What is Class Like?

For those of you who are curious how we spend our school days, here's a quick synopsis:

For Eric:

Eric has spent the past several weeks learning the basics of the French language... structure, the sounds of the language/pronunciation, common/useful verbs and how to use them, basic vocabulary, numbers, days of the week/month, which words are masculine and which are feminine- just to name a few things. Anne-Marie will teach in English until after the school break at the end of October (1 1/2 week break) and then she will switch over to teaching in French. It's crazy to think of learning a language you don't know in a language you don't know. But, it works, however painful it is.

For Amanda:

Since I've had a few years of French (2 years in high school, 3 semesters in college) and understand some basics of structure, vocabulary, etc., I started out in the intermediate class, where my teacher spoke French from day one. Many days it gives me a headache, but I can certainly see how helpful it is. We usually cover the same things that Eric's class covers, but more in depth and we're required to converse in French. Some days we have discussions on various topics, debate, or make up skits using the concepts we're studying. We do all this, but at a very basic level...I'm sure we sound like 5 year olds. My classmates are all good sports, so that makes class not quite as painful as it could be (we laugh a lot- at each other and at ourselves).

Other Stuff

There are a few other things that we do collectively as a school. Monday, Thursday, and Friday we have chapel. Sometimes the teachers share and sometimes students in the advanced classes share (next year we'll be required to do that!). Fridays we have a music-only worship service where we sing French hymns and praise & worship songs (some are familiar & translated into French, others are new to us).

Also, we have chorus on Tuesday afternoons. This is quite a difficult task, especially for those who have no idea how to read music. Supposedly, it will help with pronunciation. Also, we're told it's good to learn French hymns because they're used throughout the francophone world (French-speaking countries).

Outside of that, I (Amanda) have a language helper I meet with on Wednesday afternoons. Her name is Helen and she was the cook here at the school for 20 years and is now retired. It's a bit of a nerve-wracking experience to try to use what I know, but she is a very gracious lady and, like many others here at the school, she sees it as a ministry and as part of building God's kingdom.

Hope that paints a picture for you of life here. We welcome questions!

Take a Hike

I am 30. There is no question about it. Now I know 30 is not old, but that is not my point. My point is 30 is not 21 or 25. 30 is just 30. This past Sunday I, and all 30 of my years, went with a group from the language school for a hike in the French Alps. I spent an hour and a half trying to keep up with a 15 year old guy and an 11 year old girl, who were both shooting up the mountain like it was a mole hill. Despite the pain I felt in my legs (and the shot to my pride), the hike was amazing. The view from the top was something only a Master Designer could have created.

A Medieval Date

For our first date night in France I went all out. Like a good night is shining armor, I swept my lovely bride off of her feet, took her back for a tour of my castle and then treated her to some fine French cuisine. Okay, so that is not exactly how our first date night went in France. Here’s the real story…

I didn’t really sweep Amanda off her feet because we had to walk everywhere we went (we missed the bus). I did take her to tour Conflans, a medieval town in Albertville, but you could not get inside the castle. However, the view from outside was fabulous. Dinner was French cuisine, but not overly-fancy. We went to a creperie in downtown Albertville and enjoyed good conversation and some good laughs as we tried to order in French.

Hannah and the biker gang

Well, I thought France was a good place to learn French, but apparently it is also a good place to learn how to ride a bike. Three kids Hannah’s age have all broken free from the bondage of training wheels and are now flying around the school parking lot on nothing but two wheels. Why am I telling you this? Because Hannah is one of them. That’s right! Our darling little girl has taken to the road. She is getting quite good at riding around the parking lot here at the school. Before long, the trip to school will be much more exciting, but we’re working our way up to that.

Malachi is not quite ready for the bike thing yet, but he has taken to running all over the place when he is outside. He tries to get the attention of anyone who will listen and says, “Watch me run fast!” He then takes off around the parking lot. We thought a jump to France might mean a jump out of diapers for Malachi, but even with a fine 3 euro French potty, he is not interested. Other than that, he is picking up a little French (it’s cute to hear him say “bonjour” and “au revoir”). They have certain phrases they purposely use as often as they can in the nursery to help the kids learn and adjust (he is only spoken to in French!). All in all he is doing well and just as cute as ever.

Tower of Babel Experience

So what was it like? What was that moment like at The Tower of Babel when all of a sudden people spoke completely different languages? Until this past week I have not given that moment in history much thought. But now that I have found myself in several different situations were being able to speak the language people around me speak would be really helpful, it has given me a better feel for just how overwhelming that moment must have been.

Earlier today I went to a local sports store to get an attachment for my bike. After riding through the rain and spending a good bight of time trying to make sure I was getting the right part, I entered the checkout line. When I got up to the front the dialogue went something like this:

Cashier: Bonjour. Ca va?
Me: Ca va?

Cashier starts ringing up my stuff. I after putting all of my stuff onto the counter. I walk to the end of the counter where you pay. To get there you have to walk through security censers- security censers that started going off as soon as I walked through them. The lady looked at me with suspicion and I really can't blame her. After all, I was wearing a big raincoat with lots of pockets and I also had my backpack on. I opened my backpack to show her there was nothing inside and then set it on the counter. I walked through the detectors again, and again they go off. I emptied my pocket, took off my jacket, and even my hat. Each time I took something off I walked through the detectors and each time they went off. All during this time there was a dialogue of some sort going on that went something like this:

Cashier: Monsieur .... blah blah blah blah blah blah... Monsieur blah blah blah...
What I said (from the cashier's perspective): Pardon, Madame... blah blah blah blah blah...

This was one of those time speaking the same language would have been really helpful. Eventually she gave up. I payed and left the store.

Now, if simply buying a part of a bike can be so confusing when you don't speak the same language, I can only imagine how impossible it would be to work on a building project without a common language.

Well, all of that to say we finished our first week of classes, and we can say two things for sure. One, we are blessed. This school has been teaching people French for longer than we have been alive. They see their work as a service to the Lord by helping make sure missionaries that head to the francaphone parts of the world can communitcate the message of the gospel effectively.

This is not just the mindset of the administration, but also of the teachers and that shows in the classroom. Second, language learing is going to take more strength than we have to give, but not more not more grace than God will supply. This process, as everyone has told us, and as we are now witnessing first hand, is going to be very trying. However, no matter how trying it may be God is able and worthy.

First Day of School

At 8:20 this morning we set our for a walk to St. Sigismond, the primary school in our area where Hannah will begin school in "la grande section," the class for 5 year old students.

The school is colorful, clean, and looks like a lot of fun. Although Hannah will have some days ahead of her that will be a stretch for a little girl who has always done so well in communication, I don't doubt that she'll adjust and eventually thrive. Her teacher does speak some English and there will also be another student in her class who speaks English (her parents are students at CEF with us), so that is a comfort to us during this transition stage.

A couple of nice things about school here are that she will only go on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and that she will come home from 11:30 to 1:30 on school days. So, hopefully that will aid in a smoother transition into being immersed in French.

Adventure: The Bus & Shopping

We felt quite brave yesterday, maybe more than we should have. Maybe it's the jet lag. Who knows. The apartment feels pretty settled, as much as can be expected at this point and we were ready to venture out for a few things (fans, clocks, bath toys, a printer) to help make life here a little more comfortable.

Since we don't have a car, on foot and by bus are our two options for transportation. We've made several trips out on foot- to the grocery store, the park, exploring Albertville- but in order to get to the large shopping area with the kids, it's best by bus.

Thankfully, there's a bus stop just a short walk from our building. So, we loaded up the stroller and took our shopping bags with us for a big trip. Plastic bags are not given out at stores as they are in the U.S., so everyone here carries reusable shopping bags (like the kind that are becoming popular because of being "environmentally friendly") or small push carts. We took our rolling duffel bag, expecting to bring a load home.

After studying the bus schedule and map, we had a pretty good idea of where we were going and successfully communicated that to the bus driver, who was very kind. Having two cute kids doesn't hurt in helping people feel compassion toward us. Malachi was overjoyed to ride the bus- he asked about it as soon as he woke up from his nap yesterday and even asked again this morning if he could ride it. Big windows and not having to ride in a carseat are quite a treat for that little guy.

It was a treat to see a little bit of Albertville and orient ourselves to where things are a little more. Already, we can see that the bus will be an excellent place to practice our French, especially with two cute blond heads tagging along. Many times we had to communicate to people that we couldn't understand French when they tried to ask us about the kids.

We did make it to the Grand Geant, a smaller equivalent to Super Walmart (but much, much more expensive), and found almost everything we were looking for, including fans, a printer/scanner, clocks (there were none in our apartment- not good for school!), bathtoys, school stuff for Hannah, and a few other assorted items. The only thing I haven't been able to find so far is popping corn- I'll have to ask someone about that.

The ride home was uneventful, other than that we were packed in like sardines. The bus seats 9, with some room for bags and strollers and standing room, but I think we were close to 20 in there. The kids just sat on the steps and giggled. We were certainly tired by the time we lugged all our treasures up the steps, but very thankful for the few things we found.