If you like talking, like I like talking.

The day began well. Coffee, get dressed, coffee, walk to café, coffee.

Equally important to the successful implementation of my regular coffee ritual was the staggering progress in my comprehension of French. Just so we are clear I don’t actually know French. I borrowed a CD from the library before I left and I have a phrase book with me. But today, was the day, where I started to hear French. Up until this moment, French people were basically mimes with sound effects. I could not distinguish official French language, from the ‘French’ that Leticia and I used to speak when we were 9 and dreamed of being teachers living in foreign countries. Our accents were exceptional but the sounds were made weren’t associated with any words in a dictionary. Strangely, we both went on to live these lives, she however, grew up and learned several languages whilst I remained, until this moment, undeveloped with my 9 yr old faux-french.

So, today’s revelation that I could glean the gist of what someone was saying not only from their actions but also from identifying WORDS amongst the noise, was tres formidable! I understood the waitress asking me if I wanted water or orange juice, I understood the caterer asking if Geraldine was around and the electrician asking something to do with the lighting for the booth, and the waiter at dinner saying he couldn’t remember the wine we drank but he could look it up. And I was able to reply not just with a blank stare but with words. Well note multiple words, but a word. ‘Non’.

Unfortunately my phrase of the day “Je sui une artists ephemer, je trvailler avec poussier. Je sui avec dix Chancery Lane gallery le art Paris” was not required, which was disappointing cause yesterday all I got asked is what are you doing or who are you. Given that I now have a few sentences, I try to inflict them on anyone I can, not really because I’m communicating significant information, but just to say the words aloud. For instance, I bumped into a friend of my flat mates on the metro and told him “ Sur soir je diner avec mon amie”, he didn’t really need to know cause I had already told him this the night before. I also told the crepe stand man, that it smelt delicious and I was starving. I even find myself practising my phrases aloud whilst walking down the street, I might look crazy, but hey, I’m speaking French in France. So, I have learnt something about myself – I prefer to make irrelevant small talk with barbarically bad grammar then say nothing at all.

Perhaps this is not a revelation to you!

(PS - if you like talking like I like talking you can now add comments to this blog, by clicking on 'comments' under each entry).

More about the work later