Re: PM’s French Re-entry into the Matrix - Phase 1: 500 Hours Extensive Reading

[PeterMollenburg]

Well it's been quite a while since I last posted by my standards, but I guess I was looking at maybe ending my log and my situation was so uncertain.

For 6 months or there abouts my family and I have been on a kind of roller-coaster ride with regards to obtaining visas for Saudi Arabia. In the end after moving out of our house, putting furniture in storage and so many bureaucratic hurdles met to obtain these visas and ticked off one by one, it's now apparent this is just not going to happen. Today we took the decision to end the journey as we have been living in an uncertain situation for too long now and the last (yet another unexpected) hurdle was proving impossible to eliminate.

So, I will dropping Arabic. I had not got far with Arabic as such uncertainty didn't bode well for my commitment to the language.

Since we're out of our house and have been for months, we're now in a position to move somewhere else. The plan is to return to my hometown which I left around 11 years ago where my family is living and spend some time living there. This could be many years it may be a couple.

I've been continuing with French and Dutch - French everyday, most days only 30 minutes, Dutch every so often (and Arabic perhaps once a week). I'm uncertain of what my language plans are for the rest of this year now, and I'm unsure about my plans for the future (including my endless desire to spend considerable time in Europe each year).

Kind regards to PeterMollenburg,
much love, PM (a.k.a. PeterMollenburg).

[Elsa Maria]

Wow, that does sound like a roller coaster. I hope everything smooths out now for you and your family.

[tomgosse]

It certainly seems that you need some time to decompress from all this.
Bon courage mon ami,
Tom

[PeterMollenburg]

Thanks guys for your sympathies and for those following along.

I've been doing a considerable amount of pondering with a bit of digging online to see what my career options are for the coming years.

My French has predominantly been in a holding pattern for around 6 months. I doubt there's been much improvement, but at least I've maintained. I feel I improve more when I solidly hit the courses/grammar books based on past experience. Okay, there's perhaps been a little bit of improvement noted in the ease at which I read nowadays to the children, as that's one activity that's been fairly consistent. I want to improve my French further.

I declared some time ago I was going on another course mission. That didn't happen. Life has been too unpredictable to allow for it and I kinda felt like doing the opposite and going fully native only the very next day. However what I managed to do was somewhere in between. I just made it my thing to read the the kids when I had the opportunities, watch the news and the odd other French TV show when it would fit in with my day, listen to podcasts occasionally and work my way through Glossika French, which I completed perhaps some weeks ago now.

When I say completed, I did it my way, not the way you're supposed to. I used the GMS files to shadow while commuting. I'm still reviewing some, but it was a useful way to get me talking while commuting, since sometimes (too often), when tired, podcasts weren't suitable as I simply would constantly trail off and not pay attention. Glossika was useful, but by no means an awesome course with it's bullshit translations at times. Still it's pretty unique, so it was useful for it's unique place in a hoarde of courses that I own. If they improve on it, it'd certainly be something worthwhile in one's list of courses (if one had one). I completed all the GMS (Glossika Mass Sentence) files only, through all the levels. I didn't bother with GSR files. I'm also working through it in Dutch now, but have a long way to go.

Speaking of Dutch, I've remained in touch with it, but barely. Just enough to reignite a small percentage of my past knowledge... just, but that's about all. We need a place we can call home, new jobs and to settle into a routine before I can go on targeted missions with these two languages. I do foresee French taking up 3/4 of my language learning time as I want to try to push it clearly beyond where it has been hovering for a while. I might aim for 30 min of Dutch a day.

But on the career note, I've been considering tranlsation studies that I could match with my medical background among a few other things. At least then my career (even if nursing in English most of the time) as a nurse would work for me as I gain expertise and knowledge that could help for medical translations down the track. We'll see. It's a thought among many, but one I really like as I've ignored that itch (to do something meaningful in terms of employment or official study with languages) for too long, it seems. But of course, there were valid reasons for that, and it seems working in interpreting and/or translation is not usually a lucrative job, and my level of French is not good enough, yet.

I really don't feel like posting this waffle, nor do I feel completely content about having a log anymore as I simply feel that modern technology is often all about information gathering and I'm not too happy about leaving my comments online to be forever sitting about. I know, I'm not literally the Prime Minister, and still I don't have delusions of grandeur. We, the little people matter, as do our freedoms and rights, which have all too often been chipped away at or blatantly stolen for some other BS grand cause or master plan.

Medicine has tempted me lately too, since we opted not to go to Saudi and I still have expensive desires (Europe). How to get there (frequently, or even semi-frequently) remains a dilemma. It's a goal I do not want to relinquish, but sometimes I wonder if life has other plans for me. For now, it does at least. I could not necessarily get into medicine easily here, but where there's a will there's a way, and it's much easier to get into here than say France, not to mention that graduate entry medicine is quite common here. However the possibilities for doctors working in other countries seem very limited. It seems that you're best to train in the country you intend to work in and vice versa. Still I don't think I'm suited to it, given I have so many negative sentiments already about the medical system. If I were a doctor and spoke my mind or practised truthfully, I'd likely lose my license, have my name dragged through the mud and possibly wind up dead. Exaggeration perhaps? No, I say, definitely not. So, if I did medicine, I'd likely have to learn to do things I completely disagree with and learn to shut my mouth, then again, I already do that in nursing. You see, pieces of paper and fear do control us. Or is it just fear?

For a MA of Translation and Interpreting my French needs to improve. Thus, I shall aim to do so. DALF C1 and/or C2 remain on the cards, but i'm not certain I need to sit those tests this year, but certainly focused improvement needs to occur. I want to go to Belgium still for a year of nursing, but that's not going to happen soon, so whether that opportunity remains when I'm ready, well only time will tell. The agency is still in touch with me and me with them with the situation. I'm told there are currently more jobs in Vlanderen/Flanders than Wallonia, with better rates of pay as well. A year in nursing in Belgium could only add to moving towards translation work with a specialisation in the medical field.

Still, moving back to my hometown is not all about languages, which means, that for languages, time will continue to be an issue, but there are other things in life. I want to get back into a good exercise routine with my father and nephew, check in on my mother who took a turn for the worse a while back, allow for my kids to have a closer relationship with their cousins and so on...

I hope everyone is going well out there!

[tommus]

Have you considered a government job in the diplomatic corps? Already having a considerable ability in French might be your entry ticket. Typically, governments send their diplomats on about a year-long language course before posting them abroad. Your French is probably already that good. You might be able to get a foreign posting in any number of French-speaking countries, including Belgium. It might be worth looking into. Then that would really give you a language improvement objective.

[PeterMollenburg]

Have you considered a government job in the diplomatic corps? Already having a considerable ability in French might be your entry ticket. Typically, governments send their diplomats on about a year-long language course before posting them abroad. Your French is probably already that good. You might be able to get a foreign posting in any number of French-speaking countries, including Belgium. It might be worth looking into. Then that would really give you a language improvement objective.

I have considered the filed of diplomacy at times, but can you elaborate a little more as I'm not sure I'm following exactly what you're talking about. Do you mean completing a degree in foreign diplomacy and then pursuing a government job?

[tommus]

can you elaborate a little more as I'm not sure I'm following exactly what you're talking about. Do you mean completing a degree in foreign diplomacy and then pursuing a government job?

I am not a diplomat so I can't offer much more. And every country will be different in terms of their foreign affairs departments. But I have served abroad in several countries in the military. Knowledge of the local language is certainly an asset. My suggestion would relate to embassies, high commissions and consulates abroad. Obviously, a degree in foreign affairs would be an asset but I imagine that there are lots of jobs in embassies where language ability is far more important. Maybe you could contact your Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here is a page that lists all the embassies and websites:

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

And here is one for foreign affairs jobs although there don't seem to be any at the moment that require French:

Careers

Maybe you could be preemptively contact some of your embassies in French-speaking countries.

[PeterMollenburg]

You’ve got to wonder about life sometimes, right?

I’m sitting on the side of road awaiting assistance, well in the back seat of the very damaged car at this moment, after having hit a pretty big kangaroo about an hour ago. The car’s a write off, more than likely, and it’s not mine. Bummer. We borrowed the car as one of ours broke down yesterday on the freeway after my wife finished a night duty well over an hour away from where we’re staying.

I’m glad I came away absolutely unscathed, as hitting a big kangaroo at 100 km/hr is usually a recipe for disaster. With the glare, I had no time to swerve, which is very much a good thing.

And one of the first to stop to ask if I was okay after the accident, was a nice Belgian (Flemish) man. Anyway, I must get back to my very busy waiting... for la dépanneuse. I have the liberty of surfing the net for a bit as i’m 2hrs from home, 1.5hrs from what was meant to be my destination and a while off assistance arriving.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Yikes! Glad to hear you are safe!

[tomgosse]

You’ve got to wonder about life sometimes, right?

I’m glad I came away absolutely unscathed, as hitting a big kangaroo at 100 km/hr is usually a recipe for disaster. With the glare, I had no time to swerve, which is very much a good thing.

I'm glad that you are okay. What happened to the kangaroo?