Me: Quoi?
Him: DC Peu.
Me: Comment?? Je ne comprends pas.
Him: D apostrophe ici peu. D'ici peu.
Me: Oh, okay... (still confused...)
Other American: Rebecca, I say that to you all the time.
So! Apparently, "d'ici peu" means in a little bit, and "d'ici jeudi," for example, means before Thursday. Like, "between now and Thursday." I know there's a lot of French words and phrases I don't know, but I'm always really surprised when I learn one like that, that I've apparently heard before but never questioned. I later verified with a real French person that this is, in fact, something that people say.
It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so I opted to stay in the park with a bunch of other people and picnic and play soccer and other field day type games.
And speak English.
It's interesting... you really do call attention to yourself here if you're speaking English. Which makes sense, because I'm always interested when I hear people speaking French in the United States. And if they're in a big group, sometimes I may or may not follow them around the Art Institute...
Anyway, we had a group of 20 or so people in the park, and many of us were speaking English. You could tell that nearby people were talking about us and some were saying not so nice things.
Later, I was walking with an American friend, speaking English, and a guy stopped and basically interviewed me in English. "Do you speak English? Do you teach English here? And France, you like it? You teach English here in Valence? And do you speak French? Okay, have a good night." That's probably what I sounded like when I talked to the French family that came to the Millennium Park tent this summer.
So, in conclusion, at times I really enjoy being able to speak English with other people here, but I also appreciate the fact that I'm forced to speak French and I really don't speak any English in Crest, unless I'm on Skype!
It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so I opted to stay in the park with a bunch of other people and picnic and play soccer and other field day type games.
And speak English.
It's interesting... you really do call attention to yourself here if you're speaking English. Which makes sense, because I'm always interested when I hear people speaking French in the United States. And if they're in a big group, sometimes I may or may not follow them around the Art Institute...
Anyway, we had a group of 20 or so people in the park, and many of us were speaking English. You could tell that nearby people were talking about us and some were saying not so nice things.
Later, I was walking with an American friend, speaking English, and a guy stopped and basically interviewed me in English. "Do you speak English? Do you teach English here? And France, you like it? You teach English here in Valence? And do you speak French? Okay, have a good night." That's probably what I sounded like when I talked to the French family that came to the Millennium Park tent this summer.
So, in conclusion, at times I really enjoy being able to speak English with other people here, but I also appreciate the fact that I'm forced to speak French and I really don't speak any English in Crest, unless I'm on Skype!
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