Rigolo Privé ?? (private joke)

Two of my French friends were joking around the other day and I went out on a limb, constructed a sentence and asked whether it was a private joke, «une rigolo privé » ..
I thought, surely, they must have private jokes- and they would understand me if I said that.. But they just started laughing hysterically..
I guess they understood but thought it sounded like something a Canadian person speaking French would say :) Turns out- they say “private joke” in English.
In the beginning, you are bound to make many mistakes in communication but if they are funny, you’ll be more likely to remember the words or the grammar.
The same thing happened to me at lunch the other day- I asked “Vous avez mangé bien?” which sounds like- “Did you eat properly” (like with good manners :) when really, I meant to ask “Did you eat well?”, (like did you have a good lunch), which is said “Vous avez bien mangé?”.. Simply changing the place of the adverb changes the meaning of the sentence…
Don’t worry- French people normally help you with your pronunciation and grammar :)

La première semaine (the first week)

I’m trying to speak French- and it is working with a few people in the lab. But there are a lot of people who just speak English after I speak French to them.. I think it’s because they don’t want to hear me butcher their beautiful language 

I spent this week meeting lab members and other people in the department and getting trained in electrophysiology and other cool techniques… Fred has some very cool projects going on- and we’ve had some time to make a preliminary plan of action for my research.

I will start my first class on Wednesday: a two-week agriculture protection course in Grignon. Luckily, a few people are putting on a joint birthday party there this weekend- so they’ll be able to show me around the Grignon campus before my first day.


I have loved walking from the Saint-Cyr metro stop to work because there are all kinds of undisturbed grasses on the sidewalk and I have seen beaucoup d’insectes there (see pics on my picassa page!)…