If you have every listened to French, you know what the language sounds like. Most say it is beautiful and romantic. People like the way the words flow together, creating an entirely different meaning each time. This completely changes when you are either learning the language or know what the French are saying. While the words sound more sophisticated, chances are they aren’t super meaningful words. However, since I have only spoken French for four years, I cannot guarantee that I know every word in French. After all, I am still learning.
A few summers ago, Marie came to my house for a few weeks. Marie was paired up with my family through a travel abroad program. She was best in her class at English, and she was excited to experience the culture of Colorado. I practiced my French, hoping to get better. Marie often asked us to slow down. When you speak a language fluently, you tend to speak fast. A lot faster than normal. Marie quickly pointed out that my favorite French songs, like “Elle me dit” by Mika or “Alors on danse” by Stromae were no longer popular. In fact, no one even listened to them. She introduced me to Lorenzo, saying “Ici, il est populaire en France. Tout le monde l’écoute,” or “Here, he is popular in France. Everyone listens to him.”
Eventually, I got to know the other French kids that came to Colorado. One day, they decided to go swimming at the tiny rec center in Erie. They did not know, however, that the rec center had a disappointing pool, full of tiny children screaming about chlorine in their eyes. We all quickly decided to go where my friend, Ilana, recommended. It was about fifteen minutes away. Being the only one with a car, I drove everyone. There were seven people total, and my car only sat five. I shut the trunk while two of les mecs sat in the back. The rest piled into the seats in the middle. Ilana pulled up a GPS, and we left on our adventure.
“Talia, encore combien de temps?” Marie asked for the group.
“About 10 minutes left. Does anyone have any money with them?”
“Est-ce que quelqu’un a de l’argent?” One of the guys pulled out a dollar bill from his wallet with a smile on his face. He waved it around in excitement. I looked at Ilana.
“It will cost about fifteen a person, I think. I have some extra money, but I can’t afford to get everyone in.” I turned back to Marie and the other kids who were joking around. One of them was telling a joke about a ball but kept getting interrupted. All you could hear was “le ballon...le ballon...le ballon...” I realized that the other kids couldn’t understand me, and I could barely understand them. Marie was acting as our translator, keeping everyone up to speed on the conversation. The only problem was that Marie didn’t know all the words.
“Nous avons environ quarante dollars. Ça marche?”
“Oui, I think that should be enough for everyone.” We pulled into the parking lot and went inside. We left about an hour later because one of the guys had to be back in ten minutes. It’s not easy, trying to understand French. I guess it’s not easy to understand English either. 
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