Monday, November 2, 2009

Pardon my french


“Est-ce que vous facile?”

Yup. That’s what I asked my French colleague as he was descibing a new scientific method with me. Just like that, I blurted it out because I thought I’d practice my French competency outside of our home and the classroom. After all, a friend told me that I had very little accent. Why not practice it the first chance I get, right? Tres bien! an unsuspecting fellow. “Salut…etc, etc.”

I immediately knew that I made a major faux pas when my colleague turned red, turned away from me and clearly was trying to suppress a guffaw. After a while he calmly replied, “if you’re trying to ask me if the method is easy, then the answer is Yes… If you’re asking me if I’m easy… well, then…” Did I mention that he’s married? And folks, that’s when I decided not to use my colleagues as my lab rats for my French experiments. Pardon the pun. 

So yeah, for now, I’ll parle my Francais with my husband. At least, he wouldn’t mind being picked up. Tout comprendre est tout pardonner - to understand everything is to forgive everything. Until I’m better at it, “mercy” beaucoup.