Warbler Infections

Chapter 19: "Pardon my French"

Tuesday September 21st, 2010
Hunter's POV:

   "Did you bring your last test?"

  I glanced up from the back table of the library and there was Sebastian. His hair was still partly shaggy from the rough lacrosse practice but he managed to make it look edgy. He had gold rimmed glasses, set askew on his nose and wore a vintage Rolling Stones band tee. There's no question that the guy had style.

    "Yeah, if you mean the one I completely bombed. I debated if I should of just run it through my paper shredder."

   He pulled out an English to French dictionary and a red pen from his bag. I handed him the exam, face down of course.

  "There's no reason to be ashamed about this, Hunter. Failing is just part of getting better. You think that I haven't flunked a class or gotten an F on a final? It takes a lot of strength and courage to ask for assistance."

   "You're just saying that because you have to. We all know I won't get on the honor roll or graduate anywhere near top of the class." I slumped in my seat and let out a long sigh.

  He uncapped his pen and pushed up his glasses. "Maybe not, but instead of worrying about the future let's focus on the present. Tell me what you struggled with on this test."

   It would have been quicker to tell him what I did understand.

   "I guess I'm just having a hard time remembering the verb conjugations. It makes doing everything else twice as hard. The all sound similar, and I never know where they go in the sentence." He probably thinks I'm dyslexic or something, these are things most people grasp in seventh grade French.

  He took out a piece of graphing paper and wrote a conjugation chart. "Let's start with an example and then we can review where you went wrong on the test."

   He scribbled prendre at the top of the sheet and added six boxes for each of the pronouns.

   I borrowed the pen and chart, filling in the words that I already knew. It wasn't that many. Je prends is I take right? Tu prends was you take last time I checked. He takes......il prend sounds correct. The plural forms are what always tripped me up. I dropped the pen, a bit harshly out of frustration.

   "Okay, so then we is nous, you all is vous, and they is ils. Now let's find a way for you to memorize them."

   He added prenons, prenez, and, prennet to the paper.

   "I'll do my best to explain it in a way that you can use next time. Well, prenons has an n, o, and s which are all in nous. And the ez at the end of prenez sounds like is. And vous is the form you'll use the least. A group of multiple guys is ils, which you already know because the singular form is il."

Once it started registering in my mind it felt like the broken gears had begun to turn agin after so long.

   "That makes so much sense when you put it that way. Madame Stefanilli expects us to know it by heart but I have short term memory. It's comforting to know that there are some similarities between the French and English."

   Sebastian smiled at my optimism and brought the test back out. "Exactly, and I think I can see that on your exam. This question asked what Dominic and Silvia took but you accidentally used the we form instead of the they form. It might help you to quietly read your answers out loud to hear if it sounds right. Just a suggestion."

   The next forty five minutes were spent writing charts and checking over my answers. Lots of my mistakes could have been easily avoided if I had known some of the more basic concepts.

   Sebastian took a peer at his watch, eyes growing wide as he stuffed the study materials into his satchel. "Dinner started ten minutes ago, so much for the timer setting on this piece of crap." He flicked the watch and pushed in his chair.

    He was right, we had been in the library for almost two hours. I anticipated this to feel like an eternity but the time had flown by. It must have been the combination of his interesting methods and pleasant company.

   "How did you manage to make a tutoring session enjoyable? I've literally walked out of Mr. Everett's trigonometry lectures twice in one semester."

   He laughed and we headed towards the dining hall. "So what you're saying is that I'm just an amazing teacher?" He joked.

   "Totally, you should consider a career like that.  Not necessarily a teacher but possibly a college professor or an interpreter. I've never gotten so much out of a French lesson. Not everyone can do that, Sebastian."

   He began ringing his hands and ran fingers through his disheveled locks. Over the last few months I could tell that he only did that when he was nervous or complimented. Someone had to show him that we all appreciate him and that accepting praise doesn't make you arrogant.

   "I never really let myself wonder about what my future job might be. I always wanted to go into the educational studies field, though. It's a start that you believe I'm capable of doing it."

  No. I know he's capable of doing it. I'm positive.

   "Yep. Soon everybody will be fluent in French. All thanks to monsieur Smythe."

   Hey guys! So I know this chapter is kinda short and also extremely sappy but I had to include the tutoring lesson at some point. Remember that I take Spanish so all the information is probably found online and incorrect. I almost forgot that I had to write today so that's great but I wouldn't leave you hanging. Have a great morning, evening, or night. You are one of a kind!

   Your fellow gleek,
  - Lindsay💕