I was just thinking that I do not miss those annual employee performance reviews. Most of them, most of the time, were a joke. Of course the outstanding reviews I earned were completely *cough* accurate.
And then, today, as I sauntered through the village it occured to me that I have a performance review nearly every day. Each time I go ''out there'' I encounter a French person or two that I know.
Standing in line at the bakery, I conversed with the mayor. At the grocery shop, I conversed with an acquaintance. I always say bonjour to others walking by me.
I have moved from quick eye contact and a cheesy smile to a simple (but enthusiastic!) bonjour to struggling through some resemblance of a conversation. It's not much, certainly not outstanding, but the scrap of progress gives me a shot of gusto to keep going, keep trying.
And then, today, as I sauntered through the village it occured to me that I have a performance review nearly every day. Each time I go ''out there'' I encounter a French person or two that I know.
Standing in line at the bakery, I conversed with the mayor. At the grocery shop, I conversed with an acquaintance. I always say bonjour to others walking by me.
I have moved from quick eye contact and a cheesy smile to a simple (but enthusiastic!) bonjour to struggling through some resemblance of a conversation. It's not much, certainly not outstanding, but the scrap of progress gives me a shot of gusto to keep going, keep trying.
Tonight we begin hosting a weekly intermediate French lesson group. Tony is participating but I'm not quite at that level, not yet. Meanwhile, I have another review at the hair salon soon and there's always the butcher, the baker....and, hey, où est le fabricant de baton de bougie ?
1 comment:
I know exactly what you mean. You feel really part of a community and these daily interactions reinforce the fact that one is progressing with this infernally hard language. Every quick word made is a step towards becoming more fluent - don't I sound cheesy.
Post a Comment