How to Survive the TCF

I whined about it, wondered if I was crazy for taking it, worried about failing it and almost cried when I got mocks back. But in reality, I survived it, notwithstanding the fact I found it unbelievably miserable.

There are two large French language exams, the DELF and the TCF. Both are published by the same company (like the SAT/ACT) and follow the same system for levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. The DELF is valid for life but you choose your level and pass/fail it. The TCF is valid for 2 years but is more to know your level; maybe you'll be A2+ or B1, surprise! I took the TCF back in December (scored an A2) but took it again today to see if maybe my French improved to an extent that perhaps I could pass for a higher level. Either way, I wanted to experience the joys of high level exams and the panic that you might die and reseed back into the earth from which you came.

The TCF has 5 sections of torture.

1) Comprehension Orale is listening to a tape and identifying what's going on; did he call his wife or boss an idiot? Are the speakers approving or disapproving of the recycling habits of modern Parisians? The questions for the entire exam always start out easy and get progressively harder as the levels advance.

2) Following Comp Orale is Structure de la Langue (i.e. grammar). It's mostly high level grammar fill in the blanks with the correct conjugations of irregular verbs.

3) Comprehension Ecrite. Comp Ecrite is just like the SAT, reading passages and answered A, B, C, D, this passage expresses black, this article has a blank option, this sign would be found black. The C1 questions would be college level papers with text so small you need a magnified glass to read it and evidently, a huge vocab to understand what it's about!

4) After all this is Expression Ecrite, to assess your writing abilities. There are 6 assignments on typically like writing appropriate responses to business letters, articles for make-believe newspapers, arguments for causes, letters to friends for 95 minutes.

5) Following all this comes the Expression Orale, talking into a mic while the director of your school posses the questions. Oh joy. I think that might be the most stressful part of the entire deal.

Anyway, oh joy it's over. Oh no I have to wait 3 weeks for the results and yahoo I can take it again in August if I hate my results. I thought of a Carrie Underwood song when the whole thing was over though, every tear that had to fall from my eyes, every day I wondered how I'd get though the night, every change life has thrown me...some pages turned, some bridges burned but they're were lessons learned...

How Not to get Lost in Paris

The State of "Lost"

Now there is always the concern that you will reach the hopeless, helpless, painful state known as "being lost." Many people take great care not to reach this condition and arm themselves with such tools as maps, GPS systems, cell phones, credit cards, pain killers but still, it befalls the prepared and the unprepared alike. However, the unprepared raise their likelihood of "being lost" being simply the unprepared.

I have on 2 different occasions gotten really lost in Paris. Once, looking for the US embassy. (Why is there a USA flag flying over something other then the embassy? Becoming French are we?) The other time, looking for a cinema. Both times I dragged my friends around the block several times before discovering, I really hate Google Maps, I hate street signs, and I will never, ever on pain of death admit I'm "lost."

I have learned a great lesson regarding the "lost" state. Find a metro. It's really that simple actually. It's like a car is always waiting for you, where ever you go. You simply scurry down the big black hole into the underground and look at the metro map. "I need to take this metro to Nation then the RER A to Chatelet and then I can take the 10 line to Concorde and I'm a block away from the restaurant." (Never mind that happen's to be the most expensive district in Paris, you're there.)

Kind of cheating but it sure works...awesome! And I never have to ever really admit I'm lost! (evil laugh)

How to Love The Palace of Versailles

How can you not adore wholeheartedly the Palace of Versailles? It's absolutely impossible. The place is incredible, and excessive, and huge and so totally worth a go!

I am a Versailles freak. I admit it! I love the place! 9 months in Paris, never seen the Arch a la Defence, been to a handful of museums, never been inside Gallery Lafayette but I've made it to Versailles...4...5...times...I think...

My recent visit (last Saturday and the most recent) reminded me exactly what I adore about the palace. There is a must do list to visit as there is for everything in life.

1) Stare at the Palace. You have to stare at it...for a long time...every time you go. It's huge. I'm from a country which just celebrated it's 400th anniversary. Versailles is over 330 years old. It's old, it's beautiful, it's a historical monument, it's Versailles!

2) Go inside. Why visit if you're not going to stick your head in and see the ridiculously pompous status in which ancient royalty used to lodge themselves. The Hall of Mirrors, Marie Antoinette's former chamber, the mini-Cathedral and the theater, all merit a visit.

3) Walk the gardens. In summer the fountains play. Because it's presently summer, they charge you to go in the cultivated/most pretty sections but you can still spend several hours walking around. The fountains play to hopelessly tacky music but walk through the rows of perfectly shaped bushes, trees, flowers, everything perfect and spotless.

4) Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. France's most famous queen had her own personal hamlet to escape the palace and court etiquette. Towards the end of her reign when heavily influenced by Rousseau, she wanted to get closer to nature and her natural state. Now, we have the leftovers from it...and they're quite pretty.

5) Lunch at the Canal. Every time I've been there, I ate something along the canal, watching the huge fish. You can look up the hill to the palace and see just about everything that's going on. Not to mention, it's cheaper (and more fun).

6) Take lots of pictures. The landscape makes for great backgrounds. I seriously saw 3 different couples getting their wedding pictures done in the gardens the last time I was there. It works great for pictures.

That's just a start. A good journalist might turn this into a three part series but I'm just a French student!

How to Survive a Rainy Day

When it rains and you're living overseas, it's very easy to become depressed and feel the entire world is crashing down on you. In fact, that's sort of how I feel this ugly rainy afternoon. Why does it have to rain today?Why do I live in France? Why wasn't I born a martian? My computer doesn't love me!

1) Do your homework. It's very difficult to feel sad when wrapped in homework. It's virtually impossible, in fact. Between your online dictionary, your notes on the subjonctif and the conditionnel, it's easy to remind yourself that you live for a purpose, to do your homework.

2) Have a nice lunch. It's ridiculous how a cup of coffee with a French baguette makes everything so much more tolerable. (Unless of course the coffee is instant in which case, this proposal is rendered completely void.) A piece of chocolate (dark chocolate to match the mood) with the coffee makes even more sense and serves to easily remind you, that comfort foods exists in all forms in all countries.

3) Read a good book. No one should read a self-help book on overcoming depression on a rainy afternoon. Something uplifting with a notebook and pen and scented candle works though. Even crack the window to allow the depressingly cool rainy air into your lungs as you read. This naturally serves to remind you the beauty of literature can overcome rainy weather.

4) Be grateful you don't have to work outside. Someone had to point this out to me and I was delighted to find it works! I started I-tunes and opened my window just a bit and realized how glad I was not to be wet. You stay dry, doesn't require much thinking! Guess it works!

Et voila, that's it. How amazingly better I feel now. But then again, as much as rainy weather can be depressing, the joy of the Lord is our strength. The coffee does help though.

Why I Learn French

How many times have I asked myself, why am I learning French? I know yes, I want to live in Africa- my Africa -and that includes western francophone Africa. Yes I want to have have two languages and would ultimately like to speak 3 or 4. But why I am spending my gap year on French when I could have seriously began college like my other friends.

But then, in the silence of the night, in the peace of the falling rain, in the joy of solitude and prayer, we always learn something. We learn languages to edify others. What greater honor then to share with someone in his own language the love of Christ that has changed my life. Language is emotional. It speaks to the heart of man, paints magnificent masterpieces of literature, it builds up and tears down, it brings war, and peace, creates ideals and philosophies and gives us a way to comunicate with others.

Never mind globalization, growing markets, and globalization. We speak to edify others. To show with words, not just deeds, what we believe and why we believe it; to express the joy of a life in Christ.

And when I remember that...French is worth it. Starting college a year late is worth it. It's worth sticking it out.