This past Wednesday, I went to Chaumont to see the chateau and Garden Festival.  Even though Chaumont is not known as one of the most impressive chateaux in the Loire Valley, it was still breathtaking to turn a corner and see the drawbridge and white stone facade, especially since this is the first chateau I’ve visited so far.  I was there as part of the Institut’s excursion, so there was a professor who took us around inside and gave us some historical background.  It was very interesting, but I still found the exterior and the courtyard overlooking the Loire more impressive.

Proof that we got a little sun before it poured on the way back to Tours…

A pond on the grounds of the chateau

My favorite part of the afternoon, however, was the Garden Festival.  It’s an annual exhibition held on the grounds of the chateau, and the theme this summer was “Gardens of the Century to Come.”  The artists only have about two months to install their gardens, and they have to last from the end of April to the beginning of November.  It was fascinating to read the explanations of all the gardens and see how different artists interpreted the theme so differently.  Even so, I noticed a number of ideas – mainly ecological – start to emerge; there were several installations that fused gardens with houses, and there were also quite a few that touched on ecological disasters such as flooding and heat waves.  Although the chateau was very impressive, I wish I had left myself more time to wander the installations.  I’m not sure I got to all of them before I had to head back to the bus.

My favorite garden, which felt pretty appropriate after the recent flooding in France…

That’s all for now, but stay tuned – I can’t wait to tell you all about my weekend (hint: it involved French board games!).  A tout à l’heure!

 

It’s already been five weeks! This past week has mostly been full of random little discoveries, like a really awesome coffee shop and a store full of affordable but gorgeous jewelry. Even though I’ve been here for five weeks, I can always find something new in Tours. That’s what I like about the size of it—it’s not so huge that it’s impossible to find my way around, but it’s big enough that I’m never bored just walking around.

The school week wasn’t much different from normal, although my Monday-Wednesday-Friday teacher has been coming up with some really creative exercises for us to do. For instance, on Wednesday she pinned pieces of paper to the wall with random things like the five senses or the four elements written on them, and we had to go over to our “favorite” and explain why we chose it. One of the prompts was literally just “yes” or “no,” so we had some fun with that one.

I also had a dream in French this week. I’m taking that as a sign that I’m really integrated with the language by this point. I won’t go into the details of the dream since it was really weird, but at least it was in French.

Gearing up for my last week in Tours! I’m leaving on Saturday, so my last blog post will have to go up either before I leave or after I get back to the United States, but I’ll be sure to talk about how this week goes.

Salut!  I can’t believe I’ve already been in Tours for two weeks.  I’ve been enjoying my stay so much that time has got away from me, so there’s a lot to tell about!  I got into Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, a train station in a suburb of Tours, on May 29th.  My host dad was there to pick me up and take me back to the house, where I met my host mom and got settled into my new room.  I’m currently the only student staying with my family, but there is a Japanese woman arriving this evening who will be staying until the beginning of July like me.  

It would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that I was thrown right into the midst of things at l’Institut de Touraine on Monday morning.  I and a lot of other people – including several large groups from American universities – arrived at the beginning of a module, so, contrary to what I expected, the Institut eased us into things with a few presentations and a tour of Old Town.  Classes started that afternoon, and I was very excited to be placed in an advanced class.  It’s proving to be a challenge, but I had really been looking forward to pushing myself.

Last weekend, I went on one of the Institut’s excursions to Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo.  Coming from a country where 17th century buildings are considered practically ancient, it was breathtaking to see the abbey church – a collage of Romanesque and Gothic styles that was built and rebuilt over the course of hundreds of years, starting in the 11th century.  After seeing the abbey and village, we went to Saint-Malo, a coastal town about 50 km away, for dinner.  The weather, which had been pretty gloomy all day, decided to give us a break that evening when the sun finally came out from behind the clouds.  

Windows in the refectory at Mont Saint-Michel

A (somewhat foggy) view of Mont Saint-Michel Bay

The next day, I went to the Musée des Beaux Arts in centre ville.  Although relatively small, it contains works representing a wide variety of eras and styles.  I enjoyed wandering through the exhibits and doing a little bit of writing.  It was exciting to see how much of the placards I understood, but I must admit that my dictionary app did come in handy!

Even though I’ve only been here for two weeks, I already feel so at home in Tours.  I can’t wait to see what other adventures France has in store for me!  A tout à l’heure!

I spent the day in Paris yesterday! The main thing I wanted to see was Notre Dame de Paris, so I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I would’ve liked, but at least I still got to see it. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and as I walked around inside the cathedral I really think I could distinctly feel Our Lady’s presence. As one of the biggest tributes to Mary, one of the eponyms to my university, and just an all-around stunning location, I think it’s officially earned the status of my favorite church in the world. I also saw the Eiffel Tower (I mean, I couldn’t just not) and the Musée d’Orsay. Exhausting day, and of course I didn’t see everything, but I hit a few major landmarks and really tried to take the time for them.

Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet week, so I don’t have much to say about my classes at the Institut de Touraine at the moment. We’ve been doing a lot of exercises made to resemble this standardized test that a lot of other students are here to take, so that’s comprised most of our lessons. I have mixed feelings about them, since I sometimes feel like my level of French is being evaluated solely on how much trouble I’m having on the exercises, when in reality I’d have the same problems with them in English—because the audio recordings are poor quality, the questions are more specific than the excerpt, I can’t listen and write at the same time, etc. Because of that, I feel like I’m noticing more improvement in my French skills outside of the classroom. For instance, in the past week I’ve had to explain the game “Humans versus Zombies,” the reasons I think American students have trouble with foreign languages, and the culture of respect in fencing as opposed to other sports, all in French. In all of these instances it’s been easier for me to find words to express things, without making the French-speaker I’m talking to even more confused and wishing I hadn’t brought it up. I also was trying to translate something for my host mom and couldn’t remember the English word, and she said, “Hooray, she’s forgetting English!”

Four down, two to go! It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for a month, but it’s been almost exactly that long. I miss home, but I hope I can take advantage of my last two weeks here.

It has been exactly a week since I have been in Tours, and I have seen 3 hours of sunshine, ate 7 whole baguettes, and more cheese than in all my life added together. They say I have experienced France in the most authentic way so far. Yet while not feeling like a tourist, I’m not feeling completely in my element either. The fully immersed experience is also a scary and difficult one. From the moment I arrived at the train station, I was a fish out of water, reading the foreign signs, tripping over my tongue trying to speak French, and looking for my host family in the grand train station. Estranged in an unfamiliar city by yourself, even just for a few minutes, leaves a bitter taste and a hollow feeling in your stomach long after finding your place. The first few days in my host family was also tough. Like a kid, I observed and imitated each daily activity; assembling the different silverware for a five-course dinner, cutting the cheese and baguette, and strangely, wearing formal attire at dinner tables, even if only family members are dining together. Navigating Tours to get to class is easy enough. There is a long pedestrian street with a distinct tram track down the middle that cuts straight down the village, and whereas the Intitut de Tourrain is on the south of the street to the west, my home was north of the street and two Rues eastward. I could easily walk for 20 minutes to get to the Institut or take the tram. Finally, the courses at the Institut is intensive indeed, with classes from 9 am to 12:30 pm, writing and oral workshops in the afternoon from 1:30 pm to 3 pm, and then extracurriculars until 5pm. I’m taking gastronomy and art history, all taught in French and aims to strengthen one’s writing and presenting skills. There are students from all around the world in my class of nine students– Japan, India, Paraguay, Korea, China, The United States, and England. Only one other student apart from myself is from the United States. Even though we fly through grammar concepts and readings, we always pause when there is a question. Thus, when come a situation when the professor needs to explain or demonstrate a concept, s/he would use simple french and gestures instead of English. At noon, classmates often head to local restaurants or the Institut’s cafeteria in groups, and small chatter in french can be heard all over the place. The restaurants in Town center are simply amazing; situated in the historic part of town, these restaurants serve all kinds of cuisine with student-affordable prices. The Chocolatiers and Patisseries boast their historic heritage and proudly display their products in their polished windows under the ebony frames. The city center is also quite lively on weekends; known for its huge population of students, the heart of Tours hosts happy hours from early afternoon to well past midnight, where under the string lights and evening stars all kinds of languages can be heard.

Week 3 at the Institut de Touraine has finally brought everyone back into a more normal schedule; I was actually surprised this past Monday when I got there and there was a giant crowd of new students waiting to be assigned classes. After one particularly weird day when classes started at two in the afternoon, I’m back to their normal four-week progression of the course until I leave. I liked my professor last week better than my professors this week, I think, but time will tell. We started class on Monday with an unusual icebreaker—we each had to pick an object that meant a lot to us and then introduce ourselves as the object. Definitely a good exercise in French and helped me get to know my classmates better than the classic “Notre Dame Introduction” (name, major, hometown) would.

Surprisingly, I think the hardest thing about speaking French here is trying to get my fellow American students to practice it with me. They’ll often switch to English when there aren’t any non-English-speakers around. Fortunately I have a friend from Notre Dame here now who’s just as eager to practice her French as I am, and one of my new friends from my classes is getting comfortable enough with the language that he’s starting to use it in everyday conversations with me. I also occasionally have to act as an interpreter for another student who’s just arrived to stay with my host mom, if he doesn’t understand a French word she’s trying to use or she doesn’t understand an English word he’s trying to use. Considering that’s the type of career I’m looking at, I admit I get a little thrill whenever that happens.

It’s been a pretty quiet week. I couldn’t keep reading Les Misérables because someone checked it out, but I’m hoping I can read at least a little more in the upcoming weeks. I’ve been wanting to read that for so long. This upcoming weekend I’m going to see the actual Notre Dame in Paris! I’m really excited. Stay posted, I’ll probably talk about it a lot next week.

And so concludes the most memorable week of my life! Each day this week I tried at least one new food, met a person from a different country and learned new French vocabulary. I found myself lost multiple times and was accidentally tear-gassed by the French police. I attended mass in a cathedral built in the 300s and a wine festival featuring more wines than I thought was possible. As a result, it feels much longer than one week ago that I landed in Paris after an 8-hour flight from Washington, D.C and boarded the train for Tours.

It seems to silly to me now how nervous I was as the train pulled up to the Tours train station, unsure of what the next six weeks would hold. While the first few days were definitely the hardest, every day has been an improvement and I already am noticing a vast improvement in my ability to understand and hold conversations in French. The second I saw my host parents, holding a home-made sign with my name, waving and smiling at me, I knew I had nothing to be worried about. They are a wonderful and kind couple that has hosted students for over twenty-five years!

That being said, my first couple days in Tours were definitely the hardest. While my host mom accompanied to school the first day on the tram, I decided for some reason to try the bus the next day. I assumed the bus and the tram would let off at the same location near my school, which I soon realized was not the case as I looked out the window and saw the Loire river below me as the bus left downtown Tours for the suburbs. As a result, I was 45 minutes late to the first official day of school. The bus mishap was only the first of many times I got lost. In addition I struggled conversing in French outside the comfort zone of my school and host family. A puzzled look coupled with the phrase “je ne vous comprends pas” was a common response I received the first couple days.

While initially I was frustrated by continually being lost and misunderstood, it was those processes that were actually the most rewarding. In being lost I stumbled across some of Tours’ best shops and in being misunderstood I gained a better understanding of French language. For example here is a word I will never forget: manifestation (protest).

During an extra long répose (break) last week I decided to return home in between classes on the tram, and on my return trip, the tram abruptly stopped in the center of town. When I asked the driver why the tram stopped, he pointed forward and said “manifestation” and then opened the tram doors and said “sortir.” Ignoring the first word because I did not know its meaning, I followed his directors to “sortir” (exit) the tram and began to walk to school, which happened to be in the same direction he pointed when he said manifestation. Suddenly I heard chanting in French as I was encircled by swarms of people holding signs and looking very angry all around me. Then I saw rows of armed guards slowly marching towards us and before I was able to get myself away from the protestors a huge cloud of white smoke engulfed us. Suddenly my eyes began to sting and everyone around me grabbed parts of their clothes to cover their faces. I soon realized the police were dispersing tear gas to break up the “manifestation.” I covered my face with my sweater and ran away from the gas as fast as I could. I was late for school but I when I explained to my teacher why, he seemed very happy I had this “first hand experience of the French revolutionary spirit!” He explained to me the definition of manifestation and how the French view the right of protest an integral part of their history. The manifestation I witnessed however was unusual in that its part of a larger movement against the new labor law implemented by the French government. Protests are occurring across the entire country of France in fact and many workers are on strike.

In addition I am learning the importance of phonetics to the French language. Often French words differ by the slightest phonetic change in a syllable. Outside of the classroom, I am not understood if I don’t pronounce the phonetics exactly. This happened when I tried to buy a watermelon (pastèque) but the seller thought I was calling his fruit plastic (plastique), and when someone asked me how my first cours (course) of school was and I began to explain the route I jog each morning because I thought they asked about running (courir) – (these were some of those puzzled looks and “je ne vous comprends pas” instances).

I lucked out though because my first week at school was a special week focused on oral skills and so by the end of the week already noticed a vast improvement in my ability to hold to a conversation!

I am also expanding my food palate. As my family and friends know well, I have never been an adventurous eater. My usual diet rarely detours from vegetables, chicken and fish. Yet in the past week, meats I have never had before in my life appeared on my plate each night. Much to my surprise, and I think more to the surprise of my family and friends, I found myself liking almost every meal. Of course it doesn’t hurt that my host mom comes from three generations of professional chefs and worked in a restaurant for twenty years herself!

One of the aspects I love most about my time in Tours so far has been my interaction with other cultures in my home and at school. At school the first week I was one of two Americans in my class. One activity in particular I enjoyed was finding advertisements from our respective countries and explaining them to the class. I chose to cover Superbowl advertisements, and people were shocked to learn that commercials could be so expensive and so many celebrates appeared in them.

While I was alone the first three nights in my house, I now have three housemates who are also students at L’Institut de Touraine. On my floor is a very sweet woman from Japan studying the French language and wine to improve her skills as a wine consultant in Japan. One the floor above me lives a boy my age from Ireland and a girl from the United States. We eat dinner together every night at 8 pm and talk only in French – the common language amongst us. Often the conversation turns into a comparison of cultures that goes well over one hour. The inevitable mix of culture, gastronomy and socializing of the meal has made dinner one of my favorite parts of Tours.

I love exploring Tours and all of its treasures, meeting new people and learning French. I cannot wait to begin my month long course on Monday and start excursions to other parts of France this week. À bientôt!

My second week at the Institut de Touraine was great. Like I mentioned, this week is technically a vacation because there’s a national standardized test going on, but there were smaller oral courses for students who wanted to keep taking classes this week. My class this week was bigger and full of people who were more willing to make an effort than everyone in my class last week, so I feel like I learned a lot more. The class was almost like a conversation—we would have a new topic every few days with worksheets and activities to do, but most of the time we got very off track and just started discussing and debating various things.

This, of course, is exactly what I need to improve my French, since if I couldn’t articulate something I was actually unable to cheat and switch to English—my teacher couldn’t speak it at all. I’d simply have to find a better way to express myself. I had to do this with all kinds of topics, from describing popular stereotypes of various nationalities to defending my opinion on a controversial issue. Having to do this day after day made me sort of gradually forget I was doing it in a foreign language and just focus on the topic itself, which greatly helped. I think my proudest moment was when two people in my class were trying to argue against a certain article but confusing the rest of us, until I pointed out that they were arguing for the same point as the writer but taking her metaphor too literally.

We also had to do these phonetic labs where we’d usually be given an absolutely Herculean task like imitating a recording’s voice inflections down to the last syllable, fail at it for obvious reasons, then listen to the playback of our own voices and realize that despite our mistakes we sounded like native French-speakers with a completely French accent. It was really frustrating but interesting in a way.

This week I also explored Tours a little more. I visited the Musée des Beaux Arts; I’m not a huge fan of art museums, but I really loved all the art there inspired by Greek mythology. There was a ton of it—paintings and statues of so many different stories. I also visited the public library a few times and started reading Les Misérables in French. And last night I went to a concert where a bunch of different choirs from around Europe sang to compete for our votes. It was really beautiful, and I got to hear some other languages too. It’s been a pretty good week, and I’m excited to see what next week has in store.

I arrived in Paris on Sunday morning and somehow managed to get to the Tours train station without missing either of the trains, considering how jet-lagged I was. I had some minor technology disasters in that my phone company neglected to tell me my cell wouldn’t work at all abroad, so I’m extremely glad that the language barrier turned out not to be too much of a problem in the first few hours. I knew there were plenty of English-speakers at the airport, but I managed to find my way around by asking for directions only in French! Personal goal fulfilled. All those exercises where we had to pretend to order food from each other in French class finally paid off. And so did those horrible, ridiculously fast listening exercises, since that was pretty much how the announcements sounded on the train.

I’m staying with a host family. My host mom’s name is France (which one could choose to view in a metaphorical way) and she takes in a lot of travelers trying to improve their French. There’s a Brazilian woman who barely even speaks a word of French, a guy I haven’t really interacted with much yet (besides some awkward clashes over using the bathroom first in the morning), and my host mom’s kids. I interact the most with my host mom, carrying on most of the conversation when she and the Brazilian woman and I have dinner together. She lent me a bike so I can get around Tours a little faster, so I feel like a real French person when I ride it to school.

I’m liking the Institut de Touraine so far, although I think they may have put me in a class that’s a little too easy. The language experience I want to gain is in articulating myself more clearly in arguments, discussions, etc., and so far I’ve barely gotten a chance to do that between reviews of grammar I already know. I’m planning on requesting to move up next week—although next week is going to be a little weird, because it’s technically a “vacation.” This week has been a little weird too, since I arrived during the last week of a class cycle and since because of various absences I’ve had a different teacher almost every day. Next week there should be some other students who are on a stranger schedule like me who will be taking some oral classes, and I’m hoping things will settle into place after that.

Provide a brief personal bio (50-100 words)

Provide some general background on yourself with references to your personal and academic experiences.

I am a sophomore majoring in History and Political Science. Originally an international student from Shanghai, China, I now live in P-Dub with the beautiful Ugly Bush. Having taken up French only since I came to Notre Dame, I feel extremely fortunate to have this chance to fully immerse in the French culture overseas. Outside of classroom, I enjoy reading and doing Chinese crosswords. Thanks to the two gorgeous lakes at Notre Dame, I am also on my way to become an extremely amateur photographer, with a particular obsession for the sunset scene.

Why your SLA Grant is important to you (100-200 words)

Explain why your SLA Grant is important to you and your future plans. This will likely implicate intellectual, academic and career goals. You are welcome to use your statement of purpose on your SLA Grant proposal to help craft this.

As a history major I intend to concentrate on early modern France, more specifically the period around the French Revolution. As I researched on “revolutionary iconoclasm” for a term paper last semester, I have found that the most important sources are almost exclusively written in French. The ability to comprehend and use first and second sources in French is hence indispensable for my future, more in-depth academic research that would very likely form a senior thesis. A more advanced level of French not only helps my academic pursuit but also would substantially contribute to my long-term career goals. I intend to pursue a legal career after graduation and focus specifically on international law. As one of the most widely spoken languages, French would undoubtedly open to me a huge scope of francophone countries and regions; its usage as official language of various international organizations also makes French a key language for the study of international law.

What you hope to achieve (100-200 words)

Describe what you hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience. In short, what do you intend to get out of the grant?

Above all, I hope this summer study experience will make me more “at ease” using the French language both in vernacular and academic context. I plan to enroll in the six-week intensive summer program at Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne (CCFS), which entails five-hour courses per day and opportunities for various extracurricular activities. While the idea of wandering around Paris is lovely, I envision my summer there above all a serious learning experience to truly solidify my linguistic skills.

In addition, I have developed a strong interest in French cultural history, particularly of the period preceding the Great Revolution. As the heart of France and various historical events, Paris would be a precious treasure for me to gain a vivid notion of this history. I hope to take advantage of this location and to explore the numerous historical sites and libraries in Paris. Ultimately, I hope this summer immersion will make the French language and culture an integral part of my intellectual sphere, with living impressions and memories.

Your Specific Learning Goals (3-5)

Provide at least three and no more than five specific goals for your learning this summer. Frame your goals via functional statements of ability: “By the end of the summer, I will be able to…”

My specific learning goals are that by the end of this summer learning experience:

1. I will be able to navigate independently and confidently through France, i.e. from grocery stores to administrative offices;

2. I will be able to fluently hold non-trivial conversations with locals and discuss relatively profound topics;

3. I will be able to significantly expand my vocabulary so as to effectively and accurately express myself with proper word choice;

4. I will further refine my grammar and in particular its spontaneous application in everyday conversation so that I could talk with few errors.

 

How you plan to maximize your experience (100-200 words)

Describe how you intend to “hit the ground running: and take full advantage of your international language study. Please feel free to draw from your ‘Plan of Action’ in your SLA Grant proposal to help craft your response.

Before all, I plan to take full advantage of my language program, Cour de Civilisation Français de la Sorbonne (CCFS), which partners with Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) to provide great opportunities to learn about the French culture. CCFS also organizes numerous cultural, social and sports outings for its thousands of students every year. I will take full advantage of these outings to work towards fluency of French and to befriend my fellow French students, with whom I will hopefully keep in contact upon return.

To maximize my engagement in authentic interactions, I also plan to stay with a host family throughout the six-week period. I will make my best efforts to blend into the Parisian daily life. Besides an opportunity to practice my conversational skills in everyday setting, a host family will also offer me a chance to acquaint myself with the most vivid aspect of French culture.

Finally, with the perfect location in Paris, I would not waste this incomparable chance to explore the heart of France, to see with my own eyes those legendary historic sites, and to experience the “moveable feast” that shall stay with me for a lifetime.