On Friday, September 20th, I had my first
meeting with my conversation partner. I haven't met a whole lot of people from
outside the US so far at TCU, so it was exciting to get to meet Audrey. She is
in the Intensive English Program because she wants to speak English fluently
and also wants to drop her French accent when she speaks in English.
Because this was our first time meeting
each other, it was really just a chance to meet and learn about each other. Here
are some of the things I learned about my conversation partner.
First, I learned that she is from Paris.
And by the way, that’s Paris, France, not Paris, Texas. But it’s pretty easy to
tell that she is French from her accent. It is really strong and awesome. I
kind of wish I had some sort of distinct accent like that. Maybe I do and I
just can’t tell???? Anyways, now that she is in the IEP she is trying to drop
the accent while she speaks English. So far, this has been difficult for
Audrey, but she has only been in the program for five months so obviously it’s
too early to expect a dramatic change. And for just five months into the
program, Audrey’s English is actually very (sorry for the v-word) good. There
were a few times during our conversation where she needed help with a word here
and there, but overall carrying a conversation with her was not difficult at
all.
She said that she has watched le Tour de
France in person, which is awesome to me because le Tour is one of my favorite
things to watch in the summer. As an endurance athlete myself, I can appreciate
the hard work that those bike riders put into becoming exceptional athletes. One
day I hope I can travel to France to watch le Tour in person.
While talking with Audrey, I learned that
she received her Masters in Journalism while in France. This led to a career in
journalism/reporting in France for a while. Now, she is in the US learning
English in the hopes of pursuing an MBA someday. Her boyfriend is a grad from
TCU with an MBA.
A few other things:
She has family all over the world- Germany, Israel, Brazil/South
America, US
She has travelled all over the world- to places where family lives
plus Italy, Philippines, Greece, California
She thought it was odd that California and other states have medical
marijuana dispensers although national government outlaws marijuana.
She likes Ft. Worth and the people here (warmer than people in Paris)
She compares Paris to New York
It was kind of fun to try to explain to
Audrey how our government works and the differences between state governments
and our federal government. Even with my somewhat limited knowledge on the
subject, I think I was able to give Audrey a satisfying answer.
We started talking about all the places
she had been, and I brought up that I hadn’t been to many places outside of the
US. When I was really young, like 5 or 6, my family travelled to Britain and
Germany for about two weeks. It was a fun trip, and the first time that I had
ever seen snow, but I don’t remember much else about it. I was just too young.
Then, as a senior in high school, I had the awesome opportunity to go on a
mission trip to Haiti. Audrey wondered why I hadn’t been to more places. I
really didn’t have a good answer for her, other than I’m too busy to go
somewhere and I don’t have the money to travel. We talked about the importance
of going outside of our comfort zone and experiencing new people, cultures,
etc. I think that’s pretty good advice. I looked into going on a study abroad
trip for next summer to China, but it just costs too much money. Hopefully
someday I will be able to travel to more places.
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