The case of the Cupboard Runner


There is no explanation as of this time for the thumping sounds in the VC, salle de bain, and kitchen which can be heard at nearly any hour of the day or night. The runner persists on slamming cupboard doors as it cruises along. It is especially noticable at night as I lay in the silence of my dark room. I've tried several times to figure out where the thump comes from and where it goes so I can stop it. I've tried to identify the origin of sound when in the VC, and have even entered my unfinished salle de bain to locate the thumper. I haven't caught the culprit and there may very well be no culprit at all, but instead a wind or a shifting of weight somewhere from the depths of the earth.


They say after time you'll not even see all the mass of humans that ride the RER after time. I, to the contrary, am a people watcher. I always have been. Today, as I did my best to not spy on people (I actually make an effort not to watch them), I noted a familiar face as we came to a stop. The door opened and Evrard stepped into my car, greeted me and we talked for one stop or two. How rare it is that I would see him the very next day after sharing the OIKOS dinner with him the wednesday night before.


We ate rachlette for our first OIKOS family dinner. We invited Evrard too. It was a great evening although I was so tired and had homework which didn't get done til the hour before I left for school today. I did most of the listening through the meal and everyone else did the talking. Evrard is a bit harder for me to understand but I see this as a good thing cuz it pushes my comprehension. We were also working in more familiar french, spoken among friends, family and including contractions of phrases and slang.


Today I pondered the difference between learning to read and write a language and learning to speak and understand a language. These are two completely seperate things. Proficency in written is a science. Fluency in current vocal french is an art. I began to contemplate what my french courses would look like if I were to CPD them for Dr. Patty. I would want to teach both with a goal of growing in all 4 areas as well as cultural understanding. I'm working at sorting out the chemistry of grammar while I battle to strengthen my tongue into obedience at distinguishing "u", "ou", "eo", "e" and a medley of other sounds that should all flow together. So I'm working on memorizing these tongue twisters of the french language: Un chasseur sachant chasser chasse sans son chien. (A knowledgeable hunter hunts without his dog.) or Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont seches archi-seches. These two twisters tie the tongue over "sh" and "ss", often within the same word.