Before I came to France, I always knew the importance of listening. Be it listening in conversations with others, listening in class, or even listening to what is going on the world. But now that I am in the country whose language I am attempting to master, I have discovered that the sheer value of listening has turned from bronze to gold. At a basic level, sure it is always necessary to listen carefully to the French person you are interacting with, so that you know how to respond and do not end up ordering mustard on your sandwich when you really actually hate mustard. (Not speaking from experience or anything...). But what I’ve found to essentially cement the building blocks of learning a language together is an “all-ears” type of listening, so I’m challenging myself to do just that.
I’ve always been tempted to bop in my headphones and listen to my music while walking to school, but then I thought, “well, I only have this limited-edition soundtrack of the South of France for a short period of time, so I better take advantage of it.” As it turns out, I don’t miss the music on my iPod when I can hear the sounds of birds chirping and just really take in the atmosphere that surrounds me. Looking like you are open to the world and not in your own little world also presents opportunities for interactions with French people (which by the way I’ve gotten asked for directions at least three times now – proof that I don’t look as lost anymore – go me !). The result ? When I first arrived in Aix, I felt discouraged because the world was very blurry – I couldn’t understand side conversations as I passed people on the street, there were many mustard sandwiches in my life, etc. – but now everything is coming more into focus, which I couldn’t be more happy about ! And hooray for no more mustard !
The next step in challenging myself to be “all-ears” all the time, is to continue listening to the radio. My host mom has this ancient radio that she listens to in the morning when she eats her breakfast, and I’ve started doing the same. With how fast they talk on the radio, I must admit that it is extremely hard to catch anything that is going on – hopefully there isn’t a world crisis getting announced that directly affects me or a recall of the cereal that I eat every morning – but I am optimistic that eventually more of what is said on the radio will “click “. It’s just a matter of time and consistent listening. More news on that later in the semester, now on to the weather forecast...
I’ve always been tempted to bop in my headphones and listen to my music while walking to school, but then I thought, “well, I only have this limited-edition soundtrack of the South of France for a short period of time, so I better take advantage of it.” As it turns out, I don’t miss the music on my iPod when I can hear the sounds of birds chirping and just really take in the atmosphere that surrounds me. Looking like you are open to the world and not in your own little world also presents opportunities for interactions with French people (which by the way I’ve gotten asked for directions at least three times now – proof that I don’t look as lost anymore – go me !). The result ? When I first arrived in Aix, I felt discouraged because the world was very blurry – I couldn’t understand side conversations as I passed people on the street, there were many mustard sandwiches in my life, etc. – but now everything is coming more into focus, which I couldn’t be more happy about ! And hooray for no more mustard !
The next step in challenging myself to be “all-ears” all the time, is to continue listening to the radio. My host mom has this ancient radio that she listens to in the morning when she eats her breakfast, and I’ve started doing the same. With how fast they talk on the radio, I must admit that it is extremely hard to catch anything that is going on – hopefully there isn’t a world crisis getting announced that directly affects me or a recall of the cereal that I eat every morning – but I am optimistic that eventually more of what is said on the radio will “click “. It’s just a matter of time and consistent listening. More news on that later in the semester, now on to the weather forecast...