French Dreams (Les Rêves Français)

Here in America, there is the big push for Spanish. No one has ever told me to study French. Not. One. Person. That being said, I dropped Spanish the first chance I could...in order to study French instead.

I should probably take a moment right here to thank my grade school for letting me (at least for the duration that I was there) have French classes. They were offered for the first time when I entered seventh grade for the junior high...and then they were no longer existing after I entered high school. Whew! I made it!

I can't explain exactly why I picked French other than the answers that every other student seems to give: "I wanted to study something different! Everyone is studying Spanish!" Plus, I think it's prettier (Not that I have anything against Spanish! But...I do think French is prettier.)

But people actually get angry and/or frustrated when they figure out that I didn't take Spanish. Like "Spanish is used more here in the US!"  Yeah...okay. And your point is? Have you been up north? Not that Canadian French is exactly "really" French to the Parisians, but.... You can see French every day in America. Did you hear that correctly? Yes! Every Single Day! Especially if you are a lady (go look right now at your makeup products). Then there's that extra paragraph that is scrolled through whenever you watch a movie: English, Spanish....oh look! French!

The point is: it is not exactly a dead language. French is spoken in France, Canada, Africa, South America, and a lot of other countries too! Why do I feel as if a lot of people forget that it is one of the main languages spoken during the Olympics?

Anyways, why would I be creating a blog about French things? I have been accepted to a direct study abroad three week program to the University of Caen (Uni-Caen)!!!! I am so excited!

Caen is a little city in Normandy, France. If you don't know much about the layout of France (and didn't pay attention in WWII history class), I can explain just a little more. France, I'm told, is about the size of Texas. It is separated into sections (regions or provinces). One of these is Normandy, in the north-western part of France. You may have heard of Normandy when you learned about D-Day. Remember now? Right at the English Channel!

When I get to Caen, I will be going to French classes in the morning and then, in the afternoon (I'm told) we get to go places and learn about WWII history. My uncles and (one) brother are so jealous!

I can't wait to get to Normandie!