Speaking of French
Blogs
Define immersion: hearing, understanding, participating
Author: Lena Smith My first instinct was to begin writing this post in French – a good indicator of what happens when one is dropped in...
Blogs
Code-switching among friends
Author: Lena Smith Code-switching: everyone does it, most of the time without knowing it. It is as simple as switching from writing a text message to...
Blogs
The Other Hand
Author: Lena Smith I finally learned how to say leftie in French. And it turns out none of my French professors ever got the translation exactly...
Blogs
To meet other foreigners, buy a bicycle
Author: Lena Smith Last weekend I took a day trip to Sète, a seaside town close to Montpellier. The town has recently become a tourist attraction,...
Blogs
Quiet Americans
Author: Lena Smith Sound resonates in a cathedral: footsteps, jingling keys, doors closing, hushed voices. Everyone speaks quietly in a cathedral, because the quiet is precious...
Blogs
An accent makes all the difference
Author: Lena Smith I am spending part of my mid-semester break in Glasgow, Scotland. Having been here for less than a day, I already see how...
Blogs
In the Vernacular
Author: Lena Smith Vernacular is a great word, and not only because it's fun to say. A vernacular is simply any variation of a language a...
Blogs
Food is Language, Language is Food
Author: Lena Smith I have been in France for more than two months and I have not blogged about food. I have eaten a lot of...
Blogs
Why do we learn foreign languages by writing?
Author: Lena Smith On my first day of French class in seventh grade, I learned a simple exchange: "Bonjour, ca va? Oui, ca va bien." I...
