Hello there, how are you?

What is the blog about?

Well, it is a blog about things in France, French, lexicography, parenting, general culture, French culture, and a bunch of other random stuff I find interesting.

Check out the categories over to your right to browse posts in my areas of interest.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Michele, (sometimes Michèle if I feel like it); an American who lives in Paris.

“Why am I here?”, you may be asking.

Originally, I came to France to learn French. Hmm…easier said than done. Or if you want to say it in French [ a possibility thanks to  (CÉLINE, Mort à crédit, 1936, p. 111)], plus facile à dire qu’à faire.

This may be a good time to point out, that my attempt to try to learn the French language has brought me down an interesting path. I first came to France on school trips during high school and couldn’t wait to get back during university. I did a séjour linguistique “study abroad” in Cannes for my French major at university. After which, I was dying to return to try to really live in France and experience the culture and more importantly the language first hand on a daily basis.

So what did I do next?

Being Americain is not always the coolest thing in the world. For instance, it is not very easy to get a visa to legally  live in France. So after investigating for a while, I found a way by becoming an English assistant in the French public school system. It was a very interesting 2 year experience where I worked in a town called Clermont de l’Oise in the region of Picardie.

After that, I enrolled back in university and was able to stay with a student visa. That really wasn’t the easiest of things, being in university in a different country with all French kids who had been studying this stuff their entire lives, but despite that fact that the only French book I had read up to this point in its entirey was “The Little Prince”, I powered through and was able to get some more diplomas,  a lot more knowledge, and most importanly I learned that I still have a lot to learn.

So what am I doing now?

Through all of these experiences and struggles I have endured in France, I have developped a love/hate relationship with France and the French language. Despite  my occassional frustration,  I continue to pursue my quest for knowledge and try to continue to learn French as I  prepare my doctorate - a linguistic & lexicographic study of regionl varieties of French (the focus being Cajun French).

When I am not at school or working on my thesis, I have a part-time job doing graphic design/webdesign and occassionally translation.

Well, that about sums it up, contact me for further information.