Here it is the last weekend in January already. I am back at school, having decided to get back into studying French, and I have decided to begin the French in Context Master's Program at the University of Guelph in September. It focuses on didactics of FSL, sociolinguistics, and literary translation.
It is a very strange feeling to be dipping my toes back into the waters of French after such a long absence of familiarity with la belle langue. I was so fluent in French when I left Paris in 1988 that I could fool some of people I met into thinking I was French, at least for a little while! My years of immersion in Spanish and now, 5 years of studying it at the University level have meant that French has receded from my awareness.
My French is still pretty good though, if I do say so myself! I am sure that I can get to a much higher level pretty quickly with some sustained study.
I LOVE LINGUISTICS! I am taking one course where we study the French of Quebec. I would dearly love to spend some time in PQ and get an ear for the joual. In fact, next week we are going to start a series of transcription exercises where we listen to the speaker and transcribe as accurately as possible what has been said. It will be quite the challenge once we get to the real Quebec French.
In the meantime I have been doing a little translating work into both French and Spanish, and teaching some private Spanish classes. I have also been corresponding with the head of the Translation Program at Glendon College at York University. They are adding a Master's in Conference Interpretation Program in 2012 and will be kicking off the program with some summer courses this summer.
After I did such a great job interpreting (simultaneous) for Hugo Salvatierra, former Minister of Agriculture of Bolivia, at that conference organized by Judy Rebick at the UofG on Nov. 6, 2010, I decided I would try to become a certified conference interpreter. There are only 3 places in North America that offer certification programs for interpretation! The Monterey Institute of International Affairs in California, the Vancouver Community College, and the University of Ottawa. So I am very excited that I will be able to study this at York if I decide to go in that direction. My year doing a Master's in French should bring me back up to speed.
Well, I am off for a well-deserved moment of leisure...going to relax with a book in French!
It is a very strange feeling to be dipping my toes back into the waters of French after such a long absence of familiarity with la belle langue. I was so fluent in French when I left Paris in 1988 that I could fool some of people I met into thinking I was French, at least for a little while! My years of immersion in Spanish and now, 5 years of studying it at the University level have meant that French has receded from my awareness.
My French is still pretty good though, if I do say so myself! I am sure that I can get to a much higher level pretty quickly with some sustained study.
I LOVE LINGUISTICS! I am taking one course where we study the French of Quebec. I would dearly love to spend some time in PQ and get an ear for the joual. In fact, next week we are going to start a series of transcription exercises where we listen to the speaker and transcribe as accurately as possible what has been said. It will be quite the challenge once we get to the real Quebec French.
In the meantime I have been doing a little translating work into both French and Spanish, and teaching some private Spanish classes. I have also been corresponding with the head of the Translation Program at Glendon College at York University. They are adding a Master's in Conference Interpretation Program in 2012 and will be kicking off the program with some summer courses this summer.
After I did such a great job interpreting (simultaneous) for Hugo Salvatierra, former Minister of Agriculture of Bolivia, at that conference organized by Judy Rebick at the UofG on Nov. 6, 2010, I decided I would try to become a certified conference interpreter. There are only 3 places in North America that offer certification programs for interpretation! The Monterey Institute of International Affairs in California, the Vancouver Community College, and the University of Ottawa. So I am very excited that I will be able to study this at York if I decide to go in that direction. My year doing a Master's in French should bring me back up to speed.
Well, I am off for a well-deserved moment of leisure...going to relax with a book in French!
