foreign language class: note-taking
Mar. 12th, 2004 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockNote-taking in my French 2 class is a funny process. My notes are a jumble of English and French mixed irregularly and messily together. There is the natural tendency to take notes in French because it's easier, balanced with the necessity of taking some notes in English so that later when you look back at the notes you'll at least have some idea of what the fuck you wrote down in the first place.
However, the big inconsistency in my notes is in writing words in both languages. Most people probably had never thought about it, but modern English is 30.9 % borrowed French. According to my Linguistics textbook, anyway. One can thank William the Conquerer for that, I suppose. While this fact makes learning French vocabulary easier in some ways... it also makes me very sloppy with my spelling.
For example, when talking about direct objects in a sentence, I could write " the direct object " in English... or I could write " le objet diret " in French. I woudn't have to worry about translating it later because the meaning is pretty clear. However, when I take notes it usually comes out something like " le objet direct " instead.
It's like, some part of my note-taking subconscious is fine with dropping the c in object but doesn't like the way diret looks at all and refuses to drop it if I don't have to.
My French notes must look like some crazy pidgin language to the outside observer. And what's worse is that now I've accidentally caught myself spelling words in other classes with the French spelling too. Verbe instead of verb. Continuez instead of continue. Danse instead of dance.
Foreign language study makes you crazy.
In addition to all of this, I've been watching god knows how much subtitled anime in the last 3 or 4 months, so my ears have been constantly inundated with Japanese too!
I find myself wanting to say things and instead of English I end up saying very mangled French or trying vainly to use Japanese words that I don't actually know, but are buried somewhere in my ears. It's incredibly frustrating.
However, the big inconsistency in my notes is in writing words in both languages. Most people probably had never thought about it, but modern English is 30.9 % borrowed French. According to my Linguistics textbook, anyway. One can thank William the Conquerer for that, I suppose. While this fact makes learning French vocabulary easier in some ways... it also makes me very sloppy with my spelling.
For example, when talking about direct objects in a sentence, I could write " the direct object " in English... or I could write " le objet diret " in French. I woudn't have to worry about translating it later because the meaning is pretty clear. However, when I take notes it usually comes out something like " le objet direct " instead.
It's like, some part of my note-taking subconscious is fine with dropping the c in object but doesn't like the way diret looks at all and refuses to drop it if I don't have to.
My French notes must look like some crazy pidgin language to the outside observer. And what's worse is that now I've accidentally caught myself spelling words in other classes with the French spelling too. Verbe instead of verb. Continuez instead of continue. Danse instead of dance.
Foreign language study makes you crazy.
In addition to all of this, I've been watching god knows how much subtitled anime in the last 3 or 4 months, so my ears have been constantly inundated with Japanese too!
I find myself wanting to say things and instead of English I end up saying very mangled French or trying vainly to use Japanese words that I don't actually know, but are buried somewhere in my ears. It's incredibly frustrating.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-12 07:15 pm (UTC)Thank you kindly for your condolences. Etre un ananas est la vie tres dificile. ::nods soberly:: Mais, it is a simple life, which can be happy. J'ai beaucoup sweet tangy flesh, tu see.
Mon boss me buggez beaucoup.
::dies laughing:: That's perfect! Oh my god, I have to start doing that now when I email my mom (also former french student.) That's so funny.