Spending Time with Friends

Today turned out to be a good day for hanging out with different people. I had the opportunity to get to know my classmates as well as my roommate a little better. However, I first had to finish my projects at school.

My classes turned out to be somewhat draining today because I had to do a group presentation and read aloud in front of the class. This is always difficult for me because I’m uncomfortable talking in front of people. We did our group presentation on adjectives. I felt that if I relaxed, I would do fine. I think it turned out ok.

After that class, I had to read aloud for my Phonetics course. We have been working on rhythm and how to make “music” with the French language. I didn’t know this before, but every language has a rhythm that is like music. The French language flows in a different way than English does. It has been very interesting to listen to everyone try to learn the proper way to speak and read aloud in French. The intonation is very important. After much practice last night, my professor told me that I did well with my reading today.

After the stress of being “on the spot” in my classes, I went to my conversation “atelier” (workshop) after a hasty lunch. The theme was “les goûts” (tastes). We discussed our likes and preferences and did exercises related to the theme. The workshop started with a “brise-glace” (ice breaker game) similar to Pictionary. Then, we did another activity where we had to find people in the room with the same interests. The workshop lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.

Once we finished our workshop, we met briefly for another group project. Then, we decided to spend some time sight-seeing in Old Quebec. We went to a museum that used to be a prison. It is a library today. One thing I noticed is that all of the older buildings have smaller doorways and hallways. It seems as if people were significantly shorter during that time.

For supper, we went to a popular restaurant for young people in the area. It is known for poutine, which is a popular québécois dish with fries, cheese, and a special sauce. The food turned out to be very good and we enjoyed ourselves until we were ready to go home.