After my first full week of classes both with the Sweetbriar program and at the Sorbonne, I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of life in Paris. I'm not saying I don't make linguistic blunders (stay tuned for the latest) and I'm no longer immediately recognized as an American by locals, but I know how everything works and I'm confidant that I can make myself understood in most situations. This week was full of some really fun little stories that I think everyone will get a kick out of; they involve a hilarious grammatical error, an amazing literary experience, and a grammar lesson that changed my life.
So to start, I'm going to lay out how my classes at the Universities here work. My classes can be divided into two categories: classes taken with the other American students in my program, and the classes I'm taking at the Université de Paris IV (aka the Sorbonne). I'm taking one literature class and one history class from Paris IV-- 19th century French literature and 18th century French history-- and two courses from the Sweetbriar program. The Sweetbriar courses are taught in French by native French speakers, but all the students are American college students from my study abroad program. I'm taking a writing workshop which is pretty much a course in composition and grammar, and an Art History course with weekly nighttime visits to the Louvre. The Sweetbriar classes meet twice a week; the writing class on Tues/Thurs and the Art History on Wednesdays (an hour and a half lecture in the afternoon, then an hour and a half visit to the Louvre in the evening). My classes at Paris IV are a little different; once a week, there is a 1-hour lecture with everybody in the class (around 100), then on a different day there are smaller discussion classes that last longer. All of my classes meet twice a week at the most.
I love my writing workshop. I love the professor and the way it's taught and most of the people in it. Most of the time during class we do pretty much the same thing. Madame will start out by picking one of us at random and asking us to use a concept we learned the previous lesson. She'll do this several times during the lesson, asking everyone to speak at least once. Generally at some point in the lesson, she'll give us a sentence in English and then ask us to translate it into French. For example, she'll say, "As a woman, I think that the law is very unfair." The correct translation is "En tant que femme, je pense que la loi est très injuste." Most of us in the class don't know the French phrase "En tant que", so she takes 5 or 10 minutes to explain it to us (all in French, of course).
So this past Thursday, we were discussing indirect pronouns. I will preface this by saying I HATE indirect pronouns. I have always had a really hard time understanding them, and they are one of those things professors put on exams and placement tests just to trap you, because they are so confusing. In my opinion, the correct usage of indirect pronouns is what separates the good French speaker from the great one. For those of you who might not be familiar with this particular grammatical point, here's some quick info. A direct pronoun is a word that replaces a subject (he, she, it, they, etc.) so an indirect pronoun is a word that replaces the indirect or direct object (her, him, it, them, etc.). Example: I told her to leave. "I" is the subject, "her" is the direct object (and uses the indirect pronoun "her"). In French, the pronouns are a little different. There are two different types of indirect pronouns, depending on the verb used. Before this life-altering lesson, I mostly just fudged which pronoun to use. But now, after studying French for 5 years, I have discovered the secret! My professor gave me a little formula to plug the verb into; If it "splashes" (that is, works in the formula), then it is an indirect verb and you use the pronoun "lui" or "leur". If it "crashes" (that is, does not work in the formula), then it is a direct verb and you use "le" "la" or "les". Yes, there are exceptions that have to be memorized, but not a huge number of them. So that is how a grammar lesson changed my life. Also, French students who are reading this, if you would like to know the secret behind relative pronouns, shoot me an email. I'm happy to share my discovery!
Sorry for that little grammatical detour there, but it was necessary for you all to understand just how life-altering this class was. Seriously.
If you know me at all, then you probably know that I am one of the biggest Harry Potter freaks out there. Like, seriously; give me a random quote and I can give you book, chapter, character, and possibly page number. No, this is not a problem and I don't need a 12-step program, do not even think about going there. It's been about 5 years since the last Harry Potter book came out, but my freak flag is still flying high, and I'm proud of it! This week, J.K. Rowling (that's Rowling as in rhymes with bowling, guys) released her first post-Potter book, called A Casual Vacancy. It's an adult novel that's about local politics in a small English town. It sounds light and fluffy, but I can assure you that it is not. It delves into some pretty deep stuff as only J.K. can. To be sure this is abundantly clear, this is an ADULT book. Do not give this book to anybody under 18, no matter how much they liked Harry Potter. If you've been paying attention to the reviews, they have been all over the place. I loved it. And not just because it's by J.K.; I think part of the reason I loved it is because it is the kind of book that I read now. When I was a kid and a teenager I read Harry Potter because that's what I loved and what drew me in. Fantasy is what spoke to me. Now I'm twenty. I'm not saying I'm all grown up now and have nothing left to learn; I'm saying there's a big difference between fifteen and twenty. Neither am I saying that I never read the odd fantasy novel or peruse the Young Adult section, but for the most part I read books like these now. Which is why I find it so appropriate that this is Rowling's first post-Potter book.
Over the past three days, I have devoured this new book. Tried to take it slow the first two days and only read about 120 pages (which, if you know me and how I read, is taking it extremely slow). But on Friday I read the remaining 390 pages, finishing the book at around 11pm last night. A lot of people on Facebook and around here have been asking me about the book. I'm really bad at giving summaries of books as it is, and this one is much harder to summarize because there's just so much going on under the surface that is impossible to describe. So... I'm not going to give anything away, but I'm going to try to give you a general feeling about my thoughts on the book itself. It's brilliant, and completely different from Potter. There is no single protagonist or antagonist, which is one of the things that makes it so great. The story is told in third person, but with insight into each of the characters' thoughts and feelings. There are about 15 main players in the story, and the seamless changes of focus from one character to another is just amazing. For example, a scene will begin from one character's point of view, but by the end of the scene, you may have seen the innermost thoughts and feelings of five different characters without really noticing the change in focus. It's amazing. There will be a movie someday (probably soon), and that is one of the things that it will never be able to capture. I know some of you were thinking, "I just don't really have time to read another book. I'm sure they'll make it into a movie that I'll go see sometime." This is one of those situations where that just won't work. You have to read it if you want the full effect. So I know that had nothing to do with Paris or studying abroad or anything, but it was an important part of my week, and I felt the need to share it.
I have one final story that will probably bring a smile to everyone's face. One of the cheapest and most filling things you can get for lunch around here is a Kebab. That's not grilled vegetables (and/or meat) on a stick. It's a sandwich that's generally just a half-baguette with some shredded meat (generally of the pork or chicken variety), possibly with some vegetables and mayo or whatever. Most of these places do some sort of meal deal where you can get a sandwich or plate (that's the meat and vegetables without the bread), side of fries, and a drink for about 5-7 euros, depending on where you go. It's a really great deal. On Friday for lunch, I was passing by one of these places and saw that they had a meal for €5,50 and it smelled heavenly, so I decided to eat there. Most of these kebab places are very small with limited seating during lunchtime and allow you to get your meal "to-go" (this is not very common in France; even if you eat at the restaurant, you don't take food you haven't finished home; most places with a carry-out option are little stands or kiosk sort of places). So I thought I would get a sandwich and take it to the nearby park and do a little picnic with my book and my lunch. So I get up to the food counter and tell the guy what I want, then I realize I've forgotten what the French word for "take-out" is. So I improvised... "ummm I would like to go out with my sandwich, please." I used the French verb "sortir" which means to go out, as in on a date. I realize what I've said a split second after I said it. The guy at the counter looks at me funny for a second, then says, "can I get you two a bottle of wine and some candlelight, or are you fine with just the bottle of water?" Then we both crack up. Then he tells me the correct word for take-out "apporter", which I don't think I will ever forget again!
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