No more French classes! Yay! For the time being, anyway. The last one was yesterday, and we have presumably all "graduated" to the next level. Signup for the fall term -- or "autumn," as I was politely corrected by the receptionist -- isn't yet open, but when it is, I'll put my name down. Meanwhile I'll practice with the Duolingo web site.
I've found that using the two together works well. The class introduces concepts, vocabulary and grammatical structure, whereas Duolingo hammers home the same material and makes more minor corrections -- masculine vs. feminine nouns, misplaced accent marks, that kind of thing. I get the broad strokes in class and the details on Duolingo.
Mon Dieu! Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to speak this language.
I took Olga to Hampstead Heath yesterday and we had a long walk. Once again, she got absurdly muddy. I didn't take the camera because I was tired of schlepping it around, but here's an iPhone shot:
That's my girl! Loving life! Needless to say, both dog and harness required serious cleaning when we got home.
(Top: Reflections in a vacant storefront on Westbourne Grove, Friday morning.)
it's a good thing Olga doesn't mind a bath.
ReplyDeleteLove that top photo, it'd look great as a big print. So subtle and soft. Good luck with French!
ReplyDeleteMud puddle is deeper and better than when we were there! Delicious black gooey mud! Olga is having the best life as "dog" this time. So glad you found each other, she certainly is HAPPY!According to anyone French, you can never speak French acceptably...I can say one absurd sentence which sort of works for any situation, because clearly I am absurd and to be treated as such, lightly and not seriously. Whew, off the hook! I could never pull it off otherwise. I am sure your French is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI just admire you for attempting to speak French.
ReplyDeleteAnd for putting up with Olga's mud baths. You're a better man than I, Gunga Din.
Olga knows that a mud bath is a beauty treatment. And it works - look how beautiful she is!
ReplyDeleteGood job on the French. Between the masc/fem, the agreement of everything, and the accent, French is not easy.
I'm so impressed that you let Olga play in the mud. She looks ridiculously happy!
ReplyDeleteYou've made me curious about the Duolingo website; i'll have to check it out.
And that top photo is wonderful. A double exposure? What's its story?
You and Dave are the best dog parents to Olga...She is a wonderful, happy girl. I'm not sure I could handle bathing away all that mud but she certainly is enjoying it. I will check out Duolingo. The French is worthwhile. Keep at it.
ReplyDeleteEllen: Actually, she hates baths! But she tolerates them without too much of a fight.
ReplyDeleteJiryu: Thanks! I miss you and the Zendo!
Linda Sue: Yes, this was the king of all Heath mud puddles. Olga was in up to her haunches.
Ms Moon: I'm tryin'! And the mud bath is a small thing, in the long run.
Jenny O: It's like her spa day!
37P: It's not a double exposure, although it looks like it. It's a reflection in a shop window, behind which is the shop itself, backed by a wall of mirrors casting another reflection. (And then the street outside a second set of windows on the right.) So it's just layers of reflections, basically.
E: The wonderful thing about Olga is that she is self-clearning to some degree. In this case she definitely needed a bath, but sometimes she sheds the mud of her own accord. And it doesn't even take long. How this happens, I'm not sure!