Photo Source: indulgy (wish I could find the real source of these pictures...)
Whoa, hang on a second... Don't get any ideas that I'm going to somehow come out of this summer speaking French or even understanding spoken French. No, that won't happen. I won't be able to think in French or compose sentences in French. The most I'll be able to do is point at something, maybe not even an *object* thing, more like a *pronoun* thing or an *idea* thing, and say what that is in French. Probably pronounced wrong and with the wrong gender article and the wrong ending. But, hey! I'm learning French! Correction: I'm learning to *read* French!
This summer I'm taking a graduate reading course for French, which basically trains us to be able to read (with the aid of a dictionary) scholarly works within our discipline in another language. The Ph.D. program I'm in requires us to demonstrate reading competency in one modern foreign language and competency in another related discipline (either another language or something related to our emphasis - I chose and already passed the requirement for Latin language). So, I chose French. It's pretty practical as far as academia goes, and it's a Romance language, so I figured I'd have an easier transition to it than to German. Plus (in general) it's so much more exciting to say that you're studying French rather than German.
Summer Goal #2: Pass my French reading exam.
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