Blooming English

Anglophobia

It seems that despite my efforts at entente cordiale by getting popular as a boules player in Buis as well as Mollans, a bout of anglophobia is around. According to the press, the French are in the throes of a hate spell in the long-running Anglo-French love-hate relationship. A discernible rise in the number of French youths indulging in binge drinking, a term taken directly into French but now outlawed by the Académie Française and replaced by beuverie express, is being blamed on the Anglo-saxons. Undeniably, if regrettably, it has become a feature of UK youth culture but did the UK do anything to get the French to adopt it or did it migrate simply as a lot of UK fashion has, somewhat paradoxically, been adopted by the French of their own volition? Anyway, no such prevarication prevented a French minister from blaming the phenomenon on the British.

The French are also blaming the British for the problem of illegal immigrants amassing in Calais in the hope of reaching the UK. They blame Britain's apparently more generous welfare scheme for the problem. If that is true, from what I know of the UK welfare system I hesitate to contemplate what welfare systems in other European countries are like. I don't know of any job seekers in the UK having an easy time of it. It may be that child support systems in the UK are more generous, but that would appeal only to large immigrant families and they are not evident in the immigrant crowds in Calais. Besides which an even more desperate immigrant problem is showing up in the Mediterranean and Heaven knows what the answer to that is.

Blooming Well

It is blooming well blooming all around here now. Despite the fact that the last vestiges of snow cab still be seen at the top of Mont Ventoux, the sunny weather below seems to have sparked the area into what is arguably its best display of bloom in the year. The roadside between here and Buis is ablaze with coronilla, against a background of irises and thyme. The fruit trees in the many orchards around, cherry, apricot, peach, plum, are all in bloom too. Along the wayside the judas trees, tamarisk and lilac are covered in flowers, above roadsides resplendent with poppies, euphorbia, white campion and a purple salvia (salvia praetensis) which grows wild here. It really is a joy just to drive round the area. Sadly but understandably, most plants here seem to get their blooming done before the heat of late July and August kick in, which means high summer looks nowhere near as good.

English Conversation

As I said seemed certain a few weeks ago, the first English conversation “rencontre” took place last Tuesday evening. Steve and I had a class of ten and it all seemed to go well. Steve and I introduced ourselves and got each attendee to introduce themselves by means of answering a list of suggested questions: where do you live, do you have children, what do you/did you do for work, what are your hobbies, etc. Steve and I then enacted a scene in a café and then asked them to do the same. As one should, we planned time at the end of the session to take stock with the attendees to see what had worked (for them) and what hadn't. Everyone seemed happy with just one comment, that maybe they could have more time to chat among themselves. The session had certainly had a kind of “Steve/me to attendee and back” format; but we asked the class at the end to prepare a 4-5 minute talk on any subject of their choice so maybe we will start with that next time and try to get a flow of questions going between the presenter and the others. One of the attendees asked if she could bring some friends next time so I think we can expect a class of at least the same size next Tuesday.

What I found most difficult was deciding when to correct an attendee and when to let them talk on. Our objective is to get the attendees confident in speaking English and reasonably fluent, grammatically or not. Increases in vocabulary will come naturally from what we do but Steve and I both agree that correct grammar must take a back seat. However, sometimes some intervention on that score seems inevitable. I guess we'll work it out as we go along but our emphasis is on conversation rather than English per se and pronunciation often needs to be corrected. I think the main criterion for intervention is probably whether what is said will be understood or not. Confidence in speaking English is certainly a problem but it was probably accentuated by the class members not yet knowing each other, or not that well. Anyway, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, which is also an important objective. Progress reports will follow!