My owners tell me the word “beagle” comes from the French word “begueule,” which means “open throat” or “loudmouth.”
Ain’t that the truth.
So imagine what happens when you stick a bunch of us together on a boat…
So far, French has had its ups and downs. There have been sessions where I thought I was really getting the hang of things. Then there were others where I couldn’t understand the homework at all. And by that I don’t mean the homework was difficult, I mean I literally could not understand the French my teacher was using to tell us what the homework assignment was.
Today, though, was a first. I wish I could say it was the first time that I found myself thinking in French instead of translating, or that it was the first time I made it through a class without any pronunciation problems. But it wasn’t either of those things. Today was the first time my teacher gave me – gave anyone – a high five for excellent French.
Why did I get the high five, you ask? Well, during an exercise when we were practicing ways to tell someone that you did not understand them, I found myself unable to figure out a way to rephrase my question in another way. So instead I simply told my speaking partner (in French, of course) that I would repeat myself, but more slowly. And then I began to repeat myself, more slowly.
Alex thinks I got the high five because the teacher was impressed with me. I think it’s because I finally said something right and he was throwing me a bone.
Either way, I think a high five should be worth at least half a point on the final exam. I hope I can cash it in.
A peak into what’s going on these days in Benin…
CNN: “Accusations of child witchcraft on the rise in Africa”
BBC: “Benin – democracy, the Chinese way – or voodoo?”
Bloomberg: “Benin’s government seizes cars, buildings and money from executives of ICC”
Afrique en Lingue: “Benin lifts dissolution of national football team”
Tags: Benin, democracy, news, witchcraft
For the first two weeks of French, Andy and I were in different classes held at different times. Well, no more. Our two larger classes were rearranged at the beginning of this week into five smaller ones, and despite my pleas to the powers that be, we ended up in the same class. (Kidding. There were no pleas. No casual requests even.)
Truth be told, though, I was a little worried about how this all would go. Would I get frustrated if Andy caught on more quickly than I did? Would we get sick of spending all day every day together? Would Abbey rip the carpet to shreds in retribution for being abandoned by both of us at once?
Much to my surprise, it’s actually turned out fine. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s turned out well. We’re pretty evenly stacked as French learners: I remember more vocabulary and grammar than Andy, but his pronunciation doesn’t draw our professor’s ire the way mine does. (Side note: I’ve made no progress in Operation Conquer the French R.)
I’ve even discovered some perks to sharing a class with Andy. Like, if I finish my Coke Zero, there’s another one there for me to steal.
As for Abbey, she’s been sleeping her way through our absence just like before.
So, all is well. Well, everything except the fact that we’re supposed to be speaking real French by the middle of December. (My end of training exam date is officially set for December 14.) I still don’t see how that’s going to happen…
I finished my second triathlon over the weekend.
Congrats! You came in #1792!
It’s strange to think that by next year I’ll be far away in Benin and couldn’t participate in the NYC Tri even if I wanted to. Not that I want to. My old man knees are crying out for retirement.
Alex and I are eyeing the Marathon de Paris, however. It would be a great way to see the city, although I think my knee just gave me a dirty look.
After four years of Spanish in high school and then three semesters in college — just one semester away from fulfilling my language requirement — I quit. I started all over again with Zulu.
Why?
Well, a lot of reasons, but let me tell you about one of them: that stupid rolled R. It was my nemesis. I could never get the hang of it, and as a result I sounded like a silly American no matter how much grammar and vocabulary I mastered (which wasn’t all that much anyway, but that’s another story).
Doesn’t Zulu have click sounds, you ask? Aren’t those worlds more difficult than a simple rolled R? Well, maybe for some people, but not for me. I can click just fine; I can’t for the life of me roll.
Fast forward almost a decade to today, two weeks in to my French training. For the most part, it’s going fine. I’m catching on to the grammar quite well. I’m remembering more and more vocabulary every day. I can say nasal vowels. I’ve gotten the hang of the fact that half of the word isn’t even pronounced. And most importantly, I know more than Andy. (Nothing like healthy competition to speed up the language learning, eh?)
There’s just one problem: the letter R.
Determined to conquer it once and for all, I first did some research. Turns out it’s quite different from my old nemesis the Spanish R, which is apparently spoken from the tip of your tongue. The French R comes from your throat.
Here’s the most useful advice I’ve found about saying it:
- Open your mouth.
- Close your throat as if you’re going to gargle or to avoid swallowing a mouthful of liquid, and say K carefully, several times.
- Pay attention to where in your throat the K sound is made. We’ll call this the K place.
- Begin slowly closing your throat, until you can almost feel the K place. Your throat should be only partially constricted.
- Tense the muscles around the K place.
- Gently push air through your partially constricted throat.
- Practice saying Ra-Ra-Ra (where R = steps 4-6) every day.
Truth be told, I’m not really sure how useful I can claim this advice to be, since after hours upon hours of practicing in the language lab, all I’ve achieved so far is a sore throat.
I’ll keep at it, but in the meantime I’m also dreaming up a plan B. Think it’s possible to learn a synonym for every word with the letter R? Hmm…
Au revoir! Er, never mind. I mean, à bientôt.
A while back I set up Google alerts to send me daily summaries of all new web content that match the search terms “Benin” or “Cotonou” — sort of cool, although honestly less useful than I hoped.
I’d say something like 49% of what comes through is actually about a place called Benin City in Nigeria. It’s a rubber industry hub. Lots of fascinating news about that. (Riiiight.)
Another, say, 49% of what pops up are blog entries by Peace Corp volunteers throughout Benin. These can indeed be interesting, but they don’t of course give me much historical or political content, which is what I really want.
It’s only every few days or so that a real news article comes through.
Here are some of the most recent:
NYT: “From West Africa, a Recipe for Spicy Trans-Atlantic Funk”
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, from Benin, belongs on the very short list of the world’s greatest funk bands. More than four decades into its career, most of them spent touring Benin and nearby West African countries, the 10-man orchestra made its blistering North American debut on Sunday night at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College as part of the Lincoln Center Festival… (Click here to read more.)
Bloomberg: “Benin Dismisses and Arrests Minister of Security for Fraud”
Benin dismissed and arrested Security Minister Armand Zinzindohoue for his involvement in a finance company that took deposits from people and hasn’t returned the funds, Work Minister Gerard Kuassi said. President Thomas Boni Yayi on July 8 fired Zinzindohoue, who was arrested yesterday after a commission of inquiry found he was involved in the company, known as ICC Services, Kuassi told reporters in Cotonou, the country’s commercial hub, today… (Click here to read more.)
Al Jazeera English: “Anger at France Bastille Day parade”
France has staged its traditional Bastille Day parade amid criticism from human rights groups at the invitation of some African leaders. Soldiers from 13 African nations marched through Paris on Wednesday to mark 50 years of independence from French colonial rule. … The parade saw fighter jets fly over the city, followed by African troops marching down the Champs Elysees avenue, headed by an all-female unit from Benin. (Click here to read more.)
Tags: bastille day, Benin, corruption, france, funk, google, music, news, nigeria
I started French this week. Yep, there was room for me. Thank goodness! I was getting pretty tired of hanging out with Abbey.
We had Monday off of course, and because this is the government we spent all day Tuesday doing administrative stuff. So I’ve really only had three days of French, but I can already see how it’s possible to go from nilch to proficiency in six months.
- Sheer time — You spend four hours every day in class and four hours every day doing homework or in the language lab. (Yes, it’s as tiring as it sounds.)
- Immersion – In addition to what we learn, we pick up stuff from our teacher who speaks to us mostly in French. I hear that soon she’ll drop the English completely so we’ll be forced to pick up even more.
- Even more serious immersion — Word on the street is that at month four or five you have the opportunity to go on a several-week immersion trip to somewhere like Martinique or the south of France or Montreal. They haven’t mentioned this to us yet, and it seems in poor form to ask while I’m still working on saying that my name is Andy and I’m not a diplomat, but you better believe I’ll be taking advantage of this opportunity if rumors are true. (Don’t worry — it’s not on your dime. I’ll have to pay for it, and Alex will too, but she’ll still get her salary and not have to use vacation time while we’re away.)
- Resources — The language lab has so many tools it’s unbelievable. Certainly no high school and probably no university language department has this much stuff at their disposal. And while you’re using the programs an instructor is listening to you and pipes in your headphone from time to time to help. Weird, but cool.
- Technique — In high school and college I studied vocab lists and took written tests. I could read German alright, but speak it? Not so much. Here it’s different. We spent a ton of time on pronunciation and pay much more attention to speaking than writing and reading. We’re getting a good amount of speaking practice now when we’re in a a 15-person class, and after next week we’ll break down permanently into smaller classes of only 4-5, so we’ll be talking in French all the time.
Also worth noting is that Alex and I aren’t in the same class. There are a few other couples starting French too, and they’re all together. Curious. Alex promises she didn’t request that we be in different classes. Despite what she thinks, I didn’t either — I would have had no idea who to talk to. But I think it actually worked out for the best. We learn slightly different things and it’s great to compare notes when we get home. Plus, since she has the later class she has to walk the dog in the morning.
A. Collection of antique voodoo dolls
B. Population of Peace Corps volunteers
C. Shrimp
D. Pristine stretch of beach
E. None of the above
While any of those things may very well be true, the answer I’m looking for is actually E, none of the above.
In fact, as of about a year ago, Benin is home to the region’s largest hypermarket (the European term for supermarket). Yes, little old Benin has a larger grocery store than even places like Ghana and Nigeria. Who would have guessed? Not me. But I’m certainly not complaining!
Not too shabby.
I have that much fun at the grocery store too! No, really, I actually do.
It looks bigger (and frankly, nicer) than the supermarkets we've gotten used to in NYC and DC.
So yes, the food will be fine. That’s one less excuse you can use to avoid visiting us.
Tags: Benin, food, grocery store
I guess some dogs like to swim.
Me, I'm not so sure.
But I'll give it a try.
It got too deep!
Where'd you guys go?
No, don't push me! I don't like this!
This is not fun.
Can you see the fear in my eyes?
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