18 May 2010

"It was not a success. . ." (UPDATE)

UPDATE:  Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!  My poor poet's brain is simply not wired to be trained to use foreign languages.  I was a horrible algebra/calculus student in high school and college b/c the formulas, rules, etc. just wouldn't stick in my head. . .seeds cast on rocky soil!  I recoil when I see symbolic logic used in philosophy texts--it looks like Math!  I understand why foreign languages (esp. French and German) are required for the study of philosophy.  But their necessity as research tools is not sufficient to reconfigure my aging brain. 

The dean of the philosophy school informed me this morning that my French exam "was not a success."

No surprise there.  I studied the wrong kind of text in exactly the wrong way.

So, on to October!

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12 comments:

  1. I'm sorry the exam was not a success father. I will pray to St Albert the Great to intercede for you as you prepare and for your exam in October.

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  2. Justamom9:51 AM

    I Cor 15:58 (What I put on my confirmation student's medal reverse!)

    Keep on truckin' Father!

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  3. Sorry Father, I hope you pass it next time. I have to study for a French exam over the summer so I can take it in Fall at DSPT/GTU so I feel your pain.

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  4. Even if you fall on your face you're moving forward.

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  5. Anonymous6:15 AM

    I understand PERFECTLY about your Math experience. PLUS I had the same experience with symbolic logic for precisely the same reason.

    But for sheer horror, try learning to speak "french" among the Quebecois! They SAY it's french, it LOOKS like french, but whatever they think it is coming out of their mouths is anything BUT french!!! Someone told me that the Quebecois don't actually speak french--they just chew it up and spit it out. Sounds about right!

    fr. Martin Farrell, op

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  6. It may be that your aging brain simply needs a different approach, maybe an immersion program somewhere. In-class study is one of the least effective ways to learn a language.

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  7. Anonymous3:40 PM

    sorry about the exam. hey, slow down and take your time. whast's the rush?

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  8. DenverGregg6:30 PM

    Seems to me I remember a Dominican priest's exhortation that those experiences that aren't the successes we seek can be the foundations for the successes we need.

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  9. Anonymous8:39 PM

    Quel dommage, mon Pere! Better luck next time -- math BTW was my downfall too. Everything else -- no problem, but that &^%$ math!!!GRRR ...

    Fr. Farrell, I live in Quebec (near Montreal) and know exactly what you're talking about. Before moving here from another province yrs. ago to study music, I learned beautiful Parisian French. When I got here, quelle horreur! It took a long time to adjust the ears to Quebec French. Now I can function in it, but sometimes listening to the way some people speak it makes me cringe. Moliere, Dumas, et al. must be spinning in their graves. Quebec French, BTW, is called "joual" because the Quebec pronunciation of "cheval" (horse) comes out sounding like that!

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  10. Denver, he sounds right daft to me...

    ;-)

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  11. Father,

    Symbolic logic is the reason my majoring in Philosophy lasted all of half a semester. I dropped that class (and major) so fast that extraterrestrial races would have applauded in admiration for such a technical accomplishment.

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