Say what now?

I had an interesting day linguistically today. It started this afternoon with my French proficiency exam at the university. This exam determines whether or not I have to take any remedial French classes in addition to my Master's work. The most worrying thing was that I had no idea what the test would involve. My biggest concern was listening comprehension. Prior to moving here last week, it had been a while since I'd spoken French with a native speaker and I was having a hard time understanding. As far as my classes go, I was never concerned about my reading or writing abilities. I figured I would have to work a little harder than the average person but I knew I was willing to do that extra work; my fear has always been whether or not I would understand my professors. Well, the test won't answer that question because there was no spoken portion at all. I had to summarize a text that was about 2000 words in 300 words. The task was daunting, but when I was done several people asked me how it went and I didn't know how to respond. It was all reading and writing and I hadn't spent even a second worrying about that and though the test took three hours, it really didn't seem that difficult.

That probably means I failed miserably.

We'll know soon enough. Classes begin on Monday so they have to process the tests quickly.

The second interesting event happened when I was at a cafe with a friend who is from Québec and speaks with the native accent. So far I've had a very hard time understanding his French. I always attribute it to the fact that we learn "middle class, Parisian French" at university in the States. Well when I said that this time, he jokingly started speaking in his best French accent...and I understood every word. See, I do speak (and understand) French!...as long as it's spoken with a French accent. >_<


P.S. Watching/listening to a French-speaking Canadian speak in a French accent is kind of mesmerizing. It illustrates how completely different the accents are. I'm excited to learn this new one! :)