This morning I walked into my French class ready for the day. When I arrived, the professor asked me what I did during the weekend. “I went to Lourdes on Saturday and saw the cathedral.” I told her. She then asked a question which I interpreted as “Did you go with a lot of people.” “Yes,” I answered, “With these people and a few others.” She repeated the question. I told her I did not understand. She repeated it again and I answered, “yes.” She then told me, “If you need to, you can still switch to group 2.” I replied, “I understand what you are saying, I just don’t have confidence when I talk.” Not gonna lie, I was bright red and had some tears of anger in my eyes. I participate in class and she calls on me often, why would she even suggest that?! She patted me on the hand and moved to the next girl.
I later asked a friend what she said to me, she had asked me if there were a lot of people at Lourdes and apparently my simple yes was not a sufficient answer for her. She had used the phrase, “tout le monde” (all the world) in place of many people. I did not understand her. It was super frustrating and definitely didn’t encourage me to participate more actively in class.
