French on Fridays: One Swallow

Copying French by hand (and I do this with Spanish now too) is the perfect way to learn. This makes sense, and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. After all, it is a common home-education practice to have children engage in "copy work" as a way to teach them proper English.

Also, this morning as I traced the words of Neruda over and again with my finger, in big invisible letters I made right there on his pages, I was reminded of a Memory Theory that suggests the more senses we engage the more we retain (go here for that info, which is called into question by this particular source but I think has a level of accuracy).

In any case, it worked with Neruda this morning. I "wrote," read visually, and spoke the material aloud concurrently. Within minutes I remembered "Allí se estira y arde en la más alta hoguera/mi soledad que da veultas los brazos como un náufrago." (There my loneliness stretches itself and burns upon the tallest bonfire, twisting its arms like a drowning man.)

It might be slow going if you learn French with me by copying one little word at a time. But then you are just here for the fun. Here is my offering for this week. A whole phrase instead of a word!

Une hirondelle
ne fait pas
le printemps

One swallow. One
hirondelle, watercolor
brown. Does not make.
Ne fait pas.The Spring.
Le printemps.

Nor one seed, a field
of rippling golden wheat.
Or one drop of white-blue
rain the weep of April.
But one glance from you—

a flock, a field, a flood.

---

Want to participate in French on Fridays, but don't know French? Type any English word here and get a translation into French. Include your word in a poem or vignette. Or just write about anything French (music, history, art, food). We're flexible. If you feel comfortable doing so, link back here in your post. That way we have a meeting place.

Need a little companionship to get the ball rolling? Take your French word over to Tweetspeak Poetry's game page and we can play a leisurely (untimed) poetry game together for a few days. It could make good grist. Also, we'd love to choose a few poems to feature next week at Tweetspeak!

En La Manana

This week I thought to reorganize how we do school. Not too much, just at an administrative level that would give my kids more responsibility and flexibility in their work. So I made this list of everything they do (Reading, Math, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Geography, Chemistry Copy Work and so on) and put the list down the left-hand side of a chart. Next to each entry, I put the number of times it needs to be done.

When I put Spanish 4x, I thought I was pushing it. We haven't particularly made strides with the curriculum I have. It's kind of dull and too often we skip it. I told the kids they could do Spanish any way they like, just so I see something written in the little chart box four times a week.

Well. They pulled out the Spanish picture dictionary and began drawing and labeling pictures in their notebooks, writing stories, and by week's end my Little One even wrote a poem. My own Spanish is a bit hit-or-miss, so I'm sure I haven't provided full proofreading backup here, but this is the poem... right on time for Random Acts of Poetry...

En la manana
temprana, en la
primavera temprana,
semillas crecen.
Gente ven paradas y
barcos de vela
y paracaidas
por la arena patina.
Tambien hacen
tantos otras cosas
se divierten.

Okay, roughly, this is the translation. But I do believe she got the poetic sense best in the Spanish...

In the early
morning, in the
early spring,
seeds grow.
People see parades
and sail boats and
parachutes by
the sand. They
also do so many
other things
to have fun.

Flower photo by Sonia. Used with permission.

Found this story from Eldest Child, also in Spanish. An animal story. Very silly...

Yo vi un caiman en la tina de bano y un perro en el bano de regadera. Cinco pelicanos en mi linterna electrica de mano, y zorros en el bote de basura, ye el pollo en el garaje, y los pollitos en mi jardin de flores. Una jirafa en mis abarrotes, un ganso en primer ano... dos gansos en segundo ano! Y cabras en el corredor, una luciernaga en un sandwich de jamon... las vacas en el miel, un camello en mi chaqueta, insectos en mi casa. El venado en la mermelada, y un caballo en la jalea. Unos peces en el jugo, un canguro en el agujero de la cerradura. Ai!

Loosely translated...

I saw an alligator in the bathtub and a dog in the shower, five pelicans on my flashlight, and foxes in the garbage can, and a chicken in the garage, and chicks in my flower garden. A giraffe in my groceries, a goose in first grade... two geese in second grade! And goats in the hall, a firefly in a ham sandwich... cows in the honey, a camel in my jacket, insects in my house. A deer in the jam, and a horse in the jelly. A fish in the juice, a kangaroo in the keyhole. Yikes!