Scribbles

The last few days have just been total immersion en francais.  I’ve been thinking about taking the TEF exam to get my 3rd language requirement out of the way before starting INSEAD.  I was joking that when I pass it, I should apply to Canadian immigration and claim my 8 points towards the applicability score (out of 100), hahaha.

So I arranged a tutoring session with the language institute to gauge my competency before signing up for the test.  In the meanwhile, I’ve been hitting the books pretty hard, both grammar and vocabulary.  Also been listening to Pimsleur on the way to work, but right now level 2 seems a bit easy.  We’ll see how goes when I reach level 3.  As with most people learning foreign languages, my weakest is in conversation.  I really have to get off my lazy butt and go to a few of those conversation club meetings in Menlo Park.

Also, my brilliant friend and colleague gave me this great idea, which is to sign up to Netflix and rent French films.  By watching just a couple every week, I can train my listening a bit while enjoying some foreign cinematography.  The first flick arrived today, Confidences Trop Intimes. I felt the pace was a little slow, and the way the camera moved back and forth between the characters’ torsos and faces during their intimate conversations was unfamiliar (but not disorienting).  But hey, it definitely wasn’t painful to watch, and I got in my share of language training.

Gonna keep this up a few more weeks and see how it goes.  So far I’m feeling pretty confident about my pace.  The only gating factor is the rate at which I can memorize vocabulary.