I finished my first week of semi-intensive French at Alliance Francais here in Seattle. I have been studying grammar on my own and listening to podcasts. My favorite so far is Ma France video podcasts at the BBC Language. I also really enjoyed the French podcasts from the Australian site -World Languages Podcast.

But I also needed something that would force me to speak French before my class in Villefranche sur Mer. So I signed up for beginning French at Alliance Francais. I took two session back in 2000 before I went hiking in the Alpes Maritime. They were very good. Unfortunately, they only have Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced so I’m back at the very beginning.

The instructor is a young woman from Paris. She is very enthusiastic. The class has a mix of different level students. There are a couple of high school students who are doing additional study in summer. Everyone is there for fun. And I’m attempting to speak. My accent is terrible but this is good. I might be able to start a little bit beyond beginner when I get to France.

So far this week, we have learned to introduce ourselves, learned about feminine and masculine nouns, learned professions and a little bit of etiquette when meeting someone to understand when to use vous or tu.

The class is three days a week for two hours. It is disrupting our schedule but G is very supportive. I leave for work around 7:30, work until about 5:30, go to class and then getting home around 8:30 in time for a late dinner. My computer time is getting seriously impacted. But change is good.