I always made my French 101 students have to identify at least 5 Francophone countries (on different continents) as part of their first test.
My favorite was the student who used almost all islands so that he wouldn't have to know the article!
She ain't movin'. Serenity's not movin'.
Kaylee ,'Out Of Gas'
Natter 60: Gone In 60 Seconds
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
megan walker - Aug 11, 2008 2:36:59 pm PDT #2575 of 10003
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
javachik - Aug 11, 2008 2:38:28 pm PDT #2576 of 10003
Our wings are not tired.
With you on the heroes, thing.
But I would be shocked if every country didn't cover the Olympics with the same bias. You think the people in France are less biased towards their athletes than U.S.?
Jesse - Aug 11, 2008 2:39:39 pm PDT #2577 of 10003
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I always made my French 101 students have to identify at least 5 Francophone countries (on different continents) as part of their first test.
Djibouti!
Which I know because of some possibly similar requirement friends of mine had when we were 12.
Connie Neil - Aug 11, 2008 2:39:57 pm PDT #2578 of 10003
brillig
Ah ha! The use of articles in French with proper nouns is why so many female artists in the early and mid 20th century were referred to as Le or The Whomever! Another foible of British mystery books revealed!
amych - Aug 11, 2008 2:41:32 pm PDT #2579 of 10003
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
My favorite was the student who used almost all islands so that he wouldn't have to know the article!
Dude, that's some good thinking. Ultimately counterproductive, but points for recognizing there was a problem and being quick on his feet to get around it.
Also, "ounterproductive" apparently isn't a word.
Gudanov - Aug 11, 2008 2:41:58 pm PDT #2580 of 10003
Coding and Sleeping
I like getting all nationalistic over the Olympics.
megan walker - Aug 11, 2008 2:42:13 pm PDT #2581 of 10003
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
You think the people in France are less biased towards their athletes than U.S.?
Well the attitude about these things is not as optimistic (We are the best!) as here. What the French swimmers supposedly said to the American relay team seems very out of character to me.
But I can tell you that the coverage in the 90s leaned heavily towards judo, canoe-kayak, fencing, and other strong French sports. But still I think they had more coverage of the athletes that were excelling in general, no matter what the country.
Connie Neil - Aug 11, 2008 2:42:18 pm PDT #2582 of 10003
brillig
And I'm sure France can hold its own in the over the top "Wow, we're great!" competitions.
I bet the London Olympics will be fun, with all the French coming over on the Chunnel.
§ ita § - Aug 11, 2008 2:42:43 pm PDT #2583 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I would be shocked if every country didn't cover the Olympics with the same bias
Not as much, in my experience. At least the UK didn't and Jamaica can't. I'm pretty impressed my father is visiting me next week. It's not like him to travel during the Olympics, and certainly not to the US.
Gadget_Girl - Aug 11, 2008 2:43:15 pm PDT #2584 of 10003
Just call me "Siouxsie Shunshine".
So many interesting things going on. So many things I'd love to respond to. Too tired to do that, though.
The bad of the first day back at the school: everything I was worried about has come true and more. This school year is going to SUCK! Lots of teachers are unhappy. We started a pool today on how many people will leave by the end of the year. (I'm down for 20) One of the new teachers kept saying that this is the strangest school he has ever worked at and was amazed that things were as wacky as they truly are.
The good of the first day back at the school: The new Band and Art teachers are totally adorable. I am now the only female in my department. Had a nice talk with several of the female teachers, too.