Tag Archives: English

Do you speak Aussie?

March 28, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 7 Comments

If you are a Games of Thrones fan, you must be familiar with the following sentence “you know nothing Jon Snow”… well this is the way I feel sometimes about my English. I thought that my universtity English degree, my previous lives in Montreal and London had afforded me to gain a wide knowledge of this beautiful language but it seems it is a never ending journey! But today let’s focus on the positive side only: learning a foreign language is like following the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz where each day is an adventure, an opportunity to discover and to learn more!

Actually when I moved to Adelaide I realized that there were many words and expressions (slang) I did not know! Furthermore, it seems that my French accent is SO strong that there is no way I could be mistaken for an Aussie girl… no matter how hard I try, when I open my mouth they instantly know I am French! Sometimes I wonder… why do French people sound so French?! Since I can’t really do anything about it, let’s focus on the former topic: Aussie slang!

Shortly after I moved to Adelaide, I made friend with my neighbour and enjoyed our daily conversations about the city, Australia, wildlife etc… even if sometimes he talked too fast and I could not catch the meaning of everything. One day he told me how popular the Aussie barbies were and that I should try. I thought he was talking about the Barbie plastic dolls (creepy…. why would he tell me that, I am not a kid anymore and what do Aussie Barbie dolls have that French ones don’t haha)… or maybe he was referring to bimbos, blondies (still creepy…why saying I should try?). So I got curious and asked him for more details (afterall maybe I was just lost in translation), I wanted to know what he liked about it… then I heard the word “shrimp” and the conversation went on and I learnt this day that a barbie is a barbecue, not a doll neither a bimbo nore a blondie!

Do you know what is a breakie? First time, I heard this word… I thought it was related to “break something”… do I want a breakie? Is somebody going to break my leg? Is it an Australian custom? Well don’t worry, if you see this expression on a cafe menu… nobody is going to break you anything, it just means: breakfast! In my opinion it is a good word to know here and speaking of it I know the perfect place where to enjoy a delicious Aussie breakie!

One day in English class, one of our teachers William asked us if we have been bothered by the mozzies during the warm and humid weekend. Because of the lesson topic, we knew he was talking about an animal but what kind of beast was that? The word sounded to me like a “mouse” but with a “S” so something like “mouses” but then I thought it can’t be, because the plural is “mice” (congrats these English classes are paying off)! A girl from Japan said that this animal did not exist in her country and William smiled and said he doubted it! Actually mozzies mean mosquitos!

After 6 months living in Australia, I can’t declare I am fluent in Aussie slang yet but I am working on it because I like it here and I really want to fit in! So to prove my love to Australia, I am going to write something that only Australians can understand:

G’day, I started my morning with a lovely breakie and wrote some emails to my relies. Then I was invited by my aussies mates to a seafood barbie. I hope there will not be too many mozzies tonight at the party! No worries! Ta ❤

lifestyle, School

Fifty shades of Grey book critique

March 24, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 4 Comments

Fifty shades of grey – E.L. James – 2011 – 528 p. – 100 million sale

Erotic romance novel written by British author E.L. James. The story traces the unconventional relationship between the naive college graduate, Anastasia Steele and the mysterious business magnate, Christian Grey.

The reader becomes the voyeur of this singular initiatory journey featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism. The author uses this taboo universe to explore basic themes such as: How far would you go for love, can love change someone, opposites’ attract.

E.L. James is placing her characters in uncomfortable situations: struggling with their emotions, fighting and finally compromising. The interest of the story lies on the conflict of sentiments between the two central characters. Besides all of their differences and deviances, they share a universal feeling: LOVE. That feeling cements their relationship and helps them to grow together and to explore new shades of their physical and emotional boundaries as the story progresses.

It could be a tale of love that triumphs over the odds. Unfortunately the characters are not believable and dialogues are dull. The author’s style is colourless and the plot is blindingly obvious.

Fifty shades of grey, despite all the leather and spanking, is pretty harmless!

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This text is one of my assignments from creative writing class. I was asked to write a book critique in 200 words. I have picked “50 shades of Grey” first because I read it not so long ago (so I remember it quite well) and also because this assignment was scheduled in February at the exact time when the “steamy” film inspired from this book was released and everybody was talking about it for Valentine’s day… so I thought it could be interesting and fun to write my critique about it!

australia, lifestyle, School

Creative writing class

March 19, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 2 Comments

“We will fly in a brand new sky!”

I can’t believe that I am following creative writing classes in English with native people!!! This is so exciting and rewarding to be able to do such thing, to feel I am one of them, to believe I am not that different! At the beginning I was scared it would be too hard for me but finally I realised that when you are enthusiastic about something you can make it happen!

In a previous article, I have mentioned how important it is when you live abroad to have other activities that are not directly related to English. Learning the language of your new country is a necessity but sometimes it can be frustrating and it is a long path so it is important to reward yourself with other activities that are not too demanding. For example, my friend Nasim (from Iran) is following painting classes, my friend Balbina (from Spain) is taking part to Zumba dance once a week and I have recently enrolled to a creative writing course and guess what we are all having fun! We are learning new things, changing our routine, meeting native people, making new friends, hearing about specific and technical vocabulary we are not familiar with… and it is great because we are doing something we enjoy a lot 🙂 something we feel proud about it where English is not an issue… well it is not totally true for me as I am following a creative writing class where I am supposed to write beautifully in English haha! Speaking of that, I will be posting from time to time some of my assignments so you can check my progress and see that nothing is impossible!

So don’t be shy! This is your chance to meet awesome people, to start a new activity, to make a difference in your life! Pick something you really enjoy, something you have always dreamt about in your home country but never took the chance to do it! Any classes… it can be dance, beach volley, Spanish, drawing, photography, cooking, yoga… anything! You are in a new country, that’s your moment, don’t miss it!

Adelaide College of the Arts

TAFE SA

39 Light Square

Adelaide – South Australia 5000

http://www.tafesa.edu.au/adelaide-college-of-the-arts/writing

australia, lifestyle

Cricket Match decoded by a French girl

March 17, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 6 Comments

When I was living in France, I have never been a sport fan. I have been only one time to the French tennis open (Roland Garros), I have seen one day the “Tour de France” because the riders were biking in the city where I was living and I have never been to a rugby match which is a shame when you think that the city where I originally come from has the best team ever (ASM). I guess it was not really my thing at that time… but living abroad made me more curious I suppose and now I enjoy discovering about sports I am not familiar with and cricket is definitely one of them!

Sunday for the first time, I took part to the Cricket World Cup 2015 at Adelaide Oval! It was nothing like I would have ever imagined… First, I discovered that a cricket match is VERY long: this one started at 2pm and ended at 10pm… so you’d better come prepared because it is a long time spent on a plastic seat! Forget what you know about other sports or logic because cricket is really different!

I – The atmosphere

A cricket match is like a French family lunch on a weekend where everybody sits, eats and chats during HOURS about anything and sometimes stops when there is some “action” like a drunk uncle talking no sense or no more wine in the cellar or worst no more bread! Frankly, I was surprised to see that the people are not focus all the time on the match… actually they are chatting about what they did last weekend, their jobs, their families and eventually the match when a team scores! I have seen some people reading the newspaper, other enjoying a glass of wine, some texting on their Iphones… it is a very relaxed event where people are reunited in the name of cricket! In my opinion, the ideal is to come with good friends of yours, have some beers, some junk food, entertaining conversations and enjoy the show on the field! If you have good company, it is a nice way to spend your Sunday.

II – The game

I am not sure I understood the rules… but I managed to get a few things! So there are 2 teams playing on the field so you pick the one you want to support (generally I base my choice on the jersey colour). It is a bat and ball game so basically one team bats and the other bowls and then it is the other way around. The goal is to score as many runs as possible, easy! It is good to do a WICKET or a FOUR (people seems to be happy when it happens). It is bad to do a LEG BEFORE WICKET you don’t want that, never! I personally like the WICKET thing because the stick flies in the air and there is a little flashing light on its end which is pretty original.

The cricket match is divided into periods which is good so you can go in peace during the break to the food stand in the meantime to get some nachos or fries… because there are not actions all the time during the game so you don’t want to miss it when it occurs… it is like fishing, you never know when the fish is going to bite and you want to be there when it happens! Applaud and stand up when your team scores and don’t hesitate to encourage them shouting “Hit the Ball!”, “Come on guys!”, take some pics and post them on Instagram and you’ll be all right 🙂 people won’t even noticed it is your first time!

III – The environment

I think we are really lucky in Adelaide. The oval is so beautiful, colourful, very modern and gigantic! This stadium looks like a convention centre. The bathroom are very fancy like in a SPA, there are even candles, can you believe that on a match day!? Also, it can be very warm in the stadium during the afternoon (hey, we are in Oz world!) so bring a hat, sun glasses, sun block and a fan! Like I said a match can last until late at night so bring a pullover, a scarf and a jacket too or you’ll be sorry because it can get chilly! A nice way to end the evening after a match if you are still hungry is to head to the Bakery on O’Connell street in North Adelaide or The Orignal Pancakes kitchen in the CBD, they are both opened 24/7 and pretty closed from the Oval!

In my opinion, it is worth going at least once in your life to a cricket game especially with a group of friends you want to catch up with! I am glad I did, I mean it is always fun and refreshing to experience new things. I must say I spent a good time and I liked the atmosphere. I hope crickets fans won’t be offended by my vision… again this is cricket decoded by a French girl who attended to her first match… it is clear I am not Don Bradman 😉

lifestyle

Connecting with awesome people

March 5, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 9 Comments

Imagine you move to a new country, imagine you know nobody, imagine they speak differently, imagine… How would you feel? Scared? Excited? Probably a mix of everything… It is a natural feeling!

It is not easy to start a new life where you are away from your family, friends and comfort zone. A new place where you feel different, you have no reassuring routine, no control over things. But if you think about it, it is also a chance to discover, to learn and to grow! We are at our best when we have no other choices than ‘fighting’ … don’t you think? and what is best than trying to fit in a new culture?! I recently posted an article about how great and important it is to make new friends when living abroad. People you would have never met if you have stayed in your home country. People that are going to make a (huge) difference in your life. People that are going to blow your mind… All that said the question is: where to meet these fantastic people?

I would be lying if I say that you are going to bump into them at each corners of the streets, while visiting a museum, attending to an exhibition, sitting at a cafe, staying at home…honestly very rare, chances 2%. But in the other hand I am not lying when I am saying it is not that hard to meet awesome people. I am going to save you all the blabla about: having a good attitude, be open minded, be friendly… I think we already all know that!

So in my experience what works best for me is to go to English classes! Going to school and learn/improve your language skills is a necessity to communicate, to fit in your new country and build a social life. The main reason being because you will be surrounded with people from all other the world, happy to be here, sharing the same passion for English, willing to fit in their new city and looking for friends… so it is a good start since you will be on the same page. I have always met my best friends in English classes and I can assure you they are the BEST! Last time I felt this way about school friendship I was 15… I don’t know if it is the fact that living abroad that makes you feel very emotional or what… but it is true I am strongly attached to my new friends ❤ because we understand each other, we feel the same way, we are supporting each other because we are on the same boat!

Now that I am starting to have experience in living overseas (Australia being my third foreign destination on the list) I also recommend to make friends with locals/natives. Afterall this is the point of your experience here too, you want to feel, breathe, love, act, eat like natives! But I admit it is not the easiest part since locals have already their routine, a busy social life and they speak very fast 😉 Again in my experience what works best for me is to:

Bond with the neighbors! Easy since they live next door to you and you are going to be in contact with them nearly everyday (I had absolutely lovely neighbors when I was living on Murrays Lane in Adelaide CBD, my friend Nasim has also great neighbors). If you are lucky they can become real good friends and teach you a lot of things about the area.
Make friends at work! If you don’t have a paid job, you can also look for a volunteer job. Sometimes it is a good opportunity to practise your English but also to be in contact with many people (think about your network!).
Enroll to different kind of activities you like! Afterall who said that when abroad you can only attend to English classes! OK you are here to learn the language but you can also have fun too! Find something you really enjoy and don’t worry about your English.. you will practise it anyway! Actually it will be even more rewarding to discover that you can use your new language skills in a real life situation with natives! It can be sport, art.. anything you like! Besides English classes, when I was in Canada I took pilates classes, in London I practised yoga and in Australia: Chinese, Spanish and Creative writing! I can assure you that after a few classes, you will be amazed to see that you are already bonding with your classmates and your teachers! Furthermore you will have lot of fun doing and learning something you enjoy!

I hope these few tips will help you to connect in no time with amazing people who will make your experience here inspiring and memorable! Learn the language of your new country and you will have friends for life ❤ Building an enriching social life is the key to your integration and happiness!