back to school

I had my first French class yesterday. I was told it started at ten, so I walked down the street in the snow to the AATM, where the classes are held. It's only a few blocks away, which is incredibly convenient. Apparently there was some confusion about when the class started, and the secretary kindly called all three teachers to find out the schedule. It starts at 2pm on Tuesdays, so she asked if I could come back. Of course it wasn't a problem, so I slipped and slid my way back home.

By the time I left again for class, all signs of snow were gone. It doesn't last too long in these parts (and of course by the time I got home and got my camera, there wasn't much to take pictures of). There were eight students including me, and our teacher, Mme M. I got really lucky here; Mme M is french and extremely patient. Everything is conducted in French, and she speaks slowly and gently but firmly corrects pronunciation.

Most of the students are Asian, though there is one Polish young woman and one American, who I didn't get the chance to talk to after class, but I hope to in the future. Most of the class was spent in reading out loud. We read the fable of the fox and the goose stork (*sigh*) and also another little story about someone writing letters about France to his sister back home. We go around the table and take turns reading sentences. It's challenging because I'm coming across words I've never seen before and guessing at the pronunciations.

I'm not sure exactly when this class started, but I'm a little behind and I have some homework to do before the next class tomorrow. It's mostly catching up on the story so far and some worksheets.

I'm glad I found this class when I did. Although I had a very little bit of French when I arrived six months ago, I don't think I would have been ready for this class then. I've had just enough time to let some vocabulary and grammar sink in, and now I'm ready to get to the meat of it.