End of School Year - more Anna classes

With the same goal in mind (improving her French comprehension), Anna signed up for additional classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2-4 PM.  Anna found out about these classes through George, a friend she met at AVF.  George is also interested in improving her French (yes, George is female) and discovered these classes.   The classes are similar to the “Debutant French” gatherings at AVF in that all the students are women, we come from all over the world (although Africa and the Iberian Peninsula are dominant right now), the language we have in common is our varying degrees of French, and the teachers are incredibly patient.  The similarity ends there.  

6eme Arrondissement Mairie

The classes were held in a large room on the 4th floor (French style numbering) of the 6th Arrondissement Mairie.  (Official offices for the Mayor, etc. in that arrondissement or neighborhood, and also a lovely, grand old building.) Students are first put into groups reflecting our level of French language skills.  (Anna was, as usual, a “square peg in a round hole” and didn’t really fit any of the groups, but she was assigned to a group after a couple of one-on-one sessions to determine an appropriate level for her.)   She soon found that many of her fellow students found the basics of grammar, math, and penmanship a challenge; several had never been to school, and others had been to rudimentary schools and only for a few years.  Although the other students in her group could speak French, and did so on a day-to-day basis, their French was not always grammatically correct and they had difficulty with written exercises.   Anna, on the other hand, was a whiz at written assignments and grammar and often finished written exercises long before the others.  She soon found herself, with the teacher’s approval, helping others with the basics of grammar.  (i.e. what is a verb, what is a noun, how do subjects and predicates fit together in sentences, what is the difference between singular and plural nouns and why do the adjectives and verbs need to also be plural or singular, etc. etc.)  So her fellow students corrected her pronunciation (sometimes with laughter), and she helped them with the basic nuts and bolts of language. 

The classes ended up providing an education far beyond the French language.  Anna came to learn about life in a village in Senegal and life 30-40 years ago in rural Portugal.  She heard about the families, homes, plans, dreams, and challenges of the other women.  The other women all had one thing in common – they came to France in search of a better life for themselves and their families; Anna was in France for a year-long vacation.  Yet, in spite of this huge difference in lifestyles, they established a bond of respect and friendship.  On the last day of class, Anna and Benedicte, who often had turned to Anna for help, shared warm hugs and good wishes knowing they would likely never see each other again. All left richer for their experiences in class. Most of the women will return to class again in the Fall and go on with their lives – hopefully, successfully achieving their goals.