End of School Year - Anna's "Classes" at AVF

We’ve mentioned from time to time that Anna has classes, but we’ve never really talked about what the classes are all about.  So for those of you who might be curious…

Anna has been (and, alas, remains) somewhat frustrated with her ability (or lack thereof) to understand French when it is spoken by French people.  She’s pretty good at reading French and fair at writing it (with dictionary in hand), but she finds it a bit difficult to “hear” words that she knows when they are delivered rapid-fire by native speakers.  What to do?  Well, AVF came to the rescue with a “French Conversation for Debutants” gathering at the AVF building each Wednesday morning from 10AM to noon.

AVF Office in Vieux Lyon

Place de la Baleine - AVF office is on the right past the red awning.

As we have noted before, people from all over the world come to AVF, and this “class” includes quite a representative sampling of nationalities.  The sessions have been led by a team of very patient native French women, Marie-Claude, Michelle, and Monique.  There has been no set curriculum and no text - the group discusses whatever topic comes up in conversation with the leader correcting grammar, giving alternative ways to say things, and taking opportunities presented to explain types 1, 2, and 3 verbs, verb tenses, proper endings for adjectives, etc. etc.  Although we are from all over the world and few of us speak the same language (other than “debutant French”), we have found we have much in common, and it has become as much a women’s weekly social gathering as it is a class.   (Men are not barred from joining, but most have day jobs, and so the classes have evolved into women’s gatherings.) 

Our last get-together was Wednesday, June 29^th, and most of us will be leaving the Lyon area this summer.  We’ve already discussed how strange it will be to leave and probably never again see people who have become our friends.  But then there’s always email!