Take Greek to Improve Your French

I have my first Greek 2 exam tomorrow, and all I want to do is sit around and watch French versions of Disney songs on YouTube.

(Don't worry, I've already finished studying.)

As the summer has progressed, I've noticed that the more Greek I take, the easier I understand French, both aurally and in written form.  I don't really know why this is...French isn't based on Greek at all - as a Romance language, it traces back to Latin, of course.  And Greek isn't based on Latin...being all ancient and whatnot, it's based on itself.  So there's really no linguistic connection...

I think the reason for this weird French improvement probably stems from the fact that I'm still struggling to understand Greek: it puts things into perspective.  A month ago, French translation was the furthest I ever stretched out of my linguistic comfort zone, but now my Greek classes have taken that comfort zone and expanded it so far that translating French seems like child's play.  My mind seems to keep up with it faster when I hear it spoken, and translating things for work has been less arduous than in the past.  Now that I spend the majority of my time learning another new language, French feels like home.  So that's been a nice little side effect...

Speaking of French and work and things, I talked to my boss on the phone today about new projects planned for our organization.  Exciting!  But, not necessarily so exciting for all of you, so I won't go into great detail.  Basically, strategic planning has been done and we've figured out new ways to incorporate all our separate projects into a cohesive and connected whole (and by we, I mean my boss and the board of directors, I just heard about all this today).  I also got the go-ahead to write a week-long devotional Bible Study for the study abroad spiritual resource website I've been developing, which I'm SUPER excited about...I get to try my hand at writing something spiritual for professional use!  Writing professionally in some manifestation is one of the dreams floating about my head, and I've also played with the idea of writing church education curriculum/devotionals, etc.  Plus, it's an opportunity to apply the stuff I'm studying at SMU to my job.  So two thumbs up for that!

Anyway, most of my day was spent studying and/or putting off studying and/or being overwhelmed by studying.  Typical pre-exam day...with just a bit more French thrown in than usual.

Some of my study diversions, for the French-speaking/Disney-loving readers of the blog...