Dining in Toulouse!

Dining in Toulouse! 

Coucou de Toulouse! We are getting in the thick of the things here in Toulouse. Week 1 is complete! The students have done a marvelous job with our “Ozlefrançais” activities. If you are not familiar with Ozlefrançais, it’s a speaking activity that the students get to do with the locals around Toulouse. Students usually go up to a willing participant and ask them culture questions about French culture. This time around we got to do Ozlefrançais in a restaurant where the students in my group got an opportunity to describe their “goûts” (tastes), ask questions about the specials, and the server’s recommendations. To see them speak fluidly and with confidence was inspiring.

Once everyone had ordered, we began a conversation in French about the cultural norms we have observed in French restaurants in comparison to the U.S. Most students were in agreement that they felt that the dishes in France were a lot smaller than the U.S. When I asked them to reflect on why this may be, a student thoughtfully said because of the “gaspillage” (waste). From there the conversation took off to doggy bags being common in the U.S. and almost non-existent in France to baguettes being customary at almost every meal in France. After one-week students are getting into the groove of speaking French on a regular basis and the work they have put into the program is paying off.  À la prochaine!

Bises 
Hussna