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...

Following the Evil Prophet into the Desert (or, Learning Ancient Greek)

Foreign languages are my thing.  I seem to have a natural ability for them, and I love being able to decode sentences and translate them back to English.  It's like a big puzzle to figure out.  I also like being able to travel to foreign countries and communicate with the people there, and I absolutely love the insights into a country's history that are opened up by studying a language.  You have such a greater appreciation for a culture when you speak their language.

According to my love of languages, I have been happily bopping down the road to multilingualism, picking up languages here and there as they become available.  Besides being fluent in French, I speak bits and pieces of German, and as you know I am now enrolled in Greek at SMU.  Quadrilingualism, here I come.

In my first French lesson back in the 9th grade, I learned how to say "Hello, my name is ___" and "I am an American", closely followed by "I would like a ham sandwich, please."  German was fairly similar in its approach; the first lesson included lots of people walking around saying "Are you Maria?"  and "NO, my name is Christian Hansen!"  These phrases are somewhat useful in daily life...especially if you need to eat or determine a person's identity.  Simple phrases for concrete, necessary results.

Greek is different.

For one thing, I'm not learning 21st century Greek.  No, in true seminary fashion, I'm learning ancient Greek, with the aim of being able to read the New Testament in its original Greek form.  As I've been going through this class, I've learned to say all sorts of bizarre things, and I kind of think it's hilarious.  I would like to share with you some of the things that I know how to say in Greek.  Mind you, I am only a week and a half into this course (even if it is an intensive)...and here are some sentences I have translated thus far:

"A brother and a sister have land and they want to have kingdoms."

"The evil prophet is leading the children out of the church and into the desert."

"The children were praying on behalf of their sister, but they do not believe in the Lord and gods of stone do not answer."

"The heart of the small servant is faithful, but evil are the works of the master of the house."

"...and you didn't even gather the children into the houses!"

"The little sister does not want to see the dead child, for death is not good"

"Your sister and her child are in the boat, but they do not have bread."

"Our slaves throw a stone into the boat because they want to destroy it."

"These sinners are wicked, but we ought not to kill them."

"I was in the temple, but you were in the desert."

Yeah, these are all really odd sentences.  But I've also noticed that as the lessons progress, they seem to be getting mildly more violent.  Take these sentences from my last lesson, for example...

"The evil authorities were about to kill the teacher of righteousness and bring his head into the assembly."

"The demons stole the messenger's garment and threw it into the sea."

And, my personal favorite...

"You sent the children into the desert to die, and you did not save them.  This will be upon your heads."

Now there's a sentence you can use on a daily basis.

So yeah, I totally can read all kinds of bizarre and odd stuff in Greek.  I really find it hilarious, because I picture this ancient community having all this ridiculous stuff happening to them...evil prophets keep messing with the assemblies, and everyone is eating bread and riding in boats, and all the while apostles and disciples are proclaiming things about stones falling from heaven and the perils of sin.  

  

It's too bad no one will give those people a ham sandwich.

**In the spirit of learning pointless phrases in foreign languages, I give you Eddie Izzard's take on learning French.  If you speak French, I highly recommend you watch it.  If you don't speak French, you can still watch it, but it won't be quite as funny...

My "Life is a Dashing and Bold Adventure"

...or so said my fortune cookie at Pei Wei the other day.  I liked that fortune.  It's quite complimentary and makes me seem like an exciting person, and it's way less creepy than my other recent fortune cookie that said "someone is watching you from afar."

In any case, today I got to share some stories from my dashing and bold adventure of a life back in the place where these bold adventures all started - Eureka High School.  My former French teacher invited me to come and speak to the French IV classes about the world of French beyond the high school classroom...majoring in French, study abroad, using French in a career, and what have you.  So I gathered up some photos, and popped off to EHS to have me a little blast from the past while potentially inspiring some teenagers.

As soon as I stepped in the door, into the commons, it was like I had stepped back in time.  That sounds cliche, but I'm not just talking about the building here.  I'm talking about the vibrant energy of high school life that pervades the place.  I happened to arrive right in the midst of lunch hour/passing time, so as soon as I walked in there were kids EVERYWHERE, moving in the same giant clusters that we always moved in, forcing me to dodge around groups just like I always used to do (I always seemed to be moving against the tide - symbolic?).  Still, I got over to the office, signed myself in, got my fancy "Visitor" badge, and met my old French teacher (and favorite high school teacher), Madame Denure.

Madame et moi, 2005

Me and Madame go way back.  Or, at least, we go back to 2003, when I first had her for a teacher.  She was my teacher for French II/III (my sophomore and junior years), and her class really laid the foundation for my future language studies.  Like I always told my tutorees, if you don't get the basics down, you can never speak the language.  Well, I learned the basics at EHS, and it definitely served me well.  Today, Madame Denure actually pulled out an old video cassette (yeah, video cassette) of one of my group projects from French III - a "newscast" of sorts.  And there I was, all high-school-y and speaking in French, reading my speech off a sheet of paper in choppy, vaguely mispronounced French.  That video alone was awesome to see, because it really showed me how far I've come in my French speaking ability.  It also provided an ego-boost before speaking to the high schoolers today...I may read, write, and translate French all the time, but I haven't spoken it extemporaneously and for an extended period of time for about 7 months, so I was a bit nervous.

Madame et moi, 2011

My first trip to France in 2005 was also under the guidance of Madame Denure, who led a group of about 20 EHS students on a two-week tour of the Loire Valley/Normandy regions of France.  She was hugely encouraging to me during that trip (particularly the night before my host family stay, when I completely dissolved into a ball of panic).  That trip was the start of my international travels (not counting a family excursion to Toronto when I was about 7) - you might say it was the first "dashing and bold adventure" of my life.  So yes, it was wonderful seeing Madame Denure again today, and reminiscing about all those things.

I really enjoyed speaking to the high school kids...they were surprisingly enthusiastic and engaged, and I think that a vast majority of them were following my French fairly well.  I even got them to laugh several times at things I said IN FRENCH, which is good for two reasons: first, because it proves they understood what I was saying, and second, because it shows that my boundless wit transcends languages.  Fabulous.  I also had a sizable slideshow of photos that were fun visual aids and helped keep the kids engaged.  They particularly liked seeing Vaux-le-Vicomte, where The Man in the Iron Mask was filmed; it turns out that Madame Denure's classes watched that movie this week!  How ironic is that?  Then again, it IS the best film of all time, so it's only natural that people should be watching it all the time.

After speaking to two classes, Madame Denure took me on a tour of the renovations they've made to EHS over the last five years.  To any past Eureka-nites who might be reading this, you have GOT to get yourself in this building to snoop around.  It's crazy...like the school has just exploded.  It's absolutely massive, and everything is all shuffled around.  There are foreign language classrooms where the library used to be, a library where the art classrooms used to be, art classrooms where the math classrooms used to be, and math classrooms hovering above the school on the second floor (yeah, second floor) of a hallway they built connecting the back ends of the language arts/history hallways.  The music wing has exploded too, with the band room expanding out the back door where we used to practice for Color Guard, and the choir room where the band room once was.  Hallways everywhere are expanded or lengthened, there's classrooms tucked in everywhere...it's really remarkable.  And bizarre.  It was really cool to see.

So that was my day today, when my dashing and bold adventure of a life went back to its roots to talk about the things that have happened since.  It's funny, really...the general attitude toward high school foreign language classes tends to be one of "that's nice", or "just something you have to get through."  But in reality, my life would have been entirely different if I hadn't taken those French classes at EHS.  Besides the obvious fact that I likely wouldn't be bilingual today, I also wouldn't have had the opportunity to study in Paris for a semester or immerse myself in Quebecoise life for a few weeks.  I wouldn't have pushed my leadership abilities as a president of my college French club, and I wouldn't know of the wonderful delights of La Bonne Bouchee bakery down in Creve Coeur.  I certainly wouldn't have my job with the CCFOF, and I doubt that I would have nearly the understanding of the intricacies of the interaction of religion and secularity that I possess.  My final religion paper wouldn't have taken Islam and the French Identity for it's topic, and it's likely that my knowledge of and compassion for the plight of Muslim immigrants in France would be far less than they are.  I may not have been a fluent French speaker after my high school French classes, but my high school French experience definitely laid the foundations for something much greater to unfold.

All those dashing and bold adventures have to start somewhere, after all :)

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