Sunspace, tu es en train de faire “kekchose” en bon québécois!
High school here goes to grade 12, then Cegep either for 3 years for professional or 2 if you go to university afterwards. That is of course in the best of worlds when there is no change of majors or no failing/dropping of classes.
Amuses-toi bien, les gens du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean sont des gens très sympathiques et chaleureux!!!
No, high school here goes to grade 11.
Well, it’s the end of the fifth day, and I’ve survived my first week.
Yesterday after dinner I got into some really good political discussion. Basically, it was about comment on peux arrêter la cours vers la bas (“How can we stop the race to the bottom”), when speaking about the factory disaster in Bangladesh and how everyone seems to be in a vicious cycle of looking for low prices, losing work because jobs go overseas, getting poorer, and looking for lower prices…
We had to do a performance today; the class chose the Cup Song and we’d been practicing it yesterday. We performed it as a group today at the weekly assembly.
With effort, I can understand most of what the teacher says.
Today we had to listen to an audio segment and answer questions about it. After a few repetitions and explanations, it became clearer. We also looked at various ways Quebecois usage modifies the language. (Hint: mnemosyne was right…)
This program would be amazing socially for me if I was twenty-five or thirty years younger; as it is, socially, I feel like a fifth wheel. There are only a few people who are as old as thirty. I just keep remembering that I’m here to learn the language, not meet people.
Perhaps they need to either bring in more mature students, have a different program for them, or limit the age of the program to 30. (There’s a “Language at Work” program where students can work in French; it follows directly on from this program, and is limited to thirty and younger.
The person who recommended the program to me took it when she was close to thirty, and socially it wouldn’t have been such a problem for her.
It’s going to be a long four weeks.
I’m now entering my third week here.
We have finally gotten some warm weather here in Jonquière. Even though, last Saturday, it snowed elsewhere in southern Québec…
I am happy to report that things went much better here in the French immersion program during the second week. I can understand what people say better, and am more relaxed. Many people have been extremely kind as well… the family I’m staying with has been very helpful, and their cooking is like Mom’s. 
After discovering that I do comics (‘bandes dessinées’ in French), some of the organizers raised the idea that I do a comic about my experiences here at Jonquière. I’m still pondering this. My first major artistic influences were in fact French and American comics of the 1970s, the epic science fiction and fantasy stuff rather than the more mainstream superhero stuff. This week I found the bandes dessinées in the school library and was extremely happy.
I had a bit of time to relax this weekend, and have decided to (finally) get off my butt and actually launch that comics project of mine on Indiegogo. Trilingually. Finding those comics last week was very inspiring. This is continuing the artistic awakening that started a few months ago thinks to the class of Maryrose Thaler at Durham College back in Oshawa…
We have a midpoint exam this week. Part is written, part is listening, and part of it is an oral presentation. Yike.
Let’s see what I have had to do this week. I got to choose the topic of discussion for today’s class, and of course I chose comics (er, I mean, bandes dessinées). We also created a game about the subjunctive (see below) in class. And I have to think about my oral presentation.
Socially, these first two weeks have been very difficult because I’m so much older than most of the students. (Especially difficult when one is feeling lonely and would like a date…) It has been similar to my emotional experience at Durham College, but even more so. However, there are a few other more mature students here, and I think I’m becoming more accepted. I was actually voted ‘person of the week’ in my class last week! (I think mostly because I really, really, really want to learn French…)
On the other hand, one of the “animateurs” was rather friendly last week, when I was sitting in the common area and had my computer and a bunch of comics out and several animateurs passed by, and I ended up showing them what I do for work, the writing and drawing and all. And then on Thursday I was sitting in a couch looking up the “reasonable accommodation” controversy on my phone just before going into a political discussion, and suddenly she drops down beside me… I’d had no idea she was even around… Rather surprising to say the least.
(“Animateur” is something like “facilitator” or “organizer”, but more general; a TV host is an animateur, for example. The root of the idea is the same (“to give life to”), but in English it came to mean mainly “make drawings move”, while in French, the main meaning is more like “give life to a social gathering”.)
Last night we had a workshop on Québécois folk dancing. I said to my host family that I’d rather draw, but I went anyways, mostly because it was mandatory, and much to my surprise had a very good time.
The history of dancing and folk music is interesting. The presenter was a local, a small man of maybe 60 years, but the way he moved! He had a spirit that filled the gymnasium with joy. He led us through spirals and chains and linear dances, and some of it had an almost Pagan feel. The dances seem designed to mix people up, to give everyone a chance to encounter everyone else. I can imagine people coming together at festivals every solstice to dance and trade gossip and meet each other…
And she was there. Somehow we ended up dancing together at the end, and later, I was sitting sitting in the common area with my computer, and she passed by and said “Bonjour” and “Mon partenaire”… I mean, I know that she’s probably 25 years younger than me, and she’s friendly to everyone, and it doesn’t mean anything, and in a few weeks the group will be scattered to the far reaches of the country… but right now she’s certainly got my attention.
On the third hand (I refuse to say ‘gripping hand’ in this context), I think I may have over-imagined things a bit. I saw her on the stage at a presentation today. I think she’s a lot younger than I thought at first. Oh well. But there I go, overthinking things. This always happens. Now you know what my brain is like when encountering a beautiful woman…
The presentation was about laughter. I get the impression that the Québécois are a lot more… serious… about comedy (and the arts in general) that Ontarians are. Ontarians seem to regard the arts as a luxury, the first to be jettisoned in a crisis, while in Québec, there seems to be a general realisation that art is necessary for society to function properly.
We’ve been doing a lot of homework. Most of mine centres around the “subjunctive”, a verb mode that doesn’t really exist in English. It’s used for things that may not be facts, like guesses or beliefs. Example: “Il faut que j’aille au collège.” (It is necessary that I go to the college.) The first verb is “faut” (to be necessary), and it’s normal (in the indicative mode). The second verb is “aille” (to go), and it’s in the subjunctive mode. Indicatively, it would be “vais”.
The subjunctive gets used a LOT.
And I keep getting confused between “venir” and “aller” (“come” and “go”)…
But it’ll all work out.
And I’m thinking of staying in Montreal instead of QC on the way back. Would any MontrealDopers be available for a meet? I’ll be travelling on the weekend of June 14th, and staying overnight on the night of Saturday June 15th.
Sure, English has a subjunctive.
F’r instance: “If I were you, I’d ask that animateur out.”
Okay, it exists but it is rarely used. It’s only a change in the third-person singular, not a complete set of tenses. I know that, but most people wouldn’t.
Had my exam this morning. The oral presentation went much better than expected. I had great difficulty with the listening part. The written part was kind of in the middle… Marks tomorrow.
Good luck, and thanks for the updates!
Oh yes, we love our art and culture here in Quebec.
I’ll probably be around on June 15.
Hey Sunspace, I’m glad things are going well for you and that you are doing well, it’s great to hear because French is really not easy.
As for meeting in Montreal, I’m sure we can get together with a few Montrealer Dopers and whoever else wants to show up!
Maybe we could start a thread on a Montreal Dopefest for June 15?
Merci!
(And I got 90% in the exam. Very surprised. The teacher sais she was ‘generous’ with the listening part…)
I’ll start a thread.
We had the mid-point exam on Wednesday. I got 90%. I was very surprised. I thought I’d totally failed the listening part, but the teacher was generous.
Now we have a new exercise book (Intermediate III!) and some new friends, like the plus-que-parfait verb tense. I’ve also made very good friends with my new Bescherelle. (Yes, I may be turning into a language geek.)
Speaking of fun…
We had a costume party/dance last night, and the team I was in won first prize! There were five of us, and we were the Titanic, with Jack and Rose, and the iceberg, and the ship. I was the front half of the ship. 
The dance was very good. Loud electronic music, spinning lights and lasers, and I could just sink into the music and forget my cares. I do remember thinking at one point, “I’ve been listening to this kind of music for longer than half these people have been alive!” It turns out that I really needed to dance… I worked up more of a sweat than I do during many workouts.
I think that knowing I’m going to be meeting some other people later on has made me feel a lot more relaxed. I had quite a long conversation with that animateur yesterday, and was able to be relaxed during it and keep on my feet and everything. Today is another event… part of which includes us washing cars. Given the amount of rain that’s been here, we could probably just stand back and let the sky take care of it…
Beginning the last week…
I’m feeling a bit sad today because it’s my last Sunday here in Jonquière. It’s difficult to describe my mixed feelings…
The program is very very good; the teachers and organizers have been amazing; my host family has been unendingly helpful (and very good cooks as well); I have found hints of new art I can follow, there have been great activities in spite of the almost-unending rain (museums, artistic exhibitions, visits around the area, workshops, all kinds of things).
And my French has gotten better. Which is, of course, the whole purpose. Yesterday in Quebec City I went into a store and asked for a certain DVD and they went and found it and I understood everything… all in French.
But… because of my age, I never felt at home here socially. If I was under thirty, I would have had a chance to be on an equal basis socially. If I was already married or had a girlfriend, not being connected socially here wouldn’t have mattered so much. As it is, I have been very lonely, especially when seeing other people making connections.
I’ve met a few other older students, but the interactions were brief and distant. Ironically, I got along great with a younger student on the trip to Quebec City, a student from France who was on a work term here, and wasn’t part of the same program. We ended up discussing the differences between the Westminster system and the presidential system of politics, while sitting on a stone bench outside the Quebec legislature.
I highly, highly recommend the Explore program to anyone under thirty. If you’re over thirty, it will probably be great. I am an outlier; don’t go by my experience.
I would love to take a similar program with an audience between 30 and 60.
Next Tuesday or Wednesday is the final exam.
Some years ago, my son spent a week in a fencing camp in Quebec that was advertised as full-immersion French. Afterwards he told us that it had been, “More of a light rinse.”
I took French Immersion in English school, starting in grade 4.
My adult-ed class at school isn’t a French class, it’s a job-skills class, but is entirely in French. And my job is entirely in French. So those two things sort of serve as French Immersion for me.
I hope to see you soon Sunspace.
Last week…
On Tuesday the 4th of June, we had an exhibition of short films, and one of them was about a man who took a resident of a nursing home to a nice Christmas dinner… and the resident was ‘difficult’ and everything. It was very difficult to watch because it reminded mine of my dad and my stepfather (not that they were difficult, but the loss of memory and everything that my father had)… anyways, I was exhausted after seeing it and just went home and went to sleep. The following morning, I was still affected by it, and had difficulty describing it to my host family… who knew what I was talking about instantly, because they’d seen the film last year.
During class the next day, we got into a discussion about what society should be doing about caring for the aged, and most people had quite a lot to say. But it was difficult emotionally for me. During the break, I kind of broke down and had difficulty continuing; the teacher suggested I take a break from the class, and we walked down the corridor to the main lounge/gathering area. I was pretty much in tears. I’ve been going and going for three years, with the layoff and the moves and the failure of my attempt at solar-house design and my father’s death and going back to school and my stepfather’s death and the move and exams and being broke and needing work and finally ending up here in this program, with all its sense of social difficulties for me , and it all came crashing down. I hadn’t stopped to catch up with myself or anything, and it was just like when I cracked eight months after my sister died.
At one point the teacher suggested switching to English, but I said no, this too is part of learning a new language. It was like the time I fell down the stairs in the subway in Esperanto.
So the teacher pointed me to a counsellor here at the Centre Linguistique and I had a very recuperative little session with her. I was able to cry about everything, and the counselor reminded me that I’ll be able to talk to people in French at work. Which is, of course, the whole point of my coming here in the first place, to improve my chances of getting a job, after all. She said that various people were impressed with me coming here at my age and all, something that is very hard for me to see. or even think about. She reminded me that there’s another week and change here that I can use to speak to people, to practice everything.
Everyone here has been so amazingly supportive. Even several of my classmates came over and offered support. This very surprised me… I’ve felt so isolated.
So, yeah, I can now have a breakdown and get counselling in French…
Hi EmilyG! I hope to see you and other MontrealDopers soon! Just working on the travel arrangements…
Aww, that must’ve been hard for you,** Sunspace**.
I hope to hear of your travel arrangements soon. Maybe you can write about them in the Montreal meetup thread or PM me.
