Class this morning was fabulous--for once! We listened to two songs and, in my opinion, my teacher did a wonderful job of activating background knowledge to lead up to the songs and he integrated them well into the the grammar principles and topic for the day. Although I am harta with beginning language books and courses being politically motivated, the video "Il faut que tu respire" put an interesting and unanticipated spin on the topic of ecology. We watched it first without sound and looked at the details in it without seeing the ending. He asked some questions and then we watched again with the lyrics--even if you don't understand the words, the vid is interesting by itself, and the words make it even more impactful. A good message from it is in the chorus, translated to mean something like, "You must breathe"--breathe in life's freshness, sweetness, and goodness while we have it. Enjoy the simple joys of nature given to us from God!
Desafortunadamente, my afternoon workshop was not nearly so good. For one, it was on the nasal vowels in French, and it was more or less the same lesson I had in phonetics with another teacher three weeks ago. Secondly, I haven't been getting enough sleep, it was hot & dark, and it was simply boring as I simply sat there and listened to others struggle with the pronunciation or struggled with them as we repeated stuff as a class.
Thankfully, I had a get-together with some friends to look forward to! The sad part is that the get-together was intended for getting veritable French fondue with Bonnie before she goes back to the States next Monday. :( It was the cost of a few days' worth of lunch, but it was tasty and it was a great experience, and the conversation was pretty "amusing," as Bonnie put it.
On the way back to the LDS institute building, I simply had to get a picture of Notre Dame at night! I just wish that my friends would frame the historical monuments a bit better when I ask for pictures... At any rate, it was beautiful!
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