Le week-end

So, if you(or who ever actually reads this) hasn't noticed, I've gotten rather lazy about writing in French. I don't really know why--but I promise I'll get back to it ASAP! Also, I'm fiddling with my blog layout...I like it so far, I just want to add something to the header image.

So, my weekend has been rather boring although I got payed Friday and, after putting money away in my savings and paying on my credit card, have around $150 let to spend(well, take out $30 for bloody gas and I guess it's...not that much). Anyway, yesterday I slept most of the day after battling my mother and father's second hand smoke all day. I had planned to go swimming but it rained, so that was a no go.

I've thus far spent my morning reading other blogs and searching for vegetarian friendly vitamins, which I found--thank goodness! Vegan Hair, skin, and nails. I mostly bought these because I want to impliment a "Make C an 'It' girl" regimin that consists of using healthy, organic/natural skin/hair products, eating better, and exercising. So far...I've got the first one down as far has hair goes...everything else needs much work. I assume, though, that it will be better when I'm not being bombarded with unhealthy food and death fumes from cigars and cigarettes. At the moment my head is reeling from it right now.

La Catho: très vite!

One of the things that made me lean towards ICP over La Sorbonne was that I'd read accounts of the Sorbonne not being very organized(not saying that's true or not) and, from what I see from the website, it not having a wide range of classes. Moreover, I wasn't sure if my uni would accept it, as it's not actually have enough art history courses for me.

With la Catho I've been pleasantly surprised. I get email replies as quickly as half an hour after I send them. It's amazing, really, because I don't get emails back that quickly from my university! Today I got my username and password(although there was an issue with the u.n. that needs to be resolved) to the university's housing and job listings for students today. When I tried to log in I got some weird error, emailed the lady over the website and got a reply saying that she would need to get IT to look at the error as she never got it before. Sorry, but I think that's great service. That's better response time than I get from people who sit next to me at work...but let's not talk about that.

Late night blogging

After watching have of Les Poupées Russes and losing interest in the second part for now(after looking for French subtitles for the ENTIRE movie and coming to no avail) I've been surfing the net for a good half hour. I suppose I'm looking for something but haven't quite figured it out...

The most annoying thing about the summer for me is the restlessness that arises so quickly. I can't stand too much repetition and boredom, and the métro-boulot-dodo of each day wears thin very quickly. It is, however, easier to get through it all with the knowledge that all the work of the summer is contributing to la Catho and what I hope will be five months of sponteneity and progress.

My interest in the German language has been sparked since watching Der Kaiser und die Kaiserin. In high school I went through a stint of learning as much German and Japanese as I could(in regard to German, it was a lot). So now when I look at beginner's German lessons all the technicalities that would have annoyed me to no end seem so easy to understand and remember. I was contemplating taking a German course at uni but I think I'll go it alone and then study abroad the summer I graduate in Germany. I say "study abroad" because it seems there are a lot more scholarships, grants, fellowships, etc. for studying in Germany versus France. Oh well, I still love French immensely. :)

der Kaiser und die Kaiserin

Après j'ai vu Speed Racer j'intriguais avec l'acteur qui a joué Inspector Detector. Il n'a pas fait quelque chose très extraordinaire, mais il est si beau que j'ai besoin de trouver qui il est(aussi, son accent allemand, ça m'a intéressé aussi) . Éventuellement, j'ai trouvé son nom, il s'appelle Benno Fürmann. Je pense que je l'ai vu dans autres films, mais je ne suis pas sûr. De tout de façon, j'ai vu un film allemand aujourd'hui, der Kaiser un die Kaiserin dans lequel il joue le personnage Bodo. C'est un film merveilleux, très exceptionnel. J'aime Benno. :)

Mardi j'ai passé mon examen de placement pour ILCP et mon niveau est intermédiaire. Ça ne me surprend pas, mais je suis triste parce que je veux tellement être C1 ou C2. J'ai peur de ne gagner pas des crédits pour l'histoire d'art. We shall see....

ICP en 2009!

ILCF à ICP

J'irai vraiment a Paris pour le semestre printemps. J'ai payé ma caution de 320 euros hier et maintenant j'attends mon attestation pour obtenir mon visa et pour un examen de mon niveau de français. Peut-être après la transaction compense, j'apprendrai plus de ce que je dois faire. :)

On the pronoun "en" and demonstrative pronouns(celui, celles, etc) PART 1

I'm currently reading my two French grammar books, Bescherelle: la grammaire and Advanced French Grammar. Last week I learned how the pronoun en works, finally. I've been so confused about this pronoun, I never know when to use it. Now I get it:

En
Direct object: replaces partitive articles(du, de la, de l') + noun

ex: J'ai bu le thé
---> J'en ai bu.

Indirect object: replaces de + noun after verbs taking de + object(parler de, avoir besoin de, etc)

ex:
J'ai besoin d'un billet
--->J'en ai besoin

Je me doutais qu'il partirait
--->Je m'en doutais.

Expressions of quantity(easiest, and the only one I've learned in school -_-):

With expressions of quantity like beaucoup de, peu de, assez de, trop de, etc. it replaces the de + noun

ex: j'ai beaucoup de livres
--->j'en ai beaucoup

For expressions that do not contain "de" but numbers or indefinite determiners(plusieurs, aucun, etc.) only the object is replaced, everything else is kept

ex:
Il a une voiture
---> il en a une

en replacing de + clause:

This is a little complicated, but from what I understand, when en can be used to replace a clause when the constuction of the sentence doesn't change if you use a noun or pronoun, as in the verb in the sentence would still be followed by de either way.

ex:
J'ai besoin d'aller au magasin
--->J'en ai besoin(could be j'ai besoin d'y aller, too I think)

Il s'est rendu compte de ce qu'il avait dit
--->Il s'en est rendu compte

This is, however, wouldn't work:
J'ai oublié de laisser mes livres sur votre bureau
WRONG--J'en ai oublié
RIGHT--J'ai oublié (de le faire)

My explanation of this is that because oublier it's always followed by de like avoir besoin de regardless of whether it is a noun or a verb, en can not replace the clause.


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Now that I've written all of this out here, I feel that I understand it better. I'll be adding the demonstrative articles later because right now I'm bushed.

Home sweet home

Le semestre a fini il y a deux semaines. J'ai eu mes notes: cinq A's et deux B's. Très bizarre, je pense parce que j'ai pensé que j'ai plus des B's. De tout de façon, je suis contente. :)

J'oublie dire que j'ai trouvé un programme pour échange à Paris pour le semestre du printemps prochain et mes parents sont d'accord avec ça. Donc, en deux ou trois semaines je payerai le 320 euros pour pre-registration et puis sauver mes argents pour les tarifs. Je suis tellement excitée!

Récemment je sens un peu bizarre... mais maintenant je suis d'accord. :)

Aussi, j'ai découvrit Amy Winehouse être une très bonne chanteuse. Je pense que j'aime plus sa style et sa personnalité que sa musique, parce que je pense sa musique est un résultat de son producteur Mark Ronson. Sa style est intéressante à moi. Je trouve que les chanteurs avec leurs propres styles sont les plus aguichants et les plus éblouis. Aussi, je pense plus de me faire un autre piercing--un monroe. Je le veux après, mais je ne suis pas sûr si celui avoir un bon air...mais après j'ai regardé un photo d'Amy, j'ai réalisé que celui sera bon. En plus, j'ai enlevé mon labret...donc je n'aurai pas trop de piercings.