Calories for Comprehension

How far will I go to practice French? Apparently pretty far. Yesterday a canvasser stopped me in the street to tell me that he liked the red streak in my hair. In the states i would smile and nod and slip away with nary a word spoke. Here we talked about hair for a while and then he launched into his spiel. At least I think it was his spiel. I nodded a lot, threw in an occasional "oui" and then politely explained that i gave money to Mercy Corps in les etats-unis at which point he smiled and wished me a "bon journee." At the Italian restaurant next to my apartment I ordered a dessert that i didn't even want just so i could talk with the owner/waiter/chef about how he prepared it. Calories for comprehension. At least it was biologique and delicious. Today i spent about twenty minutes talking to the olive vendor about his products from green olives, black olives, french olives, italian olives, tapenade, tapenade with capers, peppers, garlic to olive oil, black truffle oil, white truffle oil, balsamic vinegar, balsamic with raspberries, blueberries, figs. You get the idea.

It costs money to learn another language not just the classroom costs. The key is to maximize every purchase. Ask every question possible, where, when, how and then just pray you have some basic understanding of where the conversation is going. Half the time i don't consciously understand what is being said but i have assigned my subconscious with the task of taking in all of these strange sounds and beginning to create a workable file.

As an after note i was buying wine for dinner with a friend tonight and the proprietor told me i spoke pretty good french. (I think he was just buttering me up so that i would become a frequent customer. It worked i am already trying to think of the wine i want for tomorrow!)