Francais Pour Dummies

I have until next Thursday to learn enough French to ask the following:

1. Where is the bathroom?

2. How much is that?

3. No, no -- too much!!

As you may remember from a previous post, I remember a few very important words from my two years of French at Wheaton College, compliments of Monsieur Kriegbaum (oohh la la!!).

To wit: frommage, haricort vert, vin, and most recently, jambon -- which I can't use in Morocco.

But I'm working on it. I learned a little bit this morning just prior to lecturing to the group here in West Virginia.

"Bonjour, Mesdames. Comment allez vous?"

So far, so good.

Then I wrote to Tim to let him know how I was coming along:

"Bonsoir,mon fils,

Comment allez-vous?

Tres bien, merci. (Even though you didn't ask, I responded anyway, merci tres bien).

Je m'appelle Mama. Je suis de Wheaton des Estas-Unis? Et vous?

Je parle un peu peu peu francais via "Francais pour Dummies."

Bonne journee. A Bientot!!

Je t'aime."

Maybe tomorrow I can find out all the important stuff about bathrooms and how to find out how to haggle. It's a bit tough typing this stuff into the computer because I don't have any of those little gizmos that makes the French language look so alluring and impossible.

I actually took French in college because I wanted to read all those nifty statements by Monsieur Poirot in the Agatha Christie novels.

Now if that isn't a good reason for wasting two years learning a foreign language, nothing is.