The White-fly pest. (click here for more info) is very annoying this year. There is a plague of them causing "HONEYDEW" - a sticky substance which, apparently, is produced out of their back-ends after they have consumed the sap of their victim plant-host - So we are all covered in s...t! The effect is most noticeable underneath the beautiful plane trees that line the canal on either side. Any object left anywhere near them is covered with this sticky substance which, when dry, is difficult to remove and turns orange and then black. Car and boat owners alike are incandescent with frustration and the trees themselves don't like it either, dropping dead leaves, months earlier than normal. There will be further trouble when the wasps and ants arrive to feed on such a sticky bounty.
What on earth has that got to do with the above title? I hear you say...well, it is a kind of immersion after all and it really follows on from my contention - that despite the glorious weather, lovely wine, lovely fresh food, fresh air, fun and good company - that it isn't all plain sailing is it?....
but then there's another thing.....
Il n'est jamais trop tard pour apprendre! (it's never too late to learn!)
It is clear to me that people learn a new language at different rates depending on the mix of both nurture and genetics (nature). To speak French is really an essential requirement if one intends to fully integrate with the natives. There are many, I know, who think otherwise or believe it too late or too difficult. Any excuse will do.
It is, I suppose, courteous to engage in conversation with the French in their own language. One must try! ..but to-date, I readily admit to being dependent upon Lucie's bilingual fluency to cope in all but the basic social niceties. I live in awe of her very natural abilities, born of a bilingual education at the French Lycee in London. Having a wife who can speak French fluently is an enormous advantage to the practical aspects involved with living.
It is Lucie who tackles French bureaucracy with great skill and patience in innumerable matters involving licences, medical cards, insurance, banking, travel arrangements and residences and probably a lot more (what else is there?). But if she is not by my side, I am forced to engage my brain instead of relying on hers - thus increasing my ears' ability to listen, my brain to understand and my mouth to convey meaning. Progress is therefore slow, but it behoves me to pass on my experiences to those who struggle or even to those who have given up.
With a long history of schoolboy failure behind me but with a modest vocabulary stuck somewhere in between my ears - and, after five years of living in France with a bilingual wife and some more recent French friends - most of the restrictions and complexes I may have had in the past, have gone. There really is no excuse. I am now improving perceptably (and still making a fool of myself - according to others) but I am determined to do better.
There is a plethora of methods on offer - from computer programs, direct French lessons, reading children's comics, listening to French radio programs, going back to school. All have their good points and a mixture of each seems to be the way to go. My English/French dictionary - "Le Robert & Collins" (only 35E) http://www.lerobert.com/ is now constantly by my side. This imposing tome is worth more than any electric gadget and better than what can be fished up by trawling through the web.
I am particularly blessed to have the help of a real live mentor, Jean-Noel. He and I spend several hours a week under what he calls "Total Immersion" - or, while we are at it, "Immersion total". This happens at the Capitainerie with coffee, his newspaper and "petites" cigars.
This blog posting may do me good too. It is just another part of the learning process and might well help, if not amuse, other "Brits", in the same predicament. At least it makes me look things up.
Total immersion - the answer?
Grandchildren swim in Jean-Noel's pool
'Total immersion with Professor Jean-Noel, facingI
If the weather is fine, Jean-Noel can be found at the Capitainerie having a morning cafe-creme, sometimes with his newspaper sometimes with his delightful wife Anne Marie. I am not allowed to speak English. If I try, he refuses to understand, even though I know he can speak it quite well. At last I am beginning to use my brain.
But the ability to read and write French clearly requires grammatical skills. To speak it, arguably, does not. But to converse with fluency and to be able to understand it in depth, spelling, vocabulary and grammar, I believe, are important for advancement. I find the afore-mentioned dictionary invaluable for this, especially the section which deals with the conjugation of irregular verbs - the curse of any language. I must learn all the irregular verbs and how they are conjugated. It will be worth it.
Jean-Noel is as patient as a saint. Every time I try to say something in French he corrects me and makes me repeat it, over and over again. Then we try alternative ways of saying the same thing, colloquially.
If there is one phrase which I find has helped me enormously it is this -
"Il faut que j'aille promener les chiens" - (I must go and walk the dogs) -
Just to be able to say the phrase exactly right and quickly, is a triumph to me and gives me an amazing boost in confidence. I now spout it out whenever I can however relevant it is to what I am doing or to whom I am speaking and with or without the presence of my two dogs. It makes for much laughter and praise.
Developing this phrase goes further........
"Hier, Il a fallu que j'aille promener les chiens" (Yesterday, I had to walk the dogs)
and then again:
"Demain, il faudra que j'aille promener les chiens" (Tomorrow I have to walk the dogs)
Now this is a clear example of how French is confusing when dealing with irregular verbs. There is no direct translation to English. By discussing this with Jean-Noel, and after several rehearsals, I manage to remember all three phrases without any knowledge of the grammatical niceties or even the verb that I am using, but I still know what to say in French and to convey meaning. This is why it is not sensible to try to translate French directly into English before speaking. As the prof. keeps reminding me "Pas de traduction!" (No translation!) He insists.
In fact to my surprise, after looking up the irregular verbs in my "tome" I discover the verb "falloir" which might seem to the uninitiated, to have precious little to do with any of the above useful phrases. Jean-Noel is dead right. "Pas de traduction"!
Zut allors! "Faut, Fallu, Faudra" what's that got to do with "Falloir"? Don't ask me but he's right of course.
"Falloir" Indeed ! it roughly means "to need" but its uses and phrases in this dictionary cover a whole page in small print.
"Il faut etre fou pour parler comme ca" (You must be mad to talk like that)
"Il faut de tout pour faire un monde" (It takes all sorts to make a world!)
Now we're talking, but it really isn't plain sailing, y'know, is it?
(Maintenant nous parlons ensemble mais tout ne marche pas comme sur des patin a roulettes, n'est ce pas?)
Note - and there's another reason for not translating exactly! - "patin a roulettes" means roller-skates!
Just by way of a break, have a look at the following links for all you need to know about the canals we live on.
Les Canaux Entre Deux Mers
These two Canals, Le Canal Lateral a la Garonne and Le Canal du Midi - meet at Toulouse - the former connects north-westward from Toulouse to the Atlantic Ocean at Bordeaux and the latter, Eastward from Toulouse, to the Mediterranean at Marseillan.
I have below inserted some useful links about both Canals - Entre deux Mers.
Le Canal Lateral a la Garonne (the canal we are on at the moment)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_de_Garonne
Le Canal Du Midi (Linking ours with the Med.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_du_Midi
Sight seeing
http://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/Languedoc/sightseeing/canal-du-midi.php
Sue Kibbey singing at the "Jazz au Port" with me accompanying.
George Smith, my agent. An accomplished professional musician playing at the "Jazz au Port"