After you've initiated a conversation (see Part 1), you'll want to have a few topics up your sleeve to sustain it and, finally, to close your conversation in a gracious way.
(2) SUSTAINING A CONVERSATION
Know some basic information about the city and have a few phrases ready so you can introduce the topics that interest you:
Know also a few interesting historical facts about the country. This means that you should learn how to say dates. Remember that in Spanish, dates follow this format: day, month, year.
"Las olimpiadas de Barcelona se inauguraron el 25 de julio de 1992." (The Barcelona Olympics opened on July 25th 1992.)
Obviously, the old stand-by, if you did not understand:
"¡Eso ha sido un poco rápido de más!" (That was a little too fast!)
"¡Podría repetir eso por favor!" (Could you, please, repeat that!)
(3) CLOSING A CONVERSATION
It's always important to find a way to close a conversation gracefully. Spaniards are a little more formal about getting ready to go than Americans. Have a few exit lines ready!
a) Signaling the end:
-"Muchas gracias por las recomendqaciones." (Thank you for the tips.)
-"Ha sido un placer hablar con usted." (It was nice to talk with you.)
-"¡Vaya, que tarde es! Todavía tengo que ..." (Darn, look how late it is! I still have to ...)
-"He quedado con unos amigos." (I'm meeting some friends.)
b) When you're leaving:
-"Por desgracia me tengo que ir ahora." (Unfortunatley, I have to go now.)
-"Lo dicho: muchas gracias/he estado muy bien." (Again: many thanks/it was really nice.)
-"¡Que pasen una buen tarde/noche!" (Have a nice afternoon/evening!)
-"¡Adiós!" (Goodbye!)
Practicing some of these conversational phrases and expressions ahead of time will be quite helpful and impress your Spanish speaking contact. While such phrases will obviously not be sufficient for an intensive discussion, they will boost you confidence in speaking. The next step will be to add a few more topics and strategies to your conversational skills.
Many language courses - be they books, CDs, online programs, or apps - are structured around learning particular vocabulary topics: “survival words & phrases,” such as greetings, numbers, directions, shopping, time, days, months, etc., or "categories," such as colors, food items, parts of the body, animals, objects found in the home, etc.
Clearly, these words and phrases are important to learn and know. However, if they are just introduced as a list and without context, they are difficult to retain.
That's why GamesforLanguage.com has chosen a “Story-Approach”: Each new word is introduced as part of an ongoing story – a young man traveling to the country of the foreign language that is to be learned: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the U.S, the last one for speakers of Spanish.
Will this young man use all the vocabulary contained in the various topics mentioned above? Probably not.
But the 700 words that make up the many phrases and sentences in each GamesforLanguage course will not only be more useful, but also easier to remember and apply. That is what's important to most learners: acquiring vocabulary that they can use in daily life.
For learners who already have some background in one of the four languages, GamesforLanguage provides a fun and effective way to “brush up” on their foreign language.
They can skip the “Memory Games” and immediately focus on “Snap Clouds,” “Shooting Gallery,” or “Word Hero” to test their vocabulary; practice translation and sentence building with “Word Invaders” or “Shoot Out”.
Interacting repeatedly with the elements of “The Story” - hearing, saying, writing, and recording words, phrases, and sentences in context - is an effective way to memorize, retain and learn to apply the language you're learning.
This YouTube clip for French shows how all the new words of "The Story" are playfully being learned in various easy games. Learning with a story that continues from Scene to Scene keeps up one's interest more than the often unrelated dialogues so many language programs are using!
When in a Spanish speaking country, you certainly want the skills to deal with daily, practical situations: ordering in a restaurant, asking directions, greeting friends or strangers, introducing others, purchasing, paying a check, checking into a hotel, etc.
But you'll also want to be able to engage in conversations with locals or with a Spanish speaker you happen to meet anywhere. To do this, you must swallow your anxiety about speaking up and find ways to start, sustain, and eventually end a conversation.
Conversing with strangers can feel a little awkward in any language. A blog post that caught my eye:12 Ways To Make Talking To Strangers Less Awkwardhas some good tips on braving such a challenge. Of course, these tips also work for talking with strangers in a foreign language.
We've adapted them here for conversations with Spanish speakers. A good antidote to "conversation anxiety" is to practice some useful expressions ahead of time. You can start with the list below.
(1) WHEN INITIATING A CONVERSATION
Act confident and comfortable, this will put the other person at ease too. Be sure that you know how to address a stranger correctly to be appropriately polite. Best to use a neutral greeting such as:
“Buenos días,” “Buenas tardes,” “Buenas noches” (Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening) or have a couple of polite phrases ready, such as:
"Perdone ..." (Excuse me …)
"Por favor ..." (Please [can you tell me] ...)
Formal "Usted" - Importantly, you should use the formal "usted" (the polite form of "you") as a starter with older persons, or in formal situations. If by any chance you’re being addressed with the formal “usted”, then you should use “usted” as well. That means, of course, that you also have to learn to distinguish between the appropriate Spanish verb endings. Listen HERE to a Spanish conversation where students talk about using the familiar "tú."
Spanish "How are you?" - By the way, in Spanish, it's fine to use "How are you?" (¿Cómo estás?/¿Cómo está?) as part of a greeting, even if you don’t know the person very well. Spaniards regard such a question as a token of genuine interest. Just make sure you use the appropriate formal/informal verb endings.
"Asking for directions" - Learn to ask for directions or for information; this may very well lead to a longer exchange. Start with a neutral greeting (see above) and follow up with a question, such as:
"¿Sabe dónde/cuándo ...?" (Do you know where/when ...?)
The "here and now" - Comment about the here and now. For example when you're at a café, a restaurant, a museum, in a shop, at a market, etc. Talk about what's around you, what you see; you can even mention the weather.
"¿Un cortado? ¿Qué es eso?" (A "cortado"? What is that?)
"¡Ese es un edificio realmente precioso!" (That's really a beautiful building!)
"¡Hoy hace un tiempo genial!" (Great weather today!)
Starting a conversation with someone in a foreign language may feel a little risky, but it's definitely something you can learn to do. Practicing some of these ice-breaker phrases and expressions ahead of time will be helpful. In our next blog post (see Part 2), we'll guide you on how to sustain and how to close a casual conversation with a Spanish speaker.
Summer camps abroad are becoming an increasingly popular choice for both children (ages 5-18) and their guardians.
The extended summer break provides children a wonderful opportunity to experience new cultures, improve at sports or other activities, and enjoy a well-earned break with friends. Parents see the educational opportunities available and encourage children to take part.
I work at a summer school in Alicante Spain and am fortunate enough to help mentor 14-18 year olds and teach them the Spanish language.
Our ISC Spain program promotes the Spanish language and culture through educational, sport, cultural, and leisure activities.
I am amazed how fast young students learn the language when they visit. It also made me realize how different the children's experience is at a summer school - where they learn or improve a language as part of a cultural event, as opposed to a classroom task.
The benefits of a summer school are huge for students. Their cultural experience ranges from reading city signs to find their way, to absorbing the language by listening and engaging with the local people.
As students mix with locals, they will become interested in their customs and traditions. Taking part in local activities and sports means a unique integration into the community and gives students a chance to establish a network of friends with whom they can communicate in their language.
The environment of learning becomes one with the culture. Here are my seven top tips to help young students and their guardians learn a language when visiting a summer camp abroad.
7 Language Learning Tips
1. Visit all the local shops and services when you first arrive. Make a note of their name in the language and only refer to those services in the native language. 2. Revise and learn three good ways to open a conversation. This will encourage you to talk to people and communicate in the native language. 3. When eating at restaurants, engage with the waiters and ask them to explain phrases you might want to know. They are friendly and happy to help.
4. Take part in local activities and events. Immersing yourself in the culture will help you learn the language and customs. 5. Keep a language guide handy at all times and study it whenever you have a free moment. 6. Always listen to the conversations around you. Try and pick up on what other words mean and associate them to things which are familiar.
7. Befriend a member of the local community and spend time with them. They can help you understand the culture and communicate in the language you want to learn.
A summer camp abroad will be an experience students will remember for years to come, especially if they have forged friendships that continue afterwards. And, the acquired language will have many benefits for their personal and work life.
Learning a language can seem like a lengthy, difficult process and, at times, it can feel like you’re wading through a sticky bog unable to get to the other side.
Like many, you probably focus on the end goal without thinking about – and acting upon – small tasks you can do each day that will help you reach your goal. While it’s good to practice every day to keep everything fresh in your mind, you don’t have to sacrifice other things.
Taking ten minutes here or there throughout your day is enough, especially if you incorporate the language learning process into your every day routine.
1. Change the language on your phone
You probably already know your way around your phone pretty well, so why not change the settings so it’s in your target language?
Seeing the language pop up every time you look at your device – which, let’s face it, is pretty often for most people – can help etch it in your memory, and the regular exposure will keep you thinking about it throughout the day.
2. Listen to a podcast
Most of us have some kind of daily commute, whether it’s to work or to the supermarket, which is the perfect opportunity to practice language learning.
Download some podcasts or get a good audio book to plug yourself into during this time and you won’t feel like you have wasted a single second of your day.
3. Read an article or news story
To familiarise yourself with the grammar and sentence structure of your target language, it's a great idea to read one or two articles in it each day.
They don’t have to be long; just a current affairs piece or something on a topic that interests you. To take this a step further, try reading the article out loud to get used to the sound of the letters and to practice your intonation.
4. Flash cards and post-its
When I was learning to talk, my mum stuck post-it notes with the names of objects all around the house to familiarise me with how words look and to encourage me to learn more vocabulary.
This is a great thing to do when learning a language, too. Of course, this method only really works for tangible objects – you can’t put a post-it on an abstract notion – but it is an effective revision technique as you will be looking at and using these objects on a daily basis.
5. Translate your shopping list
Practicing Talking of supermarkets, writing out your shopping list or your to-do list in your target language is another great technique to incorporate into the language learning process.
Practicing writing things out gets you used to the spelling and formation of words and, if youdon’t know the word for something you need, you can look it up and add a new word to your ever-expanding vocabulary!
6. Listen to some music
If you’re a music fan, weaving songs in your target language into your daily routine can be hugely beneficial as well as fun.
Most songs are written in a casual manner, giving you an insight into colloquial language. Plus, they are great tools for getting to grips with grammar and pronunciation, and they’re easier to memorise than dry blocks of text.
7. Have a dictionary on hand
Pick up a pocket dictionary and carry it with you at all times.
So, if you have a spare moment,you can have a flick through or, if you’re desperate to know what a certain word or phrase means in your target language, you can quickly look it up and add it to your new-found dialogue.
Or just check a word quickly online. Still, it will help you write down the word or phrase for reviewing later.
8. Play a language game
There are so many online language learning games now that there is bound to be one out there that suits your needs and you find fun. Alternatively, if you are a big gaming fan, you can change the settings on your favorite game to your target language.
There tends to be a number of conversations to move games forward and it won’t feel like you’re doing any work at all!
9. Sign up to a forum
The vast majority of countries have a range of forums on a various topics, from relationships, to writing, to computer programming like forosdelweb.
So, if you’re interested in technology and you’re learning Spanish, you might want to sign up to a site like this for a great way view interactions between native speakers, to get involved yourself, and to gain some industry-specific vocabulary - if this is what you are looking to learn.
10. Write about your day
This is one of my favorite daily techniques because you can easily begin to see the progress you have made after a couple of weeks if you keep all your ‘daily reviews’ in the same place.
You only need to write a couple of sentences about what you got up to, things you saw, and things you read or heard and it will keep the creative juices flowing in your target language.
If you do it quickly before bed you can review it the next morning to keep the language fresh in your mind for the rest of the day.
Bio: Lizzie writes for GEOS Languages Plus and other language school sites. Last year she went to LanguagesAbroad to learn Spanish in Spain where she realized that language learning has to become a part of everyday life if you want to succeed. In her spare time you can find her exploring Europe and further afield, watching nature documentaries, and drinking an obscene amount of tea.
Last year my husband and I spent seven weeks in Spain, both to try out our newly acquired Spanish and to retrace the trip of our Spanish 1 traveler "David."
We started out in Barcelona (as described in our blog post), and then visited Granada, Seville, and finally Madrid.
It was great fun to use our Spanish in daily life - shopping at the open market, navigating our way through the city, visiting many of Gaudi's masterworks (see his Casa Milà on the left), making small talk with people we met as we went about our daily activities.
We found that it's fairly easy to acquire new words, especially if they are items you can picture or point to. But it was more difficult to learn and use expressions that have an abstract meaning. And such expressions often include those little connecting words that are called prepositions (eg: to, in, for, by, off, over, about, etc.).
The Challenge of Prepositions
Prepositions sometimes provide a special challenge for language learners. That's because they often have several meanings and don't translate in a logical way into other languages.
For example, if you google the Spanish translation of the English preposition "to" in an online dictionary such as wordreference.com, you'll see that the ten "principal" meanings of "to" require 5 completely different prepositions in Spanish: a, hacia, de, contra, sobre.
Phrases with the English Preposition "to" translated into Spanish
• to fly to Madrid/to Spain - volar a Madrid/a España (a = to) • to go to the airport - ir al aeropuerto (al = to the) • to walk to the house - caminar hacia la casa (hacia = until) • along the way to there - por el camino hasta allí (hasta = until) • a vote of three to one - tres votos contra uno (contra = against) • to apply pigment to a canvas - aplicar pigmento sobre el lienzo (sobre = over)
Making Mistakes
Let me say at this point that it's perfectly okay to make mistakes, and even if you use a wrong preposition, people will usually understand what you're trying to say. In a conversation, folks can easily ask you what you meant and you can quickly correct misunderstandings. And this means you'll have the kind of feed-back that will help you to learn.
How to Micro-Learn
It's a great feeling to master an expression in a foreign language. Once you've got it, it's yours and you can build on it. So it's worth spending a little time learning common expressions that contain prepositions, and there's no mystery about how to do it:
1. Tackle each expressions individually. 2. Practice saying it until it stays in your ear. 3. Write it down, and/or read it, again and again, until you have it in your visual memory. 4. Start using it in conversations and in texting and emails.
Your new expression will soon begin to sound and look right. Once that happens, attach a rule to it. For example: in Spanish, going/traveling to a city or country always uses "a." Then, when you try to say, "I'm flying to England" - you'll know what preposition to use: "Vuelo a Inglaterra."
Why we chose games and a travel story for our language program is a question we are often asked. We answered this question in a recent article on Omniglot.com and are republishing it with a few edits and the revisions which have occurred since:
Our Italian Adventure
Several years ago, my husband and I prepared for an extended stay in Italy by learning Italian with the three 30-lesson courses of Pimsleur's audio CD program.
Arriving in Italy, we could communicate well enough - although not speak fluently. However, we could read Italian only with difficulty and writing was a disaster. We kept spelling everything the French way, French being a language we both speak fluently.
Before our trip, we had also looked at other CD and DVD programs and had tried several, including Rosetta Stone. But as the vocabulary did not match our interests or needs, it was hard to stay motivated and we were quickly bored.
For example, in one of the early lessons of RS, we practiced (multiple times) all of the following sentences: the women are eating rice, the girls are reading, the horses are running, the boy is not driving.
Context Matters
Gamesforlanguage was born from of a simple idea: Learn language in a relevant context. If you can repeatedly hear, read, write, and speak the words, phrases, and sentences of a story, you'll remember them more easily, because you remember the context.
To learn a new language, you have to connect it to your own experiences. With travel being a common denominator for many language learners, we decided to create a travel story of a young man traveling to the European countries of the four languages we currently offer. (English for Spanish speakers was added later, see below.) The everyday, practical language he experiences on his trip is bound to be relevant to most travelers.
All GamesforLanguage courses are free. There are currently 36-lesson courses for French 1, German 1, Italian 1, and Spanish 1, a 72-lesson course for German 2, and a 12-lesson course for Inglés - English for Spanish speakers.
Learning with Games
But Gamesforlanguage.com is also offering something still different. Our games are not just individual learning clips, nor are they simply an addition to or an enhancement of a conventional language program. The games ARE the language program.
Each lesson of our 36 lesson course is made up of games that practice one or more of the four language skills: listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Here are some examples: - Memory Game: Memorize new words and phrases by hearing, reading, and saying them. - Snap Clouds: Practice by choosing the foreign word/phrase, hearing, and saying it. - Balloon Words: Train your ear by identifying the sounds of key words. - Say It: Repeat words and phrases aloud after hearing them (and before seeing them briefly). - Deal No Deal: Discover the meaning of the story dialogue by simple elimination. - Writing Clowns: Translate and spell against time. - Word Invaders: Build a foreign sentence by clicking on the right words. (see image)
Other games focus on particular aspects of each language, such as pronouns, articles, adjective endings, basic conjugations, etc.
In addition to the courses, Quick Games and Podcastsof "The Story" can also be played for Free without registering or logging in.
Each lesson now begins with the story dialogue, forcing the learner to guess the meaning from the context of the story and before discovering and learning the new words and phrases.This is quite similar to what a traveler will experience when he or she tries to understand a foreign conversation.
By the time the learner hears the full story dialogue again - just before "Record It" - he or she will easily understand it, after having memorized, heard, read, spoken, and written the words and phrases of the story several times.
Grammar in Context only
In contrast to some other programs, gamesforlanguage.com teaches grammar items only as they come up in the context of the ongoing story. Grammar is not taught in the form of abstract rules.
For example: In the second lesson of our French 1 course, the following sentence is part of the dialogue: "Je suis contente que vous parliez français." We explain the use of the subjunctive form "vous parliez" (instead of the indicative "vous parlez") briefly why it is used: after a phrase expressing emotion ("je suis contente que ..."). That's all. At this stage the learner would be overwhelmed by a more detailed explanation.
Audience & Technology
Gamesforlanguage.com courses is intended primarily for "grown-ups", i.e. teenagers and adults because reading and writing is involved. However, we know that children who have just learned to read and write also enjoy the games. The online courses and Quick Games work on all modern browsers and, since January 2013, also on iOS6 iPads and iPhones.
Since Android started to support multichannel audio for HTML5, GamesforLanguage courses and Quick Games can also be played on Android devices.
Traveling to France? Preparing for the trip may both heighten your anticipation as well as enhance your experiences there. Travel entrepreneur Rick Steves has called this "Prepare for Spontaneity."
A basic knowledge of the local language and culture are essential tools for navigating new places and meeting locals.
In our four language courses we are introducing the learner to various particularities of each language or culture. For example in our French 1 course our traveler Daniel learns about the "bouillabaisse".
Listen HERE to a conversation between him and his aunt. Maybe your French lets you understand how this traditional French dish got its name. If not, you'd certainly understand it by the end of lesson 33!
The 36 lessons - we call them "Scenes" - take our "hero" Daniel (and, by extension you!) for a three week journey to France, where you'll learn the language of daily French life.
For example, in Paris, you'll visit with relatives, take a walk on a famous square, order "un express" and "une tarte aux fraises" at a café. You'll buy a train ticket to Aix-en-Provence.
There, you'll ask directions to a friend's house, and on a walk around the city, learn about Cézanne's occupation before he became a famous painter. In Avignon, you'll take a bus to your hotel, and check in.
Later, after dinner, a friend will show you the famous bridge. (Who doesn't know the song "Sur le pont d'Avignon"?) For your last week, you'll return to Paris.
Each of the 36 lessons is based on a dialog and on part of the story. In each lesson, you'll play your way through a series of games, with which you learn and practice vocabulary, train your listening comprehension, practice speaking by recording and playing back your own voice.
You'll also get essential grammar and culture tips.
Your goal will be to exceed a target score so that you can move on to the next lesson and hear “the rest of the story.”
You'll also be challenged and often able to understand the meaning of the next dialog through the context of the story alone – similar to what you might experience living in the foreign country, or following an original French movie.
So, maybe, next time you're sitting in a French bistro and see the "bouillabaisse" on the menu, you'll give it a try and even know what the name means...
During our recent visit to Switzerland, we had lunch at a restaurant in Saanenmöser, a town located above Gstaad in the Berner Oberland. My sister, who had eaten in the restaurant frequently before, had often enjoyed the filet de boeuf, and she and I ordered it.
My wife, who prefers veal, ordered the côtelette de veau. My sister had alerted us that the waiter would cut the meat to size in front of us, and we did not pay much attention to the quoted price per gram on the menu.
My sister and I selected a small piece each of the "filet de boeuf". My wife was a little puzzled, however, as the "côtelette de veau", which she had translated as a "veal cutlet", turned out to have a bone, therefore was actually a veal chop, and she selected the smallest piece.
A Delicious and Expensive "Veal Cutlet"
We enjoyed our meal (the picture on the left is not my wife's côtelette), but we were certainly surprised when we saw the check: The côtelette de veau, being 240g, including bone and fat, came in at sfr 50.40.
Compared to our two delicious, lean filets de boeuf of 120g and 140g, priced at sfr 33.60 and 39.20 respectively (and, while also expensive, we could accept their pricing), a sfr 50.40 côtelette de veau seemed out of proportion. (I should add that these prices did not include any sides, which had to be ordered separately.)
Swiss Pricing and Guest Choices
We paid our check, but after complaining by e-mail, I received the following explanation from the restaurant owner:
"Thank you very much for your mail concerning the veal cutlet for sfrs 50.40.Meat from veal is not a cheap meat. We pay a price of sfrs. 59.50 for one Kilogram of prime quality with fat and bone. For the cooking, salaries, service, special refrigerator and so on, we have a calculation of 3.5 multiplicator. For this reason the price for 100 gram is sfrs. 21.00. A veal cutlet has from nature (size of the bone) at least 220 grams. It is not possible to cut it thinner.
The range for a veal cutlet in Switzerland is between sfrs. 65.00 and sfrs 75.00. The quality of this “Swiss prime meat Grand Cru” warranted the documentary evidence of origin, is selected by the meat man in the slaughterhouse, and stays in minimum for 6 weeks adolescence. We know the name of the farmer who bred the animal. Lean filet de boeuf costs in this prime quality sfrs. 80.00 for one Kilogram. 100 gram costs with the same calculation sfrs 28.00. Fillet of beef can be cut even in less than 100 gram. The guest makes his choice like for the veal cutlet."
Beware of "False Friends" and Innovative Pricing Strategies
I could not argue with the owner's pricing explanation above. Although, for an American, the relative pricing between a côtelette de veau (with bone) and a lean filet de boeuf just does not seem right.
But did you notice that the restaurant owner also used the term "veal cutlet"? "Cutlet" and "côtelette" are indeed "false friends". You can find the definition for "cutlet" in various on-line dictionaries, but it is invariably defined as a small piece of meat.
The moral of the story: Pay attention to the prices per weight on the menu, especially in high-priced countries like Switzerland, and don't get fooled by "false friends" like "côtelette" and "cutlet".
With high meat prices, (especially premium veal) having the guest make the weight/size choice, may be the only way for certain restaurants to sell their dishes. But travelers better beware. These pricing strategies can quickly add up and surprise you unless you carry a pocket scale.
A recent exhibition of Paul Cézanne "The Large Bathers" at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts reminded us that in Scene 4.5 of our French 1 course our traveler Daniel learns about Paul Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence.
And as we did in our previous blog Heidelberg & Mark Twain, we believe that knowing more about the context of “The Story”, not only makes learning more interesting, but also more effective:
In Scene 4.5 we are practicing the French past imperfect tense with sentences such as
“Le peintre Paul Cézanne allait souvent au Café Clément.”,
“Oui, et voici la banque où il travaillait jusqu’en 1862.”, “
Paul Cézanne était banquier?”,
“Ah d’accord, je ne le savais pas!”,
“Paul Cézanne aimait vivre à Aix-en-Provence.”, etc.
By remembering the context of these sentences, you will be able to recall verbs and forms more easily, and can then apply them as well in different situations.
Paul Cézanne was Fortunate
There is not much mystery about Cézanne's life as a banker's son who became a famous painter and is seen by many
“to form the bridge between late 19th-century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism.” And “His father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne (28 July 1798 – 23 October 1886),[3] was the co-founder of a banking firm that prospered throughout the artist's life, affording him financial security that was unavailable to most of his contemporaries and eventually resulting in a large inheritance.” [Wikipedia]
Perseverance
It is interesting, though, that his path was not a straight line either: According to this biography, Cézanne's father initially opposed his artistic career; he started to study law, while also enrolled in the School of Design in Aix. The above link continues further:
In 1861 Cézanne finally convinced his father to allow him to go to Paris. He planned to join Zola there and to enroll in the École des Beaux-Arts.
But his application was rejected and, although he had gained inspiration from visits to the Louvre, particularly from the study of Diego Velázquez and Caravaggio, Cézanne experienced self-doubt and returned to Aix within the year.
He entered his father's banking house but continued to study at the School of Design.The remainder of the decade was a period of flux and uncertainty for Cézanne.
His attempt to work in his father's business was abortive, and he returned to Paris in 1862 and stayed for a year and a half. During this period he met Monet and Pissarro and became acquainted with the revolutionary work of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet.
Learning – Rarely a Straight Line
Cézanne was fortunate to be able to pursue his dream, but it's also clear that his life did not always follow a straight path.
Learning a language is also a path of many twists and turns. Relating Cézanne's story to learning French: You may have to try out various approaches before you are successful.
As banking or law were not for Cézanne, so the current language method or course you are struggling with may not be the right one for you.
Give it your best effort, but if it doesn't work, try out others – or learn with several simultaneously!
After you've initiated a conversation (see Part 1), you'll want to have a few topics up your sleeve to sustain it and, finally, to close your conversation in a gracious way.
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