Either a look of surprise and a comment on what an interesting and unique idea it is; or an awkward moment of silence before the other person hesitantly inquires: “So... you’ve never spoken French before this?”
Since I pitched my project to the IPP panel (which felt less like Dragon’s Den and more like a job interview) and got the official stamp of approval, I’ve been hit with the realisation that ‘hey, I actually have to do this project now’.
And I admit, lately I’ve been having the same reactions to my project as I think ahead to starting it come September.
I get flutters of excitement when I think about the positive experiences I’m going to have, the people I’ll meet, the events I’ll attend, and ultimately (hopefully) being able to have a basic conversation in French with another francophone at the end of it all.
But – because I like to worry – I also get moments when I wonder if I’ll actually be able to pull it off. Square one to speaking French in 4 months? I’ve got to be kidding myself.
Well, not really.
I don’t expect to become fluent in French. Learning a second language takes time, and is difficult, especially when going to college full time. I’m aiming to be able to make small talk, or light conversation with other French speakers by the end of it, and examine whether new media is an effective way to learn.
This is a project I’ve always wanted to do. I took French language classes for eight consecutive years through elementary, junior, and high school, but stopped because I got discouraged by the strong focus (at least for teaching anglophones, as opposed to moderately francophone students) on writing and reading, as opposed to speaking, French.
Sure, I can speak typical catch phrases and understand French if you talk r-e-a-l-l-y slowly and e-nun-ci-ate clearly.
But when it comes to asking things beyond “How are you?”, “Can I please go to the bathroom?” (ah, junior high) or even understanding what others are telling me when they’re talking at the usual break-neck speed, I’m useless.
After high school, I still wanted to learn French, but going into university, then college, full time, meant it never got to the top of my priority list.
Then came January 2010: the pressure of IPPs, and the magazine project.
For two weeks of that month, I got to interview members of the Fire Pyxies – a local fire dancing group – for our alternative art magazine and two of them were Franco-Manitobans.
Hearing their accent when I interviewed them and how beautiful the language sounds when they spoke to other francophones triggered my memory and I knew I wanted to ‘retry’ learning to speak French.
From L'arbre aux parfums - the first French music CD I bought, and it is amazing, even if you don't understand the language (and even if the music vid is a bit... bizarre.)
With the help of the ever-inspiring Steve Vogelsang, who pointed me in the right direction towards new media, I’ve come up with a three part plan:
1. to learn French: independently, through new media. Podcasts, language CDs, online tutorials, YouTube, Twitter, online communities and games.
2. to test my French: by interacting with other francophones online and in person. Skype language groups, Kijiji, and restaurants, stores, heritage sites in St. Boniface.
3. to make an audio documentary. (self explanatory)
Somedays it feels like I’ll be doing two projects at once, but I’m convinced that if I stay dedicated and passionate about my IPP, it’ll be worth the effort. Learning another language is hard, but I’m hoping this project (and the pressure of “do this right and you’ll graduate”) will provide the motivation to keep going. In fact, after years of waiting, CreComm and the IPPs might be just what I’ve needed all along.
If you can speak French, and would be willing to let me practice mine with you, let me know (coffee/tea/croissants are on me). I can put you in my doc and you’ll become rich and famous!
Wow! That sounds like an awesome and unique IPP. Best of luck with it!
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