Tandem

This picture pretty much sums up my day!

Did my first ever planned solo lesson today! I think they liked it which is always good. I had the quatrième INTER class, the class that I know the least about, so it was a bit nerve-wracking! The first thing I had to do was find a classroom, with a working projector, no other students in it, and internet with Flash Player. Actually easier said than done! Had a bit of a heart-stopping moment when I had five minutes before my lesson started and I found out the room I was depending on had a computer without the most recent Flash Player update...with no way to update it. Luckily two rooms along I found a classroom with all the requirements, with only moments to spare.

So my plan with the classes on my own is to do films and television, and hopefully make them learn without any pressure. Also trying to find films with different British accents to accustom them to stranger accents! So my first film I'm doing with them is Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists, but rather than jumping straight into the film I decided the best thing to do was to give them a little introduction to Aardman Studios and how it evolved. So not only did we watch a bit of Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts and some clips of Morph, I also showed them some behind the scenes videos so they could see exactly how much work went into making the film. Was so glad they found it interesting, and also laughed at the funny bits! Looking forward to seeing how the other students react now!

After this pretty early start I decided my day must be productive so I got to work on my essay due in 6 days. At the moment, my title seems to be « Les oublis et les refus de la politesse sont des injures. » Manières du français et de l'anglais, est un plus correct que l'autre?...we shall see how this goes when I have to write the remainder! So with half my essay is done, and with my dossier complete I'm feeling pretty chilled out about it at the moment. I guess you shouldn't ask me this a few days before deadline!

Also got my letter from Andy...all I can say is I'm one very happy lady. A letter that will be very much treasured, and also complete with a perfect diagram to help with camera settings (as I'm still relatively new to photography I still get confused!). The comparison of settings on a camera to a sink and light to water is pretty much perfect. I'm lucky to have someone who will spend the time doing something so lovely for me!

However, less emotional gushing and more of everything else! I have now officially spent around 6 hours straight in Dolly's. And I have also spent around 6 hours speaking almost completely in French. What a great achievement! So I met up with the lovely Dana (pictured) for a coffee and a catch-up, and we were joined an hour or so later by Gia-Thanh (looking rather suave). Would say we were probably one of the best adverts for international relations as I'm English, Dana is German and Gia-Thanh is French...someone in the café actually commented on this as well! Had some great conversations about life , family, ideals, food...in fact, rather too many topics to mention. Lovely lovely evening, and so glad everyone gets on so well. Here are two more people who I would never have met if it wasn't for the society Erasmus in Caen...living in a university city really is the best way to spend a year abroad.

Words I learnt today:-
- Complain - se plaindre
- Conduct - diriger
- To bring - apporter
- To take - emporter
- To take - emmener
- To bring - amener
- Voucher - coupon
- Sold out - épuisé
- Hybrid - hybride
- Pity - avoir pitié de qn.
- Game shows - jeu télévisés
- Quiz shows - quiz télévisés
- Stage - estrade
- Every Wednesday - Le Mercredi
- Injuries - blessions
- Shattered - briser
- Scar - cicatrice
- Clumsy - maladroit(e)
- Sequin - paillette
- Curvaceous - plein de roule
- Could have been worse - ce aurait pu être pire
- Check - vérifier

- Peu importe - whatever (less strong)
- N'importe quoi - whatever
- N'importe qui - no matter who
- N'importe où - no matter where