I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but maybe this time I am. I must speak pretty good French. This afternoon, I went to the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce (aka Sup de Co), une grande école in Amiens. I was invited to help revise their welcome packet for international students. The school is in the former Bishop's house just behind the cathedral, which makes me wonder where the Bishop now lives. But I digress. After the meeting, I stayed to visit with the woman from the international programs office. "See, you can barely hear her accent," Laurence explained to Brigitte.
This evening, I was invited to dinner at the home of the conseiller principal d'éducation from my school. She introduced me to her husband, and after a few minutes said, "See, I told you, she hardly has an accent."
But I do have an accent; I'm sounding more and more picarde as the months pass. The time I've been spending with autotochtones is having an effect, and dinner entertainment often includes my imitation of the students when they balance, or tattle on each other. Mais Madam-uh. Il a piqué ma trouss-uh! Watch out...when I return to the U.S., I'll be teaching the kids French with a distinct pronunciation and the requisite yet unnecessary word at the end of my sentences, quoi.
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