As requested…

A translation of the French post. :)

The French lessons are going pretty well, so I decided to do number 52 on my list of 101 things in French. Unfortunately I don’t think it’ll be possible to do number 51 … I’ve basically quit my efforts to learn Korean, because I couldn’t find a good course. The language is too difficult for me to continue to study it alone. And anyway, I’ve already decided to leave for France!

So I started writing a blog post in French … but it made me very frustrated! I think faster than I can type (and talk!) In French. But I had an idea after we did an exercise called “a Chinese portrait.” You say “if I were a flower, I would be…”, for example, or “if I were an animal, I would be….” It’s the kind of thing I like doing, and when I went home, I wrote a poem with the lines I’d done in class. I don’t know if the French have another word for “nerd”. ;)

Fortunately, the teacher of the class is very nice, and she read my poem to correct my mistakes before I put it on my blog. She said, smiling, that it was “very cute” – I think that means that I’m not going to be a famous poet in France, but not bad for a beginner! A bit like children who write with great care their little letters to me: “Teacher, I love you, thank you for teach me!” Ah, role reversal …! Cuter when I was 6, not 29, maybe.

And now: my poem. The title should be “If I were French, I could write a better poem.”

Avec des si… (Can’t think of the right English translation, but it means “With ‘if’s”, and relates to all the possibilities in life when you keep saying “If only…”. And the poem rhymes in French, but not in English.)

If I were a flower, I’d be a wild flower;

I’d wander, and enjoy the scenery.

With no fixed abode, I’d be happy

To take life at a slow pace.

 

If I were an animal, I’d be a cat –

It would be a good life, I think!

I would sleep and eat as much as I wanted.

My days would be filled with things that give me pleasure.

 

If I were a color, I’d be red:

Passionate, emotions overwhelm me like a flood.

I do not love you – I adore you!

I do not ask – I implore you!

 

If I were a shape, I would be a circle.

Around and around and around … I circle.

I don’t know if I’ve seen it before,

So around and around … I continue.

 

If I were a word, I would be “free.”

I wouldn’t need anything but my thoughts and my books.

I’d travel when my heart desired it,

And I would do only the things that I chose.

 

If I were a fruit, I would be an orange,

Because when you know me too well, it bothers me.

So I’d hide under the thick skin

Which would protect me against the world –  that’s my wish.

 

If I were a season I would be winter.

I would not be cold, but I would captivate you

Because I’d be silent, calm, and hidden

Under the snow I’d remain, but detached.