Breaking it down

In my whole experience at Éco-Quartier NDG, I have had the chance and the time to practice my English. Since my mother went back up North, I did not have many opportunities to speak it. It is quite a convenient hazard for me to have encountered such an occasion.

 

 

 

 
 

``Sorry, what?``

Although I cannot say much about my listening comprehension, I can still tell you about body language. As I had mentioned in my earlier posts, I am a fairly timid individual, at least at first before I get to know somebody or a group of people. Therefore, as I engage into a conversation with someone (or vice versa), I have a strong tendency to look away because I somehow feel intimidated by my interlocutor. After the few weeks I have been volunteering at Éco-Quartier, I have learned to maintain eye contact in order to deliver a clear message. It was not that easy of a task given my personality, nevertheless, I have found use to this strategy. I am less distracted, do not have to ask for him or her to repeat or elaborate further in his or her speech/explanation. This may seem like a ridiculous challenge but I have overcome it and I feel less intimidated all the time when speaking with people in general.

 

About accents

This has always bothered me whilst speaking English in the sense that I have a bit of a French accent when speaking English and tiny English accent when speaking French. I wish to have the perfect Anglophone accent and speech and I am working on it thoroughly. I noticed that my boss as well as my colleagues (who are perfectly Anglophone) pronounces each word clearly and this is probably why I cannot obtain this goal. I must absolutely pronounce each syllable to its full extent and maybe it will pay off. This is a challenge that I must work on in English as well as in French. The first step was to notice it, now I have to correct it.

 

Fluency

This was one of my main goals when starting this internship. My pronunciation is key in order to improve this problem. Although there are improvements that need to be done, I have stopped stressing and panicking internally when I needed to communicate in any situation and just went with it, if that makes any sense at all. I must not block if I am not certain of a word and I should overall simply not over-analyse what I am about to say. This is a huge problem of mine and I have learned to correct also.

 

 

Humor

There is much to say about humor when it comes to my colleague Bill. He is the funniest man I’ve ever worked with. It brightens everyone’s day when he’s around because there is a good vibe about him. The atmosphere loosens up and it is pleasant to work in harmony. Francophone humor might be different than Anglophone humor although I could not state a clear difference. However, I could say that humor is often used to laugh at someone or something, and the use of sarcasm as well as irony is very present in both dialects. Also, for the most part, humor is different among men and women. Men tend to be cruder and women tend to be somewhat insulting when it comes to joking. You may be wondering how I noticed this in my internship, I did not. This is simply an observation that I have recently made and that I thought I'd share with you. Also, puns are popular in both Anglophone and Francophone humor.

 

Accuracy

It was actually one of my first goals that I had set to improve my English. I wanted to learn new words to expand my vocabulary and I have. Although I can't use the words "borough" daily, it is still good to have knowledge of new words. Who knows when it could be of use! During my internship,  I have learned to take my time, relax and say exactly what I mean. Instead of searching for words and trying to constantly doubt myself, I have developed a new confidence and also and most importantly new vocabulary.

 

 

 

 

 

New words and expressions

During the last day in my internship placement, I have learned a few aspects that have been bothering me. This could probably help a lot of people as well.

Ø  First, I have never really known the difference between ¨learned¨ and ¨learnt¨. I thought that both could be used, similarly to the words ¨color¨ and ¨colour¨ which are both acceptable (the only difference is that color is commonly used in the United States and colour is more commonly used in the United Kingdom). Yes, I have learned that at Éco-Quartier. I was preparing my ¨What I learned in my internship¨ notepad when it hit me, I was confused as to which word I should use. My host clarified my confusion with an excellent example: one would say ¨I burned the toast.¨ (notice here how it is used as a verb) and ¨The toast is burnt.¨ whereas here it is used as an adjective.

Ø  Second, I discovered a new word as I was asked to update some information to Éco-Quartier’s website and she provided me with further information regarding a certain aspect which I can’t remember. Anyhow, I stumbled across the word ¨Tandem¨ that I have never heard or read before (or that I haven’t yet noticed until now). It is actually a synonym for ¨Partnership¨. It is interesting to know that bikes with two seats are called ¨tandem bicycles¨, it is a visual image that helps me remember it better. In this particular context, there is a tab with information that involves Éco-Quartier Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) and Éco-Quartier Côte-des-Neiges (CDN). Consequently, it is written ¨Tandem NDG/CDN¨. Good to know! I fancy this word, I will likely use it when I will have the chance.

Ø  Third, I have had a lot of difficulty with the usage of the word ¨it’s¨ and ¨its¨, considering that I thought that the other form of it’s was its’. In fact, ¨it’s¨ is a contraction of ¨it is¨, for example: it is incorrect to say ¨The mother cat carried it’s kitten in it’s mouth.¨ The correct form would look like: The mother cat carried its kitten in its mouth. The word ¨its¨ is possessive, not a contraction. I have wanted to know this for a long time. Thankfully the update of the website contributed to my improvement of English language.

Ø  Fourth, ¨agglomeration¨ is a word that was unknown to me and it signifies a mass of collection of objects, or rather an assemblage. I have learned this while translating a file.

Ø  Fifth, in the same document that I translated, I have learned the meaning of ¨shingles¨ when I came across ¨asphalt shingles¨. It is the pieces that we assemble for the roof. The French equivalent is ¨bardeaux¨, for my lack of explaining skills. Shingles can also mean herpes, strangely enough.

 

Most of these discoveries genuinely helped to improve my knowledge of word meanings and expansion of my vocabulary. I have reached my goals and I am more than proud to have done so.