On French...

I am feeling damn sore and grouchy over today's French lesson. Last week le professeur says there are 2(Deux) quizzes this week: Monday(Le Lundi) and Thursday(Le Jeundi) meaning 2 different quizzes, Quiz 2(Deux) and Quiz 3(Trois). But, what happened deviates from expectation. Quiz 2 is divided into 2 parts, roleplaying to be done today and the written portion on Thursday. I was like so...traumatised down there even though I didn't study much, it's still effort made and no outlet to release my pumped-up adrenalin ok! Damn!!

At the beginning of the French course, le professeur le Français says that French is easier than English(Anglais). I didn't believed her...I'm still glad I held my belief. Guess what we learnt in class today? Numbers(Numero)...sounds simple right? Just counting 1, 2, 3, 4....100. No, counting in French is madness...complete madness. Let me cite an example of what I learnt today:

1(Un)
2(Deux)
3(Trois)
4(Quatre)
5(Cinq)
6(Six)
7(Sept)
8(Huit)
9(Neuf)
10(Dix)

Simple and easy right? Just a matter of pronounciation. But this is not the crux of getting mad over numbers in French.

11(Onze)
12(Douze)
13(Treize)
14(Quartoze)
.
.
20(Vingt)
.
30(Trente)
.
40(Quarante)
.
50(Cinquante)
.
60(Soixante)
..
69(Soixante Neuf)
.
70(Soixante-Dix) = (60+10)
71(Soixante-onze) = (60+11)
..
80(Quartre-Vingt)= (4x20)
81(Quartre-vingt-un)=[(4x20)+1]
..
90(Quartre-vingt-dix) = [(4x20)+10]
91(Quartre-vingt-onze) = [(4x20)+11]

Just look at the way the numbers are pronounced from 70 onwards. Numbers 1-69 are still considered rather simplistic. The numbers from 70 are madness...try it if you like, give yourself a number and try to say/write it in French. Anyway, for people interested to experiment to see whether French is your cup of tea, there's this website: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/french/french.htm

Try it if you have the time, it's very interactive and provocative!! Till then...