quiz on day two. Another on day five. C'est très crappy.
Still. I'm in it to win and by 2:30 I'll be free flyin' for the weekend.

bonjour

The philosopher and I have begun our summer jobs: learning (or at least passing) French. Don't kid yourself, it is brutal. I know, I know. It sounds "so fun" for anyone and everyone not a.) required to take it b.) being graded on progress or c.) royally screwing their GPA in the process. We had our first quiz yesterday (oh yeah, DAY TWO) and we'll meet Friday for another - yikes! I think the worst of it is the incredibly LONG class periods. 11:50 - 2:10 is horrific. By 12:15 I am very ready to leave. *Hopefully in the end it will all be wonderful and worth it. But as my mother used to say, the light at the end of the tunnel is the train coming towards you.

{photo by Anne Geddes}

On a different note, L & I received some *very* exciting news on Sunday - - someone very special to us is going to be a NEW FATHER in about 7 months! There is a serious baby boom going on around here - my sister just had a baby, one of the philosopher's cousins just had a baby, and now we've got news of another! In all honesty, the baby fever makes me a little bit sad because sometimes it just feels so far away from my near-future. But nonetheless I'm thrilled for the joyous expansion! Until more is known about the little person in making, I'll have to remain content showering the happy couple with gender-neutral gifts. I wish them all the best as they continue falling in love with their growing baby!