I mean this tweet about a cat represents my life.
Totally.
Not that a cat has tweeted about my life. That would be pretty cool though. Something to tell the grandkids about I suppose…*
*Father Ted reference. (Virtual five if you got that.)
sarah
How to learn a language while on erasmus
All you need to do, is make sure English is not your native language. And no matter where you do your erasmus, you will probably learn a lot of English. Plus whatever the local language is, assuming it’s not English. Two for the price of one. Did I mention you’ll learn English?
What I’m trying to say is, it’s extremely difficult for native English speakers to learn other languages because it seems like everyone studies English and knows enough for conversation. In fact, more often than not, they’ll know it better than the local language when on erasmus.
In other words, I’m blaming my lack of progression with French on what I’ve just said above.
In other words, being a native English speaker is fantastic (you’ll almost always be able to find other English-speakers no matter where you go) – unless you want to learn a language.
In other words, I’d really like to learn some French.
11 things that happen if you don’t have internet for 2 days
Oh look – a listicle. List article. List. Whatever you want to call it. Similar in design to many of those non-news stories which may pop up on your Facebook homepage if you’re unfortunate enough to use the slightly soul-destroying social media site. (I haven’t managed to delete mine yet (if that’s even technically possible), but I have used it less over the last while, so that’s a start.)
So… Here’s a super informative list of what happens (in my experience) if you don’t have internet for over two whole days. Obviously, being a listicle, this contains unique and very wise insider knowledge that you just could not function or survive without:
1. You socialise.
2. You make friends.
3. You exercise. (I actually went for a run. And it wasn’t even to a wifi hotspot.)
4. You go exploring (especially if you’ve just moved to a new area, like I have, and need to find your way around).
5. You go shopping. (Proper, real life shopping, not online shopping.)
6. You get enough sleep.
7. You get into a good sleeping pattern.
8. You meet up with people when you say you were going to meet up with them because you can’t contact them to say you might be late (taking a fully functioning phone out of the question because I’m abroad and haven’t got a sim card that works here yet).
9. You go outside.
10. You tidy, and in my case, unpack (in reverse order).
11. You clean.
What?! You do actual things?!? Talk to actual people?!?! Madness!!
I was right to be terrified about erasmus…
It turns out my fear was justifiable. I’ve spoken almost entirely in English so far (I got here yesterday). It’s a nightmare. I need to avoid it, but can’t. Maybe after orientation and all that I’ll be able to settle in properly and actually speak French as much as I’d like to.
So far, it’s been nowhere near enough – an occasional question or encounter with university staff or shop assistants, but basically nothing else. Which has made me realise that my French is terrible now. I can barely ask basic things, and attempting to hold a conversation just fries my brain. I keep speaking Spanish by accident (things like ‘bueno’ and ‘gracías’, mainly, as well as normally saying ‘y’ instead of ‘et’). I hope that doesn’t last.
I don’t want to forget my Spanish or the tiny bit of an Argentinian accent I may have picked up when saying certain phrases, but I don’t want to keep letting Spanish get in the way of learning French. Quel cauchmar.
My pronunciation is terrible too. I just don’t remember how you’re supposed to pronounce things in French – vowels, the letters ‘c’ and ‘j’, and even where to put the emphasis in a word.
Basic vocabulary too, grammar – you name it, I’ve probably forgotten it.
Everything is really expensive as well. So that’s awful.
On a happier note, it’s quite sunny.
Why I’m terrified about going on erasmus
Yes, that does say “terrified”, you’re not hallucinating…
But erasmus sounds amazing? Yes, yes it does.
And didn’t you just spend five months living in Argentina? Yes, yes I did.
So then what’s the problem?!
My problem is, that the whole point of me going on erasmus, is to learn a language. Yes, that’s the point of most people going on erasmus, unless they study abroad, but in a place where their native language is also the local one. However, most people who speak English don’t learn as much on erasmus, well, as I’d like to. I’m not saying that they’re stupid and I’m aiming to learn much more because I’m clearly better than them. I’m not. They probably don’t want to learn a language as much as I do. Or, want to put their erasmus to what they think is better use – maybe by getting to know people from all over the world, and just enjoying the whole experience. And I don’t disagree with them at all. Both of those are hugely important to me too. You can’t just go on erasmus and be stuck in dictionaries and grammar books for the whole time you’re there. I have no intention of that. I just want to improve my French.
Unfortunately though, English is quite a universal language especially when it comes to Europe, and most students who do erasmus speak some English – therefore (and because many of them are native English speakers) it automatically becomes the language they speak with each other, rather than the local language, which they obviously have to know, or at least learn at some point, too. Often, the local language is their third language, and English their second, so it’s actually easier for them to speak English.
This is fantastic if your first language is not English – you can do one erasmus and improve hugely at two languages.
As a native English speaker though, I’m filled with dread at the thought of having to try so hard to avoid speaking English with others in France, if it will even be possible – I won’t be able to completely escape it, but I will speak it as little as possible. Basically, I’m setting myself up to have no friends on erasmus, because I will run a mile from all the lovely erasmus students who (quite harmlessly) dare to speak to me in English, and even the French ones who do the same. Erasmus students don’t generally mix that much with other students and it’s because of this that I’m scared about going on erasmus. I’d rather not have no friends, but I don’t want to only make friends with people who solely speak English to me. In France, I mean. Obviously at home that’s fairly tolerable.
I am a native English speaker, I swear!
I think this blog could be a good way of keeping track of my deteriorating English if (I mean when) I continue to post regularly. It’s already gotten quite bad just from spending five months in Argentina (yeah that’s a thing I did, I might write about it later…). Since I’ve gotten home there have been so many occasions where I literally couldn’t get across exactly what I was trying to say, couldn’t think of a particular word that I needed, or just directly translated phrases I’d learned in Spanish into English, which ends up sounding a bit weird because although they make sense, we don’t use those exact phrases.
That and actually speaking in Spanish accidentally a few times. Now I don’t mean blurting out whole sentences in Spanish, but a few phrases now and then, like “ay díos” or “¡díos mio!”* if something goes wrong, or annoys me, or “¿qué sé yo?”** pretty much if anyone asks me a question ever. It’s nice that I picked up these phrases, and remember them, but it would be handier if I didn’t use them when meant to be speaking English…
And then there’s the hand gestures. I’ve attempted to teach one or two to friends from home, and one even caught on for a while, but I’m not sure I’m going to succeed in making them a permanent part of Irish culture just yet. Sometimes I find myself doing them and almost have to grab my hand and lower it back down into a more regular, motionless state so I can converse like a normal Irish person again.
Now France is going to influence how I communicate too, and if I manage to avoid speaking English a lot there then my English will surely get even worse. I don’t want to be awful at English, but I like to think that if my English is getting bad then surely my other languages are improving, right? …But then I find words I don’t understand in other languages and look up their meanings only to find that they’re the same in English, and realise I may need to work on improving my English for once.
But I thought I was a native speaker?!
* = “oh god” or “my god!”
** = “what do I know?”
…Who are you?
I’m Sarah. And I’m not quite sure how to fully answer that question. What am I even doing here? Read on and maybe one of us will figure it out…
