the reading material

I am quite convinced that by the time I get back in August I will have forgotten how to speak English. By the way, you might already think that is the case because I haven’t done a second of proofing any of these posts and I’m sure they are riddled with typos. 

Now three months may not really be long enough to make me forget a language I have spent almost 25 years learning.  But my brain is certainly going to be confused.  You see I’ll be taking 4-5 hours of Swahili classes every day.  And while “We won’t be speaking any English in this Swahili class” has been said before and then quickly forgotten, this is Yale. Yale doesn’t mess around. Judging by the syllabus and the reading materials she’s provided already, I think this professor means it. 

I also have made it a mission to get my French back in the next year.  So on top of a little Michel Thomas I also decided to get some books. In French.  I bought books I’ve never read and always felt like I should have.  Pride and Prejudice, or should I say Orgueil Et Prejuges, and Alice au Pays des Merveilles (I think you can figure that one out). Oh and because I was curious about how they translated words like Hogwarts and quidditch, and because if eight year olds can read it in English, I should be able to handle it in French, I bought Harry Potter a L'ecole Des Sorciers. 

Unfortunately the reading material isn’t all for fun. In my time outside of class I will also be spending 15 hours a week on my practicum. I know I haven’t given any details yet but it involves thousands of pages of interviews that were done in Thailand and not so wonderfully translated into English.  So bear with me if these posts get worse than they already are.