The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

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whatiftheblog
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:21 pm

Stopping by here once again to issue a warning - if you decide to be a smartypants like me and set up your brand new Macbook (the same won't apply for Windows users) in French/whatever language you choose, make sure that when setting up your password for the machine itself, you pick something that's easy to type on both the QWERTY and the local keyboard layout (in my case, AZERTY). I bought a new Macbook for school, set it up in French straight out of the gate, the OS automatically switched my keyboard layout to AZERTY, then I set a complicated password, removed AZERTY from my keyboard layout options, changed my password on a QWERTY layout (without changing the keychain password), shut down the computer, and... obviously locked myself out :(

I tried to outsmart the system by referencing the (several) AZERTY layouts Macs use - no dice. There's a Restore Mode fix floating around online for this kind of problem, but that didn't work, so I had to torture a very nice San Diego-based gentleman named Bryan on the phone for over an hour, except Bryan was also unable to fix my problem and I ended up with a corrupted disk, so I now have to explain all of the above, in French, to the Apple Store people tomorrow :oops: Don't make this same mistake! Better yet, just set up the actual machine in English/your primary language, then switch the OS language to whatever you'd like, kill off any keyboard layouts you won't be using, and save yourself the hassle.
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whatiftheblog
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:30 am

Time for an update!

1. School's still going great in terms of the curriculum/program/cohort I'm in. I did, however, learn that there's going to be a series of both oral and written closed-book exams at the end of the classroom portion of the program next summer, and, um... :| That's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it, I suppose. Still waiting for my paperwork to process so that I can, you know, get a job like a normal functioning adult, but I'm not even letting myself get anxious over that bit yet. Whatever job I get will largely guide what sort of topic I pick for my dissertation, since the dissertation has to be related to my "professional project", and that's still a liiiiiittle bit in flux at the moment.

P.S. I'm paying a fifth of what my American MA cost for at least three times as many hours of instruction. Incredible, really.

2. I've switched out the progress bars in my signature for new ones, since the old ones didn't make much sense for my current situation. The new ones are meant to reflect two things:

- I have a serious problem with book buying in that I cannot walk into a Fnac without dropping at least $100. I've banned myself from the local Fnac until further notice, since I have a) no consistent salary; and b) at least 20 books waiting to be read. I've decided that I'm not going to be counting pages because the point, at this stage, is to actually read the books I so desperately wanted to own. Gotta get on that.

- My program is very different from the degrees I've previously done in that we have no fixed classes or assignments, just a bunch of seminars, each devoted to a specific topic. I'm trying to really stay on top of going over all of my class notes, powerpoints, and handouts, formatting everything, filling in the blanks (I most certainly need a refresher on the French administrative system, for instance), etc etc. The goalposts on this progress bar will keep shifting as the school year progresses - we've only had 7 seminars thus far, and I've only really polished my set of notes for one of those 7. Hoping to make significant progress tomorrow.
Last edited by whatiftheblog on Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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DaveBee
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby DaveBee » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:57 am

whatiftheblog wrote:[*] I have a serious problem with book buying in that I cannot walk into a Fnac without dropping at least $100. I've banned myself from the local Fnac until further notice, since I have a) no consistent salary; and b) at least 20 books waiting to be read. I've decided that I'm not going to be counting pages because the point, at this stage, is to actually read the books I so desperately wanted to own. Gotta get on that.
1. I tend to just let wanna-own-that-books pile up in the 'save for later' part of my favourite Internet Bookshop shopping basket. It turns out there's a limit to the number of things you can put in this basket! (~500?)

2. You need a library card.
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whatiftheblog
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:32 am

DaveBee wrote:
2. You need a library card.


I have one! My school also has a fantastic library. However, the whole issue I have is that I always feel like I need to own them, not just have them in my possession for a short period of time :P
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:02 pm

Alright, so, two big things coming up this week - my first two actual serious professional presentations in French in front of, you know, people other than my cat. :?

One is a group project, which should be fairly easy, and the other is allllll me - 30+ minutes of a case study presentation on a topic/event I know quite well. I was surprised to discover that preparing the powerpoint and accompanying notes for my case study wasn't nearly as complicated language-wise as I had expected it to be, though I've already done two timed run-throughs and I'm definitely noticing a need to work on eliminating "bon bah voilà" and "doncccccccc" from my speech. Which, generally, is a good problem to have - better than the alternative, anyway. One of my classmates said he's noticed me using "ummmm" a lot less, which is also good feedback! It's only been two months, so I'm hoping that by the time I hit the six-month mark, it'll all be smooth sailing.

I'll report back on how it goes!
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:54 pm

Ho ho hoooooo boy! So I'm supposed to be doing my 7th (?) run-through of my presentation for tomorrow, but instead I've fallen down a chatbot development rabbit hole (for those who haven't seen my other thread on this - https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =19&t=7322 - your input would be greatly appreciated!), and I've discovered something magical - an online course on chatbot development IN FRENCH. Double whammy! For $12! Yippee! Here's the one I'm taking: https://www.udemy.com/chatbots-chatbot- ... -et-heroku

For learners of other languages, there are tons of different courses in a bunch of languages across a very wide range of topics, and nearly all of them are $12-15: https://www.udemy.com/courses/development/all-courses/ (use the "language" dropdown to narrow down the list - these are just the ones on web dev, but they offer other things as well). I've taken a few Udemy courses before and I found them really interesting; my one recommendation would be to never, ever pay full price for them, simply create an account and you'll start getting email alerts for their "special offers" (90% discounts), which usually come around every few weeks.

I should be responsible and set this aside and go practice my presentation... right? Or... not? ;)
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:54 pm

Back from a bit of a hiatus with a variety of news to share :)

1. Spent Christmas break binging on two new-to-me French shows - Les hommes de l'ombre (Amazon Prime France, may be available elsewhere) and Trepalium (Netflix France, may be available elsewhere). Les hommes de l'ombre is about a political communications guru and the many crises he has to deal with; I was really excited about the premise, but found the script significantly overwrought at times - seriously, no one has that many crises in a row. However, the actor who plays the main character, Bruno Wolkowitch, was outstanding.

Trepalium is a dystopia about the... world of work and social inequality, I guess is the best way to describe it. Hard to go into more detail without ruining the premise, but if you like dystopian fiction, you'll enjoy it! I thought it was really good - sadly, there's only one season (for now), although apparently they're going to make more series based on the same premise, where they explore a topic relevant to modern society through a dystopian lens.

2. Got my visa "validated", meaning I have a (renewable) residency permit through the fall, by which point I hope to be able to transform it into something more permanent. As it stands, I can start working again! Yay! I briefly considered switching my status to that of an "auto-entrepreneur" so that I could continue freelancing... and then reconsidered. It's doable - immigration regulations in this regard are WAY simpler to deal with here than in the US, for instance - and it would only require a bit of a headache in terms of paperwork collection, but I realized I actually... didn't really enjoy the freelancing work I was doing. It gave me a solid financial cushion to comfortably be able to come here, but beyond that, I'd much rather focus on getting a job I enjoy that's directly in my field. I'm currently preparing a bunch of applications to send out and simultaneously trying to figure out how, logistically and financially, I'd be able to pull off a 3 days a week in Paris / 4 days a week in Alsace schedule while I still have class (through May), since, well, pretty much everything's in Paris. It won't be ideal, but if it can lead to a real job, it'd be totally worth it.

3. Haven't touched the bot yet, sorry folks :/ Nor many of my books. I'm old enough to know New Year's resolutions are quite silly, but I am actually fully focused on reading more, spending more time on my coursework, and limiting my exposure to English even further. It's weird to recognize, but I actually think I'm spending less time living "in French" these days than I used to in the US (this may also have had to do with the fact that I basically had foreign friends and family visiting nonstop for the first three weeks of December). A large part of that, I've now realized, had to do with a certain "déprime" I'd caught when I moved, and I know myself well enough to know that that only happens when I'm bored and don't have a clear goal or project in mind. When my classmates are in town and class is in session, everything's wonderful - I remember being absolutely elated to spend two full days working on school projects, for example. However, when I'm left alone, I'm bored and waste time, often falling down rabbit holes in English. It's not even homesickness, just a sense of blah - I'm just not made for extended staycations. I've taken actionable steps to fix this - I've applied to volunteer here, though I'm still waiting on the process to be finalized so that I can actually start - and I'll obviously be focusing on job applications now that I can legally work. However, I really need to be more on the ball about this!

Despite that last bit there, I definitely feel like I'm constantly getting better at French. Our local Christmas markets are rumored to be some of the finest in all the land, and there was a stand with this particular kind of spaetzle that I absolutely loved. When I last ordered it, the guy was like, "bah vous, vous êtes du coin, là?" I thought he was referring to the fact that he'd seen me before, so I was like, yeah, I live here, and he was like, but you're Alsatian, right? Because only Alsatians pronounce "spaetzle" like that! The look on his face when I told him I was American 1) was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and 2) made this whole thing completely worth it. :D

Bonnes Fêtes à tous ! May your language learning journeys take you far through the festivities and beyond!
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Jim
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby Jim » Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:07 pm

whatiftheblog wrote: Les hommes de l'ombre (Amazon Prime France, may be available elsewhere)

This is available in the UK on All4 under the title "Spin". Can’t remember much about it, only that it has Grégory Fitoussi in it too (Pierre from Engrenages).
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby whatiftheblog » Tue Mar 13, 2018 3:04 am

Long hiatus - sorry, folks! :D I've got a lot of little language-related tidbits and milestones to share, so I'll proceed in list format:

1. I can definitely feel how much being/living/studying/hanging out here has helped me progress, so I'm accepting the small victories as they come. I was able to compose a thesis proposal - that was accepted off the bat! - without any external proofreading, and it only took a few hours. I'm instinctively reaching for more varied, complicated words now, and my interactions are a lot more fluid now. I used to dread having to sit down and write a formal email, now it's totally cool - I'm sort of locked in a death match with the agency that manages the Airbnb I'm renting over a ludicrous bill I'm 100000% not paying, and I've been knocking out some pretty good prose in my emails to them lately. In-person interactions are totally chill, though I still have trouble with small things (de/du, etc) here and there - I've learned to glide over them quickly while speaking so that I don't focus on them too much, because the more I focus on them, the more likely I am to go into total brainfreeze mode, and then it's all downhill from there.

2. Speaking of in-person interactions... I've now gone through a total of three interviews with two companies here (one tiny, one enormous), and they weren't so bad, either. The tiny one seems to be very interested, but doesn't have anything for me at the moment, so we've promised to keep in touch; the enormous one... let's just say that I wasn't in love with the atmosphere. I'm not sure whether I'll get an offer from the latter, but even if I do, I will almost definitely turn it down because...

3. ... I've decided to convert my residency permit to "autoentrepreneur" status. Come July, I'll either have to start the process of renewing my student residency card or have something else lined up - a salaried position, autoentrepreneur status, or a life partner :P Actually admitting, in writing, that I'm set on turning down an offer from a huge company to set up as a full-time freelancer is... sorta terrifying? However, this is a side gig I've had for years, I have documented past performance, my clients all want me back (and are willing to write letters to this effect), and financially it would make the most sense. Since my program technically only ends in the spring of 2019, though classes finish this May, I'm taking this "extra" year that school is giving me to take this risk. If it doesn't work out, I can always start looking for a job and convert myself to salaried status. I'm hoping the prefecture approves this, since I'll be paying taxes without "taking up" a vacancy, so it's a win all around.

4. In order to approve this, though, the prefecture has to see a business plan, of which I have already somehow produced 10 pages. This has been the most... curious exercise that I've done in French, but I'm really enjoying the process, strangely enough.

5. Next up: accounting. In French. :|

IF this actually works, I'll be pretty pleased with myself. Politically it should all be very kosher, they're all #ChooseFrance #cocorico these days, and I hope to be the only applicant to have used the word "intrinsèquement" in their dossier, so maybe that'll count for something? 8-)

PS - Oh, and if my freelance thing takes off, it would probably do me a world of good to actually properly learn Spanish, so I would be interacting with it so often. Hmmmmm. Since what I have is so imbalanced across skills and vocab, I'll probably re-start Duolingo, do some grammar exercises, and read and watch the news to start, but it won't be until the summer. Grumph.
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Re: The great push to C2 (Extra French Edition)

Postby schlaraffenland » Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:45 am

Your log is a delight and an inspiration to me. I'm always really happy to see there's an update from you! And, thanks to your mention of it, I read Anne Nivat's Dans quelle France on vit recently. I appreciate everything you've shared, plus your determination.

whatiftheblog wrote:... there was a stand with this particular kind of spaetzle that I absolutely loved. When I last ordered it, the guy was like, "bah vous, vous êtes du coin, là?" I thought he was referring to the fact that he'd seen me before, so I was like, yeah, I live here, and he was like, but you're Alsatian, right? Because only Alsatians pronounce "spaetzle" like that!


Would you happen to be able to approximate here how spaetzle is pronounced in Alsace? Does it sound pretty much identical to the (southwestern) German pronunciation? Curious, because I used to live just across the border and to the south of Strasbourg :) Man, I miss properly made (viz., not cooked by me) spaetzle.
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