The Point of Study Abroad is to Actually STUDY?!

My lovely school

A normal week for me is from Monday to Thursday. I take a general language course everyday with my awesome professor Nathalie Moreels and my fellow classmates. We all get along really well and I feel as if we all really enjoy class. I have a phonetics course, an art and publicity class, and French press and journalism. I spend about twenty hours a week in class, but get Fridays off so I'm not complaining!

In school, I have a lot of fun with my classmates. We had two birthdays during this stretch of time from the time we started to our vacation week at the end of October. One birthday was Lauren's, but I was sick that day, so I was unable to attend. I will now awkwardly post pictures of an event I didn't attend, but I was there in spirit.

Yes, they sell Lay's chips in France

A toast!

This pretty girl is my friend Lauren from California.

Our professor's birthday was the other birthday. We all chipped in to buy one of her favorite perfumes. We all were just hanging out, snacking, and celebrating for an hour during class.

Our lovely teacher making her wishes

St. Tropez cakes

My lovely classmates

A toast to health!

A prof and a prof

Our prof wondering where we found the perfume

My favorite class would have to be the general French language course. We have this class four times a week, so every school day with the same professor. At the beginning of the week, this class lasts for two hours. By the end of the week, the class stretches out to be three hours long. Our professor allows breaks to get coffee and go to the bathroom. This class covers French reading, writing, listening comprehension, and my favorite...grammar! There are some parts of French grammar that annoy me, but my favorite thing about French grammar is learning verbs. I like learning about tenses, moods, and how to conjugate them. By learning another language, my English grammar has greatly improved as well. I think learning another language is extremely beneficial for anyone. 

I also really like art and publicity. Our professor, Mme Thirion is funny and she is really into art. She tells us about the history of art and how it is used in ads from a long time ago to today. Here are some ads I like that she has shown us in class:

Orangina ad by Villemot

Ad for rat poison...the last supper they'll have!

Mon Savon ad by Savignac

French class in French is a lot harder than French class in English...that's for sure. I know that I am supposed to make mistakes an struggle with my French...but I am hoping very much that I get better and better. I already see many improvements. I am not as scared to speak French to actual French people as I was before. I know that if I give it my best shot, then they will most likely understand me. If I don't try, then I'll never be able to make any improvements in my French. I really enjoy French class for the most part. There are some times when I just don't understand something, but with the help of my professor and my classmates, I eventually understand. I like where I am learning French. In the Spring, I hope to take the DELF exam here. Instead of taking it in the States, I'd like to take it here to feel qualified enough to be a teacher in the future. But for now, I am preparing for the big day!