So I've been here for 2 weeks already. I feel like it has been a couple of days, but then I think about all the things that I have done, and it feels like I've already been here for months. My french is improving... A tiny bit. I'm trying so incredibly hard, and I'm such a loser because I'm carrying my little notebook everywhere in my back pocket to jot down things I learn along the way. I came to Europe thinking that there is only one way to speak French. Lets just say that I was extremely naive. I used to think that my french accent was adequate and more or less as good as it needed to be, this is due to the praise I got from my numerous french teachers at school. I couldn't have been more wrong. My accent is SO DIFFERENT and I actually sound retarded when I stand next to a french person. Not to mention I am slow, and my voice goes up an octave when I speak french. I have also learned that there are words that sound exactly the same, but mean different things. I literally can not tell the difference, but apparently they definitely can. For example...
Cousin = Cousin
Coussin = Cushion
I found out yesterday that I have been saying coussin rather than cousin the whole time I have been here, and nobody until yesterday corrected me. I have been saying: Je suis ici parce que je veux apprendre le français, je reste ici avec mes COUSSINS, Dorian et Gaspard sont mes COUSSINS. There are so many other similar sounds in this language, and it is so confusing, and I happen to always choose the wrong way to say things. I love it when they try to speak english though. Ahhh boys with a french accent... my weakness.