# I've been accepted to French immersion!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443 "2013-05-03T19:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/61 "2013-06-09T19:42:33Z")
Other things… All this past week we had “secret friends” (_des amis secrets_). We would leave messages, possibly containing dares (_défis_) on a table for another person. I ended up having to do things like stand up in the middle of class and say “_banane_” five times without explanation. At the end I stood up on the little stage they’d placed in the middle of the cafeteria, and recited the first verse of “_Je suis un pizza_” while wearing a paper pizza on a string around my neck. To my great surprise, people cheered and applauded. And my _amie secrète_? My _professor_. :eek: Last Friday also was the talent show. In the evening, we met in the large auditorium and various students exhibited their talents. There are some amazing talents. But what do you expect from a bunch of young, energetic people, most of whom either have university degrees or are working on them? There was one guy who had a somewhat stocky build like me, but he was a dancer. And how he moved! All in time to the music. I’ve never seen anything like it. He was _fluid_. There was singing and piano-playing and storytelling… it was amazing. Later I felt kind of sad because I would have liked to do something, but I draw, and that’s not really a _spectacle_ (in French, an activity that attracts spectators), is it? But yesterday during the trip to Quebec City, I had the beginnings of an idea that would change that. What if the act of drawing was incorporated into a developing story that was being presented on stage? I have to think about this a lot more. But it’s definitely a hint for the future. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/62 "2013-06-09T19:44:26Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Aww, that must’ve been hard for you,\*\* Sunspace\*\*. Thanks. It’s been unexpected how hard this has hit me, in unexpected ways. I hope to hear of your travel arrangements soon. Maybe you can write about them in the Montreal meetup thread or PM me. [/QUOTE] When I know, you’ll know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/63 "2013-06-09T19:52:43Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Holy crap, I actually grew up in Jonquiere till I was 12! My father was a senior inventor for Alcan (now Rio Tinto) till he retired and we were sequestered up there in between jaunts to his various labs all over the world. > > Most of my parents’ friends from those days are still profs at the university at Chicoutimi. > > Anyway, it’s also super pretty up there, you’ll have plenty of outdoorsy stuff to do. But, winter starts pretty early…and ends late. I meant to reply to this earlier. 🙂 Yes, it’s really pretty up here, and yes, winter ends late. Given that it snowed elsewhere in Quebec on the first Saturday we were here. We visited a museum this morning all about the vast system of dams and hydroelectric power plants in the Saguenay watershed that serve the aluminium refineries. I gather that aluminium refining uses insane amounts of electricity, such that it’s easier to ship the ore in from basically anywhere and refine it here, than try to export the electricity. There’s a deepwater port in the fjord, and a railway, and _three or four_ aluminium refineries. Plus lots of related metallurgical stuff. Alcan (now owned by Rio Tinto) is big here, like General Motors in Oshawa. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/64 "2013-06-09T20:04:28Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Thanks fo0r the good wishes! _J’ai 49 ans_\*. I’m already a full-time college student, which is how I managed to qualify for this thing in the first place. So, yeah, this whole going-back-to-school thing when I’m a generation older than most students has been odd at times, but I needed to do something after the layoffs… > > \*I am 49. (Lit. “I have 49 years.”) 49 piges ? Assez jeune pour commencer une nouvelle vie. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/65 "2013-06-10T00:16:48Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > 49 piges ? Assez jeune pour commencer une nouvelle vie. _Mais je n’avais pas une autre option_…\* (\*Colloquial translation: “It’s not like I had a choice…”) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/66 "2013-06-10T05:53:19Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > What if the act of drawing was incorporated into a developing story that was being presented on stage? You may want to check out some YouTube videos of an artist named Denny Dent. He was an artist who could turn painting a picture into, as you called it, a _spectacle_. An example: [John Lennon Painting by Denny Dent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9d042PKJAQ). It may not be to your taste or style, but it does show that it can be done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/67 "2013-06-10T06:43:13Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YIOsIbqpR5s/hqdefault.jpg ""You've Got a Friend" A Sand Art by Ilana Yahav") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIOsIbqpR5s) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/68 "2013-06-10T20:20:14Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > You may want to check out some YouTube videos of an artist named Denny Dent. He was an artist who could turn painting a picture into, as you called it, a _spectacle_. An example: [John Lennon Painting by Denny Dent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9d042PKJAQ). Interesting. > [@Muffin](#): > > [http://youtu.be/YIOsIbqpR5s](http://youtu.be/YIOsIbqpR5s) Interesting and moving. I saw something similar when I was in animation school at Sheridan. I’m actually thinking of something with a story to it, so **Muffin** ’s link is closer to my ideas than **Spoons** ’. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/69 "2013-06-11T01:30:59Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Interesting and moving. I saw something similar when I was in animation school at Sheridan. I saw a movement on the floor of a hallway at Sheridan. It was neither interesting nor, fortunately, animated. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/70 "2013-06-11T14:16:01Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I saw a movement on the floor of a hallway at Sheridan. It was neither interesting nor, fortunately, animated. Bwuh? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/71 "2013-06-11T19:49:26Z")
Someone had a bowel movement in the middle of the hall. Since it was in the mid-70s, I expect that it was a protest statement. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/72 "2013-06-11T20:03:51Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Someone had a bowel movement in the middle of the hall. Since it was in the mid-70s, I expect that it was a protest statement. You went to Sheridan? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/73 "2013-06-11T20:26:04Z")
No. I ran there – town team practiced on their track. Wasn’t me who “went” there. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/74 "2013-06-18T20:05:30Z")
Well, it’s over. I’m back in Ontario, returned to Oshawa, and looking for some sort of work. (No good prospects, so far.) At the end of the course, I was feeling happysad–happy that I’d gotten as far as I did, and sad to leave–even though I wasn’t really part of the group. My host family wanted to keep in contact, and I’m going to do that. At the end there was a gala presentation of artwork and performances by the students. Of course, I had done some drawings. There was also an awards show which included prizes and a thank-you performance by the teachers and _animateurs_. I was awarded ‘most studious’ because I was always looking up verbs and stuff… this was because I was always slightly lost in the conversation and needed to really do homework to keep up with everyone else. I’ve definitely got a foundation of French to build on, but I have to keep using it, or it’s going to go away. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/75 "2013-06-19T14:48:13Z")
Glad to hear you got back all right, **Sunspace**. As for practicing French, gthere are a few things you can do. You can visit French websites. You can maybe find people to talk to in French online (people you met on your trip, maybe?) You can take more trips to places in Quebec, if you can. Good luck looking for work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/76 "2013-06-19T16:34:48Z")
Just don’t go for French immersion in Paris - that would be in Seine. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/77 "2013-06-19T20:21:56Z")
Congrats on completing your course, good luck on finding a job, and have a hug for dealing with all the stress you have been going through the last few years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443/78 "2013-06-19T21:32:31Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Just don’t go for French immersion in Paris - that would be in Seine. :: thwacks **colophon** with a wet _truite_ :: > [@Muffin](#): > > Congrats on completing your course, good luck on finding a job, and have a hug for dealing with all the stress you have been going through the last few years. 🙂 Thanks. I keep thinking things will get normal, but what if this IS normal now? :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-accepted-to-french-immersion/657443.md?page=3)