lundi 26 février 2018

Petits mots tristes :'(


Some of you already know that I didn't pass the DALF C1 exam as a pre-requisite to get the Linguistic or FFL (French as a Foreign Language) Didactics in a university in France (I choose two after browsing in a website called "Trouver mon master"). Those two fields are my main goal for my Master's Degree, and honestly by studying directly in the country would make me apply what I would get (method, etc.) from there (France) in Indonesia.

What I want to write here, for myself, is that... since I don't have a language pre-requisite for my master's degree makes me drop the dream to study in France (in Paris VII or Lille 3), while I only have the other documents (translated diploma, score list, birth certificate, etc.) needed for the registry. Last November's DALF C1 test was a disaster, I wasn't as talkative as DELF B2 test (which I took just for fun almost 3 years ago 😂), but of all the tests, my score lacks only 3,75 points to the minimum score (50/100).

My father decided that I should just do the language reinforcement to get DALF C1 this year, but what will happen after that...? I haven't decided yet, but I am thinking about taking my master's degree in the campus where I was in since 2013, and I'm also gonna use "Excellence Scholarship" there, and getting another scholarship for my second year (M2) in a Foreign country (as suggested by one of the professors of UNIMED: a double degree). And what about my job? I'm still trying to manage my time to work voluntarily in my aunt's educational institution, and working in a creative industry in my other aunt's printing shop (I have a bad time-management and I'm trying to fix it). And what about marriage? Hahaha, no marriage for now and then, since I can't maintain relationship.

I also have to think on how to preserve French language while working in another field. My dad speaks French for MORE than 20 years, and I want to be as capable as him too. Even an ex-professor in UPI, Madame Romdam, lives with French language for more than 60 years. I really hope to be like them both.

I hope you guys can accept my decision, it's all done with the brain, not with the heart, and it's heavier than what you've bear. Even though it feels like a doomsday, I hope that everything comes true according to the plan. Je ferais n'importe quoi pour préserver la langue française.


Bisous,

@naragrandis

mercredi 21 février 2018

Let's rebuild the Tower of Babel.

For people learning French and wanting to speak it like a native, I’ll give you some tips, the things native people say (so you can sound less formal when you speak it).
“Je suis” is often shortened to “j’suis” and if we say it fast, it becomes “chuis”
“Tu es” and basically every verb with “tu” that starts with a vowel, we contract it and make it “t’es”, “t’arrives”, etc.
“il y a”, “il y avait” are most of the time shortened to (oral speech and when writing to a friend) “ya”, “y avait”
To make a question, it’s rare that we use the “est-ce que” form, we just take the affirmative sentence and put a question mark at the end : tu veux manger? (instead of : veux-tu manger?, est-ce que tu veux manger?)
Some abbreviations we often use :
bcp (beaucoup), mtn (maintenant), pk (pourquoi), tlm (tout le monde), mm (même), ptn (putain)
I know this post is probably useless but if you have any questions about french, ill be happy to answer them!
THIS WAS HELPFUL!
Also some things I’ve learned:
  • Drop the ne from ne … pas. So instead of saying « Je n’y mange pas », say « J’y mange pas.»
  • In Paris at least, they tend to prefer on over nous. On va au ciné, au musée, etc. is more common than Nous allons
  • Learn what Verlan is and how to use it.
  • Ne … que seems to be used more frequently than seulement. For example, Je ne veux que l’écouter.
  • There are also just a lot of slang words your textbook won’t teach you, and they aren’t even necessarily rude. Like la flotte instead of l’eau.
I would definitely also recommend these YouTube channels.
  • The on over nous is simply everywhere in France, if not in francophone areas!
  • The ne…que construction: apply the en dropping rule too ;) but we also use juste A LOT, probably an anglicism? (e.g. je veux juste l’écouter)
  • j’suis and chuis can be applied to j’sais and chais too
  • informal greetings for hello: salutcoucou
  • informal greetings for bye: salutciao (frenchified spelling: tchao), tchôbyeà plusà toute (short for à tout de suite or à tout à l’heure, when you’re gonna see the other person in a few minutes or later in the day)
  • avoir des sous : to have money - we often say des sous instead of de l’argent
(via polyglotical)

L’oubli des langues

Je viens de commencer à déjeuner deux fois par semaine avec une camarade qui étudie français et je me rends compte de combien je me suis rouillé-e en français, non qu’il parle mieux que moi, mais je m’exprime à grand-peine et je me doute sur les questions de grammaire et vocabulaire dont j’étais assuré-e autrefois… je dois trouver des amis français, le seul français avec qui je pratiquais m’a retiré-e de sa liste d’amis à cause d’une dispute sur le conflit israélo-palestinien… pourquoi je me soumis aux difficultés d’apprendre tant de langues en même temps…

(http://laperiphrase.tumblr.com/post/131962937846/loubli-des-langues)

lundi 19 février 2018

Some French Proverbs


loin des yeux, loin du coeur out of sight, out of mind
l'habit ne fait pas le moine the clothes don’t make the main/don’t judge a book by its cover
il faut battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud strike while the iron’s hot
Paris ne s'est pas fait en un jour Paris wasn’t built in a day
mieux vaut tard que jamais better late than never
un tient vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
le chat parti, les souris dansent when the cat’s away, the mice will play
tout vient à point à qui sait attendre good things come to those who wait

pas de nouvelles, bonnes nouvelles no news is good news
il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu when there’s smoke, there’s fire
tout est bien qui finit bien all’s well that ends well
le temps, c'est de l'argent time is money
tel père, tel fils like father, like son
c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron practice makes perfect
la nuit porte conseil Let’s sleep on it (or something along those lines)
beaucoup de bruit pour rien much ado about nothing

source:

jeudi 15 février 2018

Arabic words used in French slang

bled from bilād بَلَد :village, city, home
caïd from qā'id قائد :chef, rebellious people
casbah from qaṣba قصبة :home
chouf/chouffer from šuf ! شُفْ :to look, like dealers look around if there are cops
chouiya from šuwayya شوية :a little
clebs from (magh.) kelb كَلْب :a dog
fissa or fissa-fissa from (alg.) fi s-sā3a في آلساعة:fast
flouze from (alg.) flūs فُلوس :money
glaoui from (magh.) qlawī قلوي :testicles
guitoune from (alg.) qiṭūn قيطون :a shelter, a small place you go to
"kiffer" from كَيف (no other explanation found):to like
kif-kif from doubled kif’ كفء:so and so, similar
lascar from al 3askar العسكر:a big guy
maboul from (alg.) maẖbūl مخبول :crazy
niquer from gérondif naik / nīk نيك.:to fuck
nouba from nûba نوبة :a party
rallouf from ḥallūf حلّوف :ham, pig
ramdam from ramadan رمضان :noise
razzia from (alg.) ġāzya « attaque », de l'arabe classique classique ġazw(a) ou ġazā غزاة غزوة غزو:to buy/take everything in sight
smala from (magh.) zmāla زمالة:family
souk from sūq سوق :messy place
toubib from ṭabīb طَبِيب :doctor
zob from zubb زبّ :penis
These words are inspired from Arabic and had evoluated with French influence. They are not literal translations. The translations I included are the French "definitions" of those arabic-inspired words. Please submit if you think of other words I forgot!

mardi 13 février 2018

ma journée à l'événement "La Petite France" 2018


Bonjour à tous !
Au 7-8 février, j'étais à ma première université complémentaire (car mes parents veulent que j'étudie à l'université publique), École Supérieure des Langues Étrangères (Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing) pour regarder comment se passe La Petite France. C'est une sorte de La Semaine Française à l'UPI mais les concours sont seulement pour les élèves scolaires. Le premier jour, j'ai mis mon vêtement à rayures tricolores (bleu-blanc-rouge) que j'ai acheté chez Uniqlo, un jean bleu, un parka bleu et un voile noir.
J'ai gagné presque tous les cahiers donnés par l'IFI Bandung (en tant que mécène de cet événement) car j'ai répondu à la signification d'une chanson intitulée Aux Champs-Élysées, jouer à un petit jeu (j'ai oublié le nom, mdr), chanter une chanson de Lara Fabian intitulée Je t'aime—mais je donne mon cahier et mon stylo à celle qui a demandé à Mademoiselle Silvi (une des professeures à STBA, et aussi mon jury du DELF A1 il y a presque 5 ans) de chanter cette chanson—et aussi mettre beaucoup de couleurs de drapeau français.



Ma journée s'était bien passée, j'ai aussi gagné une trousse car j'ai mis ma photo ci-dessus (la première et la deuxième) sur Instagram avec la légende très drôle: "Gak di kondangan, gak di manapun, properti photobooth yang dipake untuk photo: I AM SINGLE", ce qui signifie en français: À la fête de mariage, même partout où il y a la photo maton, je prends le signe "Je suis célibataire". Mon Dieu, je suis très chanceuse. Je remercie l'équipe de l'Association des Étudiants de Français de STBA et aussi tous les professeurs de m'avoir accueillie.

Bisous,
@naragrandis

lundi 12 février 2018

I'm just........ different, you know (ENGLISH POST)

Hello my dear readers, assalamu'alaikum...

It's been a while since I'm not posting in this blog, I've been thinking about posting something since some people have been pushing me all the time and I can only be stressed about what they say, sooo... here we go!

As you can see that here, I spammed a lot in the last four years and I posted about my rage, my anger to a before-student's-organisation life (in Bahasa: ospek jurusan), yes... I get angry easily, and it was all because of my way-too-much reaction and also my neuro-developmental problem called ADHD (Attention Deficit with or without Hyperactivity Disorder). Exactly almost five years ago, my parents were ready to tell the truth why am I different that other kids at my age, or even older, or younger.

So this ADHD thing is not necessarily an autism (I also have a difficulty to interact with other people), but the scale is in under autism. I'm gonna tell you just a little bit about my life. I was born on May 2, 1995; almost eight years after my parents' marriage, because the still-born baby before me was supposed to be my big brother or sister, born in Paris; but my mom had a miscarriage during her visit to Paris, the city where my father studied master's and doctor's degree in Geophysics. After I knew about this, I was like, why was God so unfair to my family, like... I wanted someone who portrays my big brother or sister in my life, who shares a lot of his/her experiences before I live with his/hers.

Let's go back again with me! So... after two years of life, my mom knew that I never speak, not even a word at that age, so she took me to a psychologist, near the actual McDonald's in Dago, and the psychologist diagnosed me that I got ADHD, but it was only told to my parents, and some other families but the children (as in... my cousins and my little sister).

All my life, I have waaaaaay too much weaknesses, such as:
  • Lack of concentration/focusing on many things
  • I was hyperactive during my childhood and my school life
  • I get distracted easily (inattentive)
  • I wasn't excelled in many school subjects except Mathematics and Foreign languages (I learned English and Turkish during my school life)
  • I was bully-able by seniors and juniors, until I realized that my little sister saved me (she did anything and one of them was calling me by telephone even though we were in the same school) from them
  • I get mad easily when my friends disturbed me or mocked me, even though people keep on telling me that they wanted to get my heart (this is why I can't maintain friendship)
  • My trial relationships with a man never turned out well, and I also can't maintain my personal life (as in... what I really need to gain success) and also my relationship at the same time. And when I became victim, the man kept on blaming me for our rupture/break-up
  • On my "volonté", when I want something, I have to get it even though I can't have it, and I hate getting alternatives of it (well, I told myself that having mastered French language in college means I have to get a French-related jobs, even though I never get it), and everything I say is extremely absolute (oh, I'm an INFJ/Idealist).

I also remember that I also have a learning problems, and I'm the worst cognitively, affectively, and also my psychomotor is bad. And sometimes, when I don't like something (certain subjects to learn or to talk about), I leave it, no matter what happens next. Or sometimes, I kept on thinking about it until I was sick. I wasn't as excelled as my sister did in school, she always gets the first rank, while I get like... 18th. At that time, I guaranteed that I wouldn't excelled in college, but my sister would.

During my childhood and my teenage years, I did a lot of therapy but I still have the same symptoms and after I knew about this at 18, my self-esteem turns down, even until now. So for the last four or five years, I doubt everything, I never believe in myself nor in people, I trust no one to tell my pain and my problems, and I try to manage everything all by myself (even though I'm bad at problem solving).

Today, I have achieved what I wanted in my life: best scores (but I never expected to become the best graduate), mastered French (even though right now I'm still in B1-B2 level), and being an independent worker. However, I'm still lack of many things... and because of that, people around me become "paparazzi"; they kept on asking me where do I work, how much do I gain, but one thing THEY NEVER ASK IS: whether I was happy. If it doesn't comes first, I wouldn't be happy all my life, even when I work voluntarily in other domain than French (which I hate the most). Now that I'm a hard-line French enthusiast, I just want everything to be delivered only in French language (such as news/actualités, general knowledge, entertainment, friends, etc.). I know it's way too idealist but it's THE ONLY WAY for me to preserve the language I love the most.

I finally read some infographies from Pinterest in French language about it and all of them were true. Here are some...

In work, the ADHD is associated to a smaller salary, an uneven productivity, and frequent job changes

ADHD is biological origin. The brains of the affected people have differences in structure, chemistry and function.

The way of which the ADHD person shows varies in function of a number of factors, such as his/her: personality, temper, vulnerability, entourage, & environment.

5% to 8% of school-aged children would be affected by ADHD

There were 3 more recorded cases of ADHD in boys than girls. In girls', the symptoms of inattention would be more present than those of the hyperactivity: therefore the girls' hyperactivity is unseen, because they "disrupt" less

 Over the decades the names given to ADHD have changed, while in the 80s and 90s, we spoke mostly of hyperactivity, the term ADHD is in the current vocabulary with the new millenium.

Nearly one in two ADHD children has an associated learning disability. ADHD is not a learning disability in itself, but can certainly hinder the learning process.

The proportion of symptoms related to hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity varies from one individual to another and tends to change over time.

Approximately 70% of people with ADHD show the symptoms of:
- inattention- hyperactivity- impulsivityBetween 20% and 30% of those are mainly affected by the difficulty of organizing their ideas.

87% of children with ADHD have at least one other disorder: mood disorder, anxiety disorder, learning or language disorder, etc. In medical jargon, we call these disorders "Comorbidities".

Nearly 90% of adults with ADHD are not treated for their condition, not least because they are often unaware of it.

20% of people with ADHD do not benefit from psychostimulants (ritalin, concerta, etc.) or experience side effects that cause them to stop taking the medication.

ADHD results difficulties to modulate IDEAS (inattention), GESTURES (hyperactivity) & BEHAVIOR (impulsivity).

People with ADHD are more likely to:
- not finish high school- be unemployed- have problems of consumption- divorce- have a car accident

Everyone may experience ADHD-related symptoms from time to time, but people who are really affected have these symptoms more frequently, more intensely, and feel the impact on their daily functioning.

Screening for ADHD and intervening quickly can improve the person's functioning and reduce the impact of this condition. The earlier we intervene, the better!

60000 children and 270000 adults would be affected by ADHD in Quebec

There are 40% more cases of divorce among people with ADHD.

Nearly 40% of children with a diagnosis of ADHD also have anxiety disorder.

Young drivers with untreated or poorly treated ADHD are involved in 2 to 4 times more accidents and traffic violations than the general population.

ADHD has been observed and studied for over 100 years in one form or another. His definition has evolved from a childhood behavioral disorder to a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Genetics play an important role (between 70% and 80% of the risk) in the possibility of having ADHD. If a parent is affected, it is likely that one or more of their children will be affected too.

More than 15% of adults with ADHD are reported to be addicted to alcohol or drugs. It's 3 times higher than in the general population.

ADHD is often associated with greater creativity and the ability to find innovative solutions. As they have fewer inhibitions, people who have ADHD have a better ability to think differently.
Well... Today I'm still practicing to be well-organized in life and in time management. Pray for me even though ADHD can't be healed forever.

Bisous,
@naragrandis