in a class of trilinguals...

in my french class, there are maybe three mexican kids, a puerto rican, and a russian girl. i believe there are only two people in that class who do not speak a third language.

i was utterly *shocked* to be reminded that after the Si clause (if) the imperfect subjunctive is NOT used as it is in spanish. instead the imperfect or the pluperfect is used. IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE IS ONLY A LITERARY TENSE IN FRENCH! THEY DON'T USE IT IN EVERYDAY SPEECH! and in spanish it has been programmed into my head complete with variations (i say hubiese and tuviese [instead of hubiera and tuviera] but hablara and conociera.)

and i was utterly *flattered* when Vic, the mexican kid who i think is studying fashion, flipped open his notebook to a page where he had drawn a dress on a svelte but amply busted mannequin, asked me what i thought of it, and then told me he "modeled it after me because i look victorian."

i told him i probably wouldn't do the lace up to the neck and that he'd need to make the top a bit smaller.