Blogpost 7.

Honestly, I don’t remember any conversation because I have the worst memory ever. I can’t give examples but all I know is that at the beginning, when I was talking, I was like ‘’heuuum’’ and that was cutting the beat of the conversation so I was getting lost and feel a little bit shy but now I feel more confident and I can make a conversation last more easily when I’m stressed. Sometimes it still happened but it’s rarer. I still have problems with some words like: rarer (LOL) I don’t know how to pronounce it and it sounds really awkward in my ears. 

#8..Yes, #8.

I loved my internship. At first my goal was to be able to have a conversation without searching my words and by making the less errors possible. I didn’t touch my goal completely but I have made great efforts and it succeed.  It’s sure that I am not perfectly bilingual but day after day it became easier for me. I think more often to use my accent and to pronounce ‘’s’’, ‘’h’’ and ‘’th’’ and I am more familiar with the slang. I can easily understand an Anglophone person. Sometimes it gets little bit harder when I the person speak to fast but I just have to ask them to repeat slowly and if I still don‘t understand, I ask if it is possible to explain it. What is also difficult is that I am a visual person so it means that it’s easier for me to understand something that is writing than something that is telling. If I had to do something different in my experience, it’s the schedule. It was a little bit too weird having an hour of break between the hours that I had to spend with them.  The other thing that I didn’t really like was the fact that it wasn’t the same group on Wednesday and Friday so I didn’t really make link with them. I also had nothing to do in my one hour breaks.  The most challenging is obviously the way some of them talk. Sometimes you don’t understand anything about what they are saying so after the fifth time you make them repeat, you have to do like you understand what they said but it is really frustrating because you want to know what they are saying. Another thing I didn’t like was the travel period (like the majority of the class) I had almost an hour of traveling. Except all theses little things, I loved my internship, it was stimulating and fun. 

Blogpost #6

It is easier for me to speak with Anglophones persons since the beginning of my internship. First of all, I’m really more carefully with my accent when I speak. I’m trying to pronounce my ‘’s’’, my ‘’h’’ and other things like this. This is a little more difficult that it seems because you will never pronounces it in French so you don’t think about it at all especially when you are nervous or unsure, but with practice it slowly start to make is way into the brain. I still have some little problems when I don’t think about it but I’m trying to make it the more instinctively possible. Sometimes I cannot understand some people who I am with at Concordia but it is hard even for other volunteers but the majority of time I am able to understand and keep a conversation with more fluency than at the beginning.  I didn’t notice English humour at my internship I must ask to someone to explain me how it is different.  Sometimes I gave some little hesitation especially when I’m not sure of a word or when I say something on a bad way; the rest of my sentence became kind of weird. I notice that a lot of ‘’slang’’ just add an ‘’a’’ at the end of words or cut a word and add an ‘’a’’ like: ya= you, kinda= kind of, wanna, want to, etc. I have to admit that if it wasn’t an ‘’an’’ it would sound weird. Another thing about the English slang is that sometimes it is almost impossible to understand when a person writes it. French slang is closer from real French than English slang from real English. When I speak in English, I feel my cheeks muscles tighten and and a lot of time my mouth take a hoe shape.

Blogpost 5

For the general experience, I have to say that I love my internship.I have note some differences. First of all, anglophones really are more religious than francophones. In French, we often say "Oh mon Dieu" or "Seigneur" or even "Jésus, Marie, Joseph" but in English, it's more like "Jeez", "Gosh" and things like that. Religion seems more important, like ig using God's name for expression was cursing. The other thing that I note was the insatifaction of not having English newspapers in the Metro and at the STM. They have to pay for the news that we have freely in French. I admit that it is not fair. I also noticed is that anglophone person are a little bit skinflit. Sometimes they talk about somethings that they found a little bit too expensive but that seems normal for us like, for exemple, the bread. A girl was complaining because it costs 3,29$. They all start complaining for the price even the others volonteers. One day, I stayed longer because of of their terapist was absent so I stayed with three of the boys and we watched the video of the show they did in october. They were so glad to show it to me. The show is call "Our World" and is about different cultures in Quebec. Anglophone in Quebec are really open on the other cultures more than Francophones. And a way more than the rest of the Canada. A lot of them are Christians but the other majority is Jewish. They didn't want to talk to me about hannukka.

4th post.

This post is about next Friday. I cannot talk about only one conversation I had because you have to follow many of them. You have to listen to all of them, on the same time because they are just so happy to tell you what happened this week, they all want to say to you what made you sad or even mad lately on the week. And of course, they all want to talk about Hanukkah or Christmas. They all want you to help them to made cards and things like that so at the end of the day, your brain is full and you are exhausted. There’s a little bit too much information at one time. You really have to follow the conversation by body language and fortunately, it is easier with person with intellectual diseases. You cannot only fix your impression on their smile because some of them always seem to smile. So you look on their face. Thanks God, I like ‘’Lie to me’’.  I totally recommend it. You only have to watch their eyebrow or their shoulder. One of them wasn’t feeling good. He was looking right in front of him, by the window, the head in one of his hand. I asked him if he was ok but he told me that he wasn’t so I asked him if he wanted to talk about it but he didn’t. In every day’s life I don’t feel comfortable when someone doesn’t feel right but it’s different for me with them.  Because I know that they will be ok sooner instead of my friends and other people who continue to put misery in their life and being pessimist. They still come to see me and tell me that they love French and want me to talk to them in French. When I don’t understand something they said, they try to repeat it in French instead of English. That’s the biggest problem. I forgot some words but when I’m not sure I ask them. These are some of the words I forgot through the years.  

Numb: It means ‘’engourdis’’. I asked them because I couldn’t feel my hand.

Overwhelmed: It means that it’s too much in French we say: Surpassé (par les évenements, etc.)

Third time lucky: It’s when you fail 2 times to do something. It’s an idiom. In French we say: Jamais deux sans trois.  

Billy wind: Another Idiom.  It’s when the wind is blowing so hard. She said: ‘’Can you hear Billy Wind out there?’’

Ears are burning: When you feel or know that someone is bullshitting about you.

Cute moment and 3rd post!

Every time I go to my internship, I realize how students here in Concordia are respectful. Today one of the girls was waiting for her lunch at the cafeteria and she just introduces herself to this beautiful boy next to her. She told him her name and he did the same. After that, she told him that he looked like an angel. He starts laughing but tells her that it wasn't possible because she was the angel. :) It was funny. My internship is fun but honestly, I don't really learn new words.  The majority of time it's just remembering some words. My real problem is talking. I am a little bit stressed when everybody's look at me and wait for me to talk so then, I start to jabber. Sometimes, I just don’t understand what they said because nobody understands. I am so shy to ask them to repeat, again and again and again so I ask to Poppy or Marileen what this person just says but they don’t know. But the worst time is when we have to say ‘’yes’’ or ‘’no’’ or ‘’maybe’’ or things like that and start praying that you just well guessed what they are trying to say to you. The other day, one of the boys there said a word that I didn’t understand. It was ‘’dismembering’’. This word means ‘’démembrement’’ in French. There’s the thing I like in English. A word can mean many different things but rarely in French. He was talking about his birthday not about Luka Rocco Magnotta. Lol. The other thing I realize is about the English culture. One of the other volunteer talks to me about how difficult is to learn French when you come to live in Quebec. She says that it was ok to ask to immigrants to learn French but that it was silly to try to impose it to them. Of course, I don’t totally agree with her. I tried to see the things by her side and she try to do the same on mine. I don’t think we should oblige immigrants to learn French and only French. Sure it is important but I think that everybody, even people who was born in Quebec should learn French but also English and maybe Spanish. Learn languages open your mind on the world. The more we learn, the more we can understand each other worldwide. We both agreed on the principle. 

2nd day

I'm at Concordia for my second internship day and even if my schedules are kinda stranges I have to say that I love it! Everybody is so sweet! I was a little bit nervous last wednesday because i couldn't understand some peoples and I was constantly asking them to repeat, and they where looking at me as like I was an alien but today, it's another group and they are very easy to talk to. This is how it works: I must be there at 9 and we're chilling in the appartement waiting for everybody and we are going with them at their activities on the campus at 10. After that I'm free till 11:30. We are going to lunch with them till 1:00. And they have other activities till 2:30 wich mean I'm free. For now it's ok, I'm visiting the Loyola campus but one day I would have visiting everything. Anyway, I like it. There's a little problem: they all love French and they want to show me how good they are to speak it lol. I have to tell them I want them to speak to me in english.