Classes are much different here in France than in America, according to my college experience. It’s a blend of practicality, musical fun (my favorite), grammar exercises, and vocabulary, all while putting it together with speaking. Even though class is 3 and a half hours long, it goes by really quickly, especially since our professor was nice enough to give us 2 breaks during the class (with enough time to get a coffee from down the street). The main reason why it goes so fast though, is because of her.
Let me brag for a second: She is the cutest. Her name is Margot Hofsteadt (or something like that), and she’s A HOOT. Each day, she wears the cutest clothes with the cutest scarf, and ugh! She’s almost always making us laugh (either with jokes or making fun of students in a GOOD way), talks about hip things (like the local bars, clubs, and good liquor), and all the fun things she’s planned for us students to take part in (because she schedules extra trips to pay to take as well as the included excursions). She’s the bomb. Oh, and what teacher would give you ideas of French musicians to listen to that you never knew were French? We talked about Daft Punk (and watched the Daft Punk “hands” and “bodies” videos) during class. Brownie points!
The best thing though, in my opinion, is the way she gives the class a laid back atmosphere. She teaches class at a good level, despite there being so many different levels in the classroom (some people know enough French to be in the class, others know more than enough to be in another level). She introduces a grammatical lesson for that day, and comes up with exercises (both written and oral) for us to practice. She’ll ask us questions individually to make us practice the grammar we’re learning about, randomly surprise us with questions having to do with previous information learned, and also small group discussion, almost like ping-pong. It’s really refreshing, especially since all the French classes I’ve taken in college have been 8 students or less (hello Christian colleges!). She knows we’re going to mess up, but makes us laugh it off, often using her “If you didn’t mess up, I wouldn’t have a job. I would be on the streets, begging for food” in her French accented English (WHICH IS ADORABLE). She’s just awesome.
Let me brag for a second: She is the cutest. Her name is Margot Hofsteadt (or something like that), and she’s A HOOT. Each day, she wears the cutest clothes with the cutest scarf, and ugh! She’s almost always making us laugh (either with jokes or making fun of students in a GOOD way), talks about hip things (like the local bars, clubs, and good liquor), and all the fun things she’s planned for us students to take part in (because she schedules extra trips to pay to take as well as the included excursions). She’s the bomb. Oh, and what teacher would give you ideas of French musicians to listen to that you never knew were French? We talked about Daft Punk (and watched the Daft Punk “hands” and “bodies” videos) during class. Brownie points!
The best thing though, in my opinion, is the way she gives the class a laid back atmosphere. She teaches class at a good level, despite there being so many different levels in the classroom (some people know enough French to be in the class, others know more than enough to be in another level). She introduces a grammatical lesson for that day, and comes up with exercises (both written and oral) for us to practice. She’ll ask us questions individually to make us practice the grammar we’re learning about, randomly surprise us with questions having to do with previous information learned, and also small group discussion, almost like ping-pong. It’s really refreshing, especially since all the French classes I’ve taken in college have been 8 students or less (hello Christian colleges!). She knows we’re going to mess up, but makes us laugh it off, often using her “If you didn’t mess up, I wouldn’t have a job. I would be on the streets, begging for food” in her French accented English (WHICH IS ADORABLE). She’s just awesome.
Another great thing about our teacher is how dedicated she is to teaching. Instead of having class today, we had a chasse au trésor (treasure hunt) of Aix. We met in class to give the professor our homework, get information about the excursion to Luberon tomorrow and Marseille on Sunday(where to meet, so far and so forth), and get the packets with our questions to find the answers to. We split up into groups of 2 and we were off to plan our attack of Aix.
Luckily, I’m awesome with maps and my partner is fearless (meaning she’ll talk to just about anyone, cross the street in front of anything, and go anywhere), so our treasure hunt was much easier than most people’s (I would assume). Not that I’m bragging or anything. We walked for about 4 hours, taking our own sweet time, finding neat gems of the city. I learned that one of the fountains on the Cours Maribou that’s mostly moss, actually emits hot water, that the Cité de Livre is really close to my house, there’s a Monoprix closer to my house than the Cours Maribou, that French coffee is DELICIOUS, and the fountain at the center of the Rotonde actually has 3 statues at the top that represent 3 different things, facing 3 different cities. Woooooooooooooooow.
Luckily, I’m awesome with maps and my partner is fearless (meaning she’ll talk to just about anyone, cross the street in front of anything, and go anywhere), so our treasure hunt was much easier than most people’s (I would assume). Not that I’m bragging or anything. We walked for about 4 hours, taking our own sweet time, finding neat gems of the city. I learned that one of the fountains on the Cours Maribou that’s mostly moss, actually emits hot water, that the Cité de Livre is really close to my house, there’s a Monoprix closer to my house than the Cours Maribou, that French coffee is DELICIOUS, and the fountain at the center of the Rotonde actually has 3 statues at the top that represent 3 different things, facing 3 different cities. Woooooooooooooooow.
After we finished the most of the scavenger hunt (we left a few things for each of us to do that were close to our houses to avoid going too far out of the way), we went back to the school, where they had a mixer activity. It was nice, I guess. A table full of bread, several meats and cheeses, and wine in a box (which I can now say I’ve seen). It wasn’t really my thing, so my housemate and our friends decided to head home, eat dinner, take showers, and Skype our families before getting a good night’s rest.
Tomorrow, our excursion paid by the school to Luberon! Hopefully some pictures and whatnot afterwards. For me, it’s time to go to bed.
Bon nuit!
Tomorrow, our excursion paid by the school to Luberon! Hopefully some pictures and whatnot afterwards. For me, it’s time to go to bed.
Bon nuit!