Although I was very nervous to be in a country where I barely knew the language, after a couple of days I became comfortable since I started becoming familiar with the city. I explored so many parts of the city, Lyon has a old and modern side. I loved going through Vieux Lyon because of how many parts there are to it. You would be able to spend an entire day in Vieux Lyon and still wouldn't have seen all of it's streets.
My goal in going to France was to improve my language and better my understanding about the culture. With being in France for two weeks it was a little of a challenge to be able to improve in a great way, but since I have experience with the language for a year and a half, I mixed the old things that I have learned with the new things that I was learning which gave me an advantage opposed to someone who went to France for the same amount of time with no experience at all. The language is known as the aristocratic, high class, or romance language. French ad English have a lot in common, since modern French takes a lot of words from the English language, whereas the French that is spoken in Canada uses no english words and is far more traditional. When French and English have similar words, you will notice usually the only difference is the pronunciation. That was something that I had struggled with when I was in France because as I hear the word, my mind wouldn't think to see if they are similar in any type of way. After the first week it became easier to hear French being spoken, as my vocabulary grew and I became familiar with the pronunciation. As for pronunciation with spelling, I had learned some new rules. such as spelling and how words change based on the the context they are in, male or female, such as "have" would be different when using for either female or male. There are many more rules to french but this one is very important because it helps lead learning french much easier. Before going to France I only new how to present myself briefly. Now I am able to present myself formally and am able to have small conversations with people. That is one of the ways that I see that I have reached my goals which are to improve my language. Although I still don't speak the full language considering I still don't know the full vocabulary. I do plan on continuing to improve my french, but this trip gave me a kick start to that. France was an amazing opportunity for which I am grateful to be able to go there and learn.
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I had to leave Lyon very early in the morning at 6 A.M. but I still had some french communication. As I was waiting to board the plane, a woman approached me and asked "est cette porte a Paris?" even though she didn't speak slowly or clearly I immediately knew what she was asking and I had responded with "oui, ce porte est d'aller a Paris." When I got to Paris I had some trouble since my gate number was changed without me knowing since I got my boarding pass from Lyon, it changed while I was on the plane so I had asked if the gate on my boarding pass was going to Detroit which the service desk had told me that it had changed recently. I got the gate number and made it to Detroit and so today I felt as though I should relax from a 7 hour flight. When I got home, I kept responding to questions with "oui" not on purpose and I would catch myself and my family and I would laugh. Going to France was an amazing wonderful opportunity and I am very grateful to be able to go there and improve my french.
In my last full day in Lyon, I was given a very new and different experience. I went to school with my sponsor. We I woke up at the same time I would have to for my regular school, and we took the public bus to the school. Although the public bus is for everyone, you would only see students on it. When we arrived to the school I noticed how large it is. It is filled with 2,000 people so I understand why it should be very large whereas compared to my school which is not very large and does not have as much people. My sponsor's school has a lot of types of science classes which are given all together every year. My sponsor is a senior in high school so I was being taken to senior classes. We first had Biology class in which the were studying the human reproductive systems. The class began at 8 A.M. and ended at 10 A.M. so two hours of one class which to me is a lot because the longest my classes go are 1 hour and 25 minutes so simply that that extra 35 minutes seemed a lot for me. After that class I was able to meet with the Head Master who greeted me to the school (photo posted below). We had a little break before lunch so we sat around and I got to meet my sponsors friends and classmates which was very nice. I introduced myself to them in french so it was good for me to try out my french there. During lunch you are able to take a dessert, a snack, a meal, and salad or side. I noticed how large the meals are which was very interesting because although the food at my school is filing, it is not as big as the food in the schools in France. After lunch there was another break, where is did more on Mango Language. After there we attended the Algebra class which started at 2 P.M. and ended at 3 P.M., a Physics class which started at 3 P.M. and ended at 4 P.M., and last a German class which ended at 5 P.M. That is 2 hours longer than I have to be at my regular school which was very interesting for me. When class was over I realized how exhausted I was from the very long day. Although it was very exhausting, it was a very nice, interesting, new experience. I was picked up by one of my sponsors and went to the market to get groceries and then made our way to the house again. I spent the rest of my night packing for the plane which was very early in the morning. I ended my last full day here was a very new interesting opportunity.
I felt much better than yesterday and so my sponsor and I continued our tour in Lyon. We went completely by public transportation which was a very good experience. First we stopped by Vieux Lyon and explored there for a while and went to some of the museums there. One was a typical art museum although we didn't go into the exhibit sections. Instead we went to the roof top where there was a cafe and a garden which was very nice. After that museum we went to a film museum where we saw real props that were used in movies, such as the mask that was used in the movie The Mask with Jim Carrey. As continued our adventures and went back to the museum were were at two days ago since they closed before we could finish the other day. We finished looking at the painting and then went to the Frida Kahlo exhibit which the museum was hosting. We saw many painting by French artists about her. It was a very good experience to explore the different types of museums in Lyon. We made our way back to the house and there we had made Crepes! They are much different than the types that you would find in America which was very nice. We has spent the rest of the night speaking in mostly french and making Crepes.
Today, since I wasn't feeling well due to a flu going around France, I stay at the house and worked to strengthen my french language with Mango Language. The chapter I am on with Mango Language number 6 and it is about asking for directions. I have really noticed that when it is written in front of me understand better than when I am hearing it. Usually I can understand is if the person I am talking to is speaking slowly or clear so I can basically imagine the words in my head which is the way that I am able to understand. Since I don't know the whole vocabulary yet, it helps to imagine the words and the sentences they are used in in order for me to figure out what the person is saying. I would typically repeat the sentence that has been said to me for me to confirm that I heard them right. I try to answer in a full sentence as much as I can, I would also typically pause to ask if I am using a certain word correctly or not. Although I didn't go out today to communicate with the outside world I still spoke to my sponsors at home and did practice on line.
Today was a very exciting day. It was all about exploration a really understanding the city more. We made our way to Vieux Lyon where we had lunch. We were given an entree, which in France the entree is given in the beginning of the meal unlike in America where it is usually the main course. In America it is usually appetizer, entree, and dessert. Where as in France entree actually means enter so you're entering a meal with the entree. After the entree, there is the plat, and then dessert. The entree was butternut squash soup with scallops. I think butternut squash soup is a traditional soup to prepare in the winter in France. After the entree we had fish with Italian rice, and for the dessert they have us a platter of different desserts. There was a small fruit salad, a creme brûlée tart, homemade mango/passion fruit ice cream, and a small almond cake. It was very interesting to see how the restaurant gave you an assortment of desserts. After the restaurant we had walked around Vieux Lyon a little more and discovered many different places such as places for apartments which you would think that the city would want to preserve the very old building by not allowing anyone to live in them but they are actually very open for the public which I found very interesting and unique. As we were walking around more in the more modern parts of Lyon we stumbled the "Musee des Beaux-Arts de Lyon" which had very interesting collections from statues, to ancient artifact to both old art and modern art. My sponsor didn't know that I love art museums and so it was surprising for her to find out that I do because she had told me that her kids find them boring whereas I was very excited to be there. It was very nice going around the museum seeing all the french artists works was also very interesting. After we made our way back to the house and had dinner which included speaking french as well.
Today, there was no shopping which is good to take a break from it because it was getting unhealthy, instead my sponsor and I went to a park. Before the park though my cousins friends had come over to finish a project, so I got to meet some of her friends which was very nice. We had lunch together and spoke a little french. Usually my sponsor would say something to me in french and then say it again but slower for me to pick a part the sentence and to understand it and understand how she phrased the sentence in order for me to phrase sentences as well. After lunch my sponsor and I went to the park and had conversations about cheins which is the french word for dogs. Our conversations were mostly of dogs because of how many dogs were at the park and both her and I love dogs. We had other conversations about health such as yoga and mindfulness and other conversations about family members again, like cousins, uncles, aunts, etc. It is very interesting to learn about family members because our is very large due to many siblings and their children. I don't remember much of them so it's interesting to hear about them. As the sun was setting I was able to take pictures of sky which is posted below. Before we made our way back to the house, we stopped by a boulangerie which is bakery in french. We bought a baguette and since i still haven't had a real french croissant we also bought that. we also made another stop at a plant and animal store. It had any different things such as planet, plant accessories, animals, animal accessories, organic foods, gardening, and many more. It was very nice to explore a french store. After that we went back home to have dinner and have more conversations in french.
Aujourd'hui, j'ai suis allé faire du shopping but in the beginning of the day I had a conversation with my sponsor about one of our cousins who had recently passed away and I tried to speak as much as I could in french with that. Later on we took the metro to arrive in downtown Lyon which as I was reading the signs I had learned that "Sortie" means "exit". As we were going around downtown Lyon, we stopped my a very popular french store that is a big hit for teens called "Nature et Decouvertes" which is more hipster. The store was very packed because of how popular it is. "Decouvertes" means "discoveries" in French so this store was called "Nature and Discoveries". After that store we then went to another store to do some more shopping, again is was very packed as well due to all the sales and how teens don't have to be in school during it. We then walked around in a store called Printemps which translates to Spring in english. It was considered the Saks Fifth Ave. of France due to the brands that they hold. The first Printemps opened in Paris and they opened others throughout the busy parts of France. As we were returning back to the house, we bought churros that were sold near the big ferris wheel in Place Bellecour. We returned home and my cousin and I showed each other what we had bought. I have noticed that due to the frequent shopping I am able to understand numbers when they are being spoken better than when I first came here.
Bonjour, aujourd'hui I went with my sponsor to her work. I was able to meet her co-workers and tried out my french with them. After we went to the Confluence mall since sales are still very big most people are still out shopping and so are we. As I was going to try on some clothes I was asked by the person who was allowing people into the dressing rooms "as-tu un sac?" which understood "do you have a bag?". Right now there are security everywhere in order to keep everyone safe. Even at my sponsors school there was security. to make sure all the kids are safe. It is very nice to know the security here is very serious. Although we have been mostly shopping, I've been recognizing the signs now which are "le tout" which is "all" in order to show that a whole section is a certain price. Other sign are "à partir de" to show that the prices start at a certain price and up. When we come back to have dinner. My sponsors try to speak as little english to me as possible. As they are talking in french, I would hear the words that they are saying and try to understand the best that I can to know what they are saying. I would pause and ask them if I am hearing correctly. I also try as best as I can to respond to them in french.
Aujourd'hui, my sponsor and I had lunch while having our five minute conversation. We discussed of different Asian countries, such as Japan, Korea, China, etc. and also discussed about exchange students and the difference in how schools here usually exchange students with the UK more than America. After lunch, my sponsor and I went to pick up her son from his school. Before we picked him up though, we stopped by some ancient Roman places. In the picture, in the roman age, this was a theatre and plays were shown here. There was a museum near by which explained the Roman influence in Lyon. We didn't go in though as time was short to pick up her son. As we were picking him up I noticed how large the school was. It is a private school and for its size it looked like a university. We went through Vieux Lyon and went back to the house through the metro right after. School in France end around 4-6 PM so usually when kids are out of school it's already dark outside. After making it to the house, we went to a pizzeria which was "American style" due to it being very large. Considering that in France land is very limited, it costs a lot to buy large land so post houses and most stores and restaurants are smaller than they would be in the states. A rule while eating in France is that you never have soft drinks or juice during a meal, you would always have water. Waiters and Waitresses typically won't ask you what you would like to drink until after the meal if you are sticking around for dessert.
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French Vocabulary:
REGARDER= watch/look DORMIR= sleep HIER-SOIR= last night FAIM= hunger VIENER= to come ESSUYE= wiped MIETTES= crumbs SOIF= thirsty COMMANCER= to begin COUPE= cut BOUI-LLON= broth VERRES= glasses RASSASIE= satiated ASSIED= seat PLUS TARD= later FAUTE= fault UN PEU= a little bit AUJOURD-HUI= today SAC= bag LE TOUT= all A PARTIR DE=beginning at |