I must say that learning French is a lot easier if you are surrounded by it.
Here are a few examples of what I have noticed while in France on this trip:
- I understand the announcers on the Metro! My ears have grown beyond gibberish.
- I have relaxed in my use of French. I'm less afraid of making errors. I've been surprised that a few people have commented on my good accent and want to know where we are from... may I say that they didn't expect to hear "Minneapolis"... "north of Chicago" is more helpful to people who only know that the U.S. has an East Coast and a West Coast.
- Every location provides a set of vocabulary words that I may not have otherwise learned. This includes items on menus, neighborhood names, and so forth.
- Vocabulary that I haven't used for a long time has popped up along the way and has been quite useful: navette for river boat, coline for hill, and velo for bicycle are examples.
- My brain isn't working hard to translate as much, I just "know" what someone means.
- I would also add that speaking beginning French in Lyon (now) is far less intimidating than, for instance, Paris. Here just about everyone has the patience to let you go on in French even when they know English and they also know you speak English. I feel the effort is appreciated so much more and it is motivating to continue to improve one's French.
Today our goal was to find Les Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse. This is the covered market for the area that sells all kinds of fish, shellfish, sausages, wine, baked goods and so forth to restaurant buyers as well as the public. I'm suspicious of this one though because the sit-down restaurants in this nice building are more like ordinary restaurants that offer food at extremely good prices.
My experiences with similar food markets have been more like I'd find at a state fair: the full smells of fish, cheese, and ham. This market is extremely clean and tidy... maybe all food markets should be like this? Anyway, busloads of tourists come to the market daily from all over Europe and beyond. Locals shop here as well. So we found arriving at about 9 AM was a little early but at 10AM the groups appeared.
Les Halles is very close by to a large centre commercial (a large modern shopping center at Gare Part Dieu). But this is a business area so bring a map and be prepared for the inevitable torn up street and intersections as Lyon is constantly under improvements.
- I understand the announcers on the Metro! My ears have grown beyond gibberish.
- I have relaxed in my use of French. I'm less afraid of making errors. I've been surprised that a few people have commented on my good accent and want to know where we are from... may I say that they didn't expect to hear "Minneapolis"... "north of Chicago" is more helpful to people who only know that the U.S. has an East Coast and a West Coast.
- Every location provides a set of vocabulary words that I may not have otherwise learned. This includes items on menus, neighborhood names, and so forth.
- Vocabulary that I haven't used for a long time has popped up along the way and has been quite useful: navette for river boat, coline for hill, and velo for bicycle are examples.
- My brain isn't working hard to translate as much, I just "know" what someone means.
- I would also add that speaking beginning French in Lyon (now) is far less intimidating than, for instance, Paris. Here just about everyone has the patience to let you go on in French even when they know English and they also know you speak English. I feel the effort is appreciated so much more and it is motivating to continue to improve one's French.
Today our goal was to find Les Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse. This is the covered market for the area that sells all kinds of fish, shellfish, sausages, wine, baked goods and so forth to restaurant buyers as well as the public. I'm suspicious of this one though because the sit-down restaurants in this nice building are more like ordinary restaurants that offer food at extremely good prices.
Les Halles is very close by to a large centre commercial (a large modern shopping center at Gare Part Dieu). But this is a business area so bring a map and be prepared for the inevitable torn up street and intersections as Lyon is constantly under improvements.
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