Class-y

Here are some pics of my daily life these past few weeks.  I have a LOT of time in the classroom! While that isn't necessarily my favorite place to be, I have lots of encouraging study buddies and professors who are patient and willing to answer my many questions (and make lots of corrections).

We start our day with different groups depending on our french level.  Essentially the mornings are filled with lots of speaking practice and group work.  After lunch we start the afternoon sessions in a listening lab.  We have to repeat and respond to the questions we hear and our professors correct our grammar, articulation and accents.  Some students refer to this as the "torture lab" but I actually like it! Probably because my accent isn't entirely atrocious, only a little bit:)

After Listening Lab we have individual study time.  Usually I am working on an expose - we have to write, memorize and present two expositions per week.  My subjects have covered growing Moringa (the plant I'm really excited about to fight malnutrition in Congo) and the varied meanings of the term "missionary".  It's amazing how difficult it is to explain a complicated topic with minimal vocabulary in a new language.  Huph-la.  My French professors say that a lot.  I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it seems to fit in this context.

Our professors are available for questions and corrections as we work individually in the afternoons.  On the left in the brown/gray sweater is Sebastian, one of my professors.  He is a native of Angers.

And my other professor, Nathalie, working here with my classmate Teresa from Vietnam.  I love Nathalie's class.  She speaks clearly so we can understand, and is patient with our many and varied grammatical errors.

This is everyone in my morning class! I am really lucky to be in a class with only three students.  Most of the classes have at least 5 or 6 students.  Mission-Langues makes a point to have no more than 8 students in one class for optimal speaking practice.