C'est Taboo?

Yesterday I went to an afternoon "chit-chat". A chit-chat is a group of women (or I guess it could be a group of men...) that get together and have discussions on any number of topics. These "meetings" are a popular way to practice a foreign language. There is a chit-chat group through the IWC, and I have been to several of their meetings. This particular one was organized by Robin and her new upstairs neighbor, Valerie. Valerie is French and has several French friends who want to practice their English. As anyone who has ever heard me speak French can verify, I personally need all the practice in French that I can get! There were about 15 women that met at Valerie's apartment. We had several countries represented (France, US, Canada, India, and New Zealand). In addition, many of these women have spent time living in other countries (Nigeria, Thailand, China, England, etc). The discussion today was about what topics are taboo in different countries. We talked about everything from money, to politics, to sexuality, to religion, to sex. These chit-chat groups always make me laugh because we are supposed to speak in the language that we are trying to learn. However, when you are trying to debate something, that is so hard! And, it doesn't matter what the topic is, when you put that many women in a room together, not everyone is going to agree (case in point: several couldn't even agree about what the definition of "taboo" is. That was finally settled after Valerie pulled out a very French dictionary, and by French dictionary I mean that it had a picture of a topless woman on the front, something you would never find on the front of an American dictionary! That would be taboo! But I digress...). It never fails that everyone reverts back to their native language, starts speaking very fast, and before you know it you have 5 different conversations going on at one time because the French can't keep up with the conversation in English that is going 90 miles/hour, and the English speakers can't keep up with the conversation in French that is going (at what seems to me) 200 miles/hour!

There are always a lot of laughs too. Like today, we were talking about weight and anorexia, and of course the topic of Americans' weight and food portions at restaurants was brought up. Valerie (whose English is very good, by the way) was trying to tell a story about her husband's business trip to the US recently. She was saying that he went to a restaurant, and that he had a bitch...
Excuse me?!? A what, Valerie?
She thought she said "meat", and couldn't understand why all of the English speakers were laughing, but we all heard the same thing.... Anyway, she was trying to make the point that his piece of meat was huge, and the plates were much bigger than you will find in a French restaurant.

It was a fun afternoon of chatting. Although, I am always so afraid to speak in French, these group meetings usually are more beneficial for my comprehension practice, not speaking practice. Which is just silly, because these French women are just as self-conscious about their English as I am about my French. One of these days (probably about a week before we move back to the US), I will get over the embarrassment and just start speaking!