I’m determined to find good coffee on the West Island so today I’m blogging from Café T.W.I.G.S., an extremely popular cafe in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. TWIGs stands for Two West Island Girls and if you get to the cafe 15-minutes before it opens there are already people waiting outside to get in. They are all vying for the comfy chairs in the back and when they walk past the counter they say, “our usual please.”
This is a breath of fresh air in a place where McDonald’s coffee is considered good; there is a real lack of good coffee on the West Island.
TWIGs is mellow, their breakfast sandwich can be made gf, and the coffee is definitely a step up from everything else I’ve tasted in Montreal. As an added bonus, there’s free wifi. There’s plenty of working space and no one minded me taking photos and tapping away on my laptop.
We are now drinking from the French fire hose
The three Grade 7 level French classes have caused major drama, meltdowns, and anxiety. Reality has set in and it means lots of extra language work.
For me, speaking in public is pretty humbling. As people get to know me they’re pushing me to speak more French. Our sandwich guy (who speaks 6-languages) constantly makes fun of my Spanish vocabulary that spills out all over the place. He won’t accept any English. This is good. It’s immersion.
The mistakes are pretty hilarious. For example…
dP: Avez-vous nourrir le chien ce soir?
Me: Non. Je perdu.
dP: Oh my god. You lost the dog!!?
Me: Oublié. J’ai oublié! God, my vocabulary really sucks!
There have been some unexpected surprises in all of this… like La Niña has no accent when she speaks French. I never ever expected this.
Volunteer Time
It’s accepted practice in Montreal for people to volunteer in their community and as part of this kids are required to do volunteer hours as part of their school curriculum. So, as one last summer hurrah we found ourselves cleaning up the community swimming pool during the last days of September.
Twas very sad to be storing away all the equipment and prepping the pool for winter. Summer went way too fast and we really enjoyed our time at PPK.
What’s best? Rosetta Stone or Babbel ?
We used Rosetta Stone for a while but at a certain point the phrases aren’t useful because they don’t stick. The best thing is situational experiences (e.g. I will never forget the difference between perdu and oublier now) with understanding the root of the word. Also, for memorization of vocabulary we use a flash card app called Anki, which is highly customizable. Google translate is also a lifeline.
Babbel is good because it uses everyday situations to get you learning. The downside is they speak too fast for beginners to follow the dialog.