After five weeks of advanced French classes, I can easily categorize each class in to “good” days or “bad” days. On bad days, I leave class discouraged and frustrated and tell myself I never want to take another French class again.
Yet a good day in French means that I comprehend at least 90 percent of the class, and can easily follow along. My daily summary presentation goes well, and I’m able to express an opinion during the discussion about the current chapter we’re studying. I noticed that after good days, I usually leave class thinking in French for an hour or two.
As a senior in high school I was offered the chance to spend a year in France as a French Exchange student. After declining the offer for a number of reasons, I saw an article in the newspaper about Julia Karpinski, a girl from my school who spent a year in France. The most memorable thing that she said from the article was:
“As soon as you start dreaming in French you know you’re going to be okay.”
In my defense, I’m only immersed in 100% French for 4 hours per week, so even though I haven’t dreamed in French, thinking in a foreign language (that I’m not already fluent in) is something to be proud of.
The first class of my sixth week in French, I caught myself volunteering to answer questions, which had been a first for me all quarter. My contribution to class discussion became more voluntary, instead of waiting for the professor to call on me to answer a question or participate in the discussion.
It’s hard to say whether I’ve had more good or bad days in terms of quantity, but the greatest factor between the two is impact. A bad day can affect me for a night, or a week, or just give me a temporarily grim outlook on the quarter. A good day gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment, and reinforces my love for the language. On a good day, I can’t wait to visit France.
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