And on around the room....

And on we go....

We have come to the wall opposite the bed.  It's the dullest wall, for there's nothing on it but two doors and a tall dresser topped by a TV set.

The doors lead to the hall, which I anxiously watch for a shadow-figure (which I do NOT want to see) as I listen to Coast to Coast AM in the wee hours, and into Theodore's bathroom over which we shall discreetly draw the curtain of modesty.

But this wall is important to Theodore because he picked out that dresser and it has proven to be a good one...it is sturdy and not unattractive, and it is tall enough to hold all his small clothes, with room for a money drawer and a misc. drawer at the bottom.  So he likes it.

The wall is important to me too, in the way of a certain miracle on the TV set.  I ordered out Moliere's L'Avare and when it came it was all in French. Duh, say you.  NO subtitles, say I.

Funny, how when we watch a foreign film with subtitles, we think we are understanding what they are saying.  Ah, just get the film without them, and you are promptly put in your place.

I took the film to a showing at the advanced French course of a friend, and frankly, I don't think that any of them but perhaps one, understood it a bit better than I did.  And the only reason I knew what was going on (vaguely) is that I'd seen it on the Internation Channel some time ago, with subtitles.

So, I took it home and thought: Okay, don't French babies learn French by watching and listening?  And many Mexicans tell me they've learned English just by watching American TV...and they spoke pretty well.  So I started watching.  When I get dressed in the morning.  When I take my nap.  When I have a few minutes tidying up the room.  I have now watched the film for about seven times, all told, not counting the sleeping time. 

About the fourth time through (counting the times on the Internet, the first watching, the group watching) a miracle began to occur. I realized that I was understanding in bunches...a big leap in language learning.  Not the random word here and there, but phrases sprang effortlessly to my mind as I watched the story.

Now I'm a few viewings beyond that. Every time I watch it, I grasp more of what is being said. It is truly a miracle. About twenty more viewings, and I shall perhaps be able to speak French in the 17th century, "pristine prose," (from a review on the web), of Moliere.  Wow.     Wow? 
YAZZYBEL