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 Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:17 pm
It was only once Chris was sitting in the city library, a beginner level French book opened to one of the first pages and waiting to meet the tutor he hired, that he realized he was probably overdoing it. The class had only just started and Chris, for fear of falling behind in the first week, probably jumped the gun in hiring someone to help him. Okay, so he really jumped the gun, but there was no reason to turn back now. Right?
He wasn't even entirely sure what had prompted him to sign up for the class to begin with. Somehow he'd convinced himself that he needed to learn French, and he'd conveniently forgotten how horrible he was with linguistics to begin with. He had never been a fan of flowery speeches or poetry, much less trying to learn a foreign language. The only reason he'd managed his good Spanish grades in high school was due to the fact that he completed every bit of extra credit imaginable.
Thank God he had Daniel to help him with... well, everything he sucked at back then, but now Daniel was busy with his own classes and troubles than to try and teach Chris a language he didn't even know.
Thinking about it now, Chris wondered why the hell he hadn't chosen German instead of French. Sure, his mom knew French, Paris knew French, although he wasn't sure how much. But Daniel was fluent in German since he was from there. Hell, his dad knew German pretty well, too! Maybe because French sounded sophisticated? Or he was hoping his general comprehension of Latin would make things a bit simpler to understand?
Although, if he was ever called out on it, he would begrudgingly admit that just going to church did not give him a 'general comprehension' of any language, especially not a dead one.
It wasn't as if he was adding it to his resume!
Still, a voice in the back of his mind was telling him to just bail out, get up and leave and drop the class and never look back. Yet he stubbornly sat, trying to figure out what the hell the point was of having letters in words that weren't supposed to be pronounced, while he waited for the guy he'd only 'met' in a phone call, his number taken from a flier.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:20 pm
Ever was as new at this as Chris was; a couple sessions with Ainsley had, at least, prepared him for the possibility of teaching, for the troubles that came with it, had given some idea of what kind of preparation helped make everything go more smoothly. The beginner-level French book that Chris had sprawled open on a desk in front of him was mirrored by the one poking out of his own battered, taped-together messenger bag, earmarked on half a dozen early pages.
God help him, but Ever had prepared.
Off work from the library and to his other job: his commute was across the room, effectively shrugging off one hat and putting on another. His eyes flashed over Chris's head, up and around the room, before settling on the book in front of him, and that at least made Ever grin. Easy to find his mark when he made it that easy.
"Hey...Chris?" He approached delicately, though, shrugging off his bag as he did and tossing it, along with his battered winter jacket, onto the table between them. He didn't look particularly French -- other than, perhaps, that nose. And he didn't look like much of a tutor either.
He was bad at first impressions. He offered his hand anyway. "Ever."
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:24 pm
Chris glanced up when he heard his name, having been approached by another young man. The voice sounded a little familiar, but phones always seemed to alter sound. To him at least.
He quickly stood from his chair to reach out and take the offered hand. "Nice to meet you," he greeted, trying not to look too distressed about the jacket and bag now crowding the table at which they were to be working. Not that he didn't have his books spread out over it, but he didn't exactly like the idea of a page being crumbled on accident.
Once the handshake was broken, he slowly sat back down, gingerly pulling some of the papers that had been just barely covered by the jacket out and away from it. Well, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but he would probably feel ever so slightly discontent.
"Thanks for helping me with this," he said, avoiding looking at the jacket and bag and just focus on the young man he was paying to help him. "I know it's only the start of the term, but... I kinda suck at this stuff," he tried to explain, although he was sure he was just making pointless small talk and Ever would probably rather get to the point of the matter. Then again, Chris had never been able to completely shake off his rather talkative nature from when he was little.
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:50 am
His nerves made Ever's expression go amused, eyes bright -- and he claimed his own chair with his legs stretched out under the table, shifting his bag to dig out his own copy of the books in question, his tidy little notebook, his rubber-band-closed folder full of assignments to look over. Chris was obviously not his only student, judging from the amount of supplies he had at hand, the variety of handwritings on the pages.
His instinctive reply to the thanks was dry; after all, Chris was paying for this. Ever was hardly doing it out of the goodness of his own heart. But he bit down on that under the certainty that it was inappropriate, annoying, and might lose him the sale. So to speak.
"It's easier for some people, I guess." The platitude came out a little flat. Ever wasn't great at that, the absent politeness, the 'don't worries' or reassurance. He nabbed his coat and tossed it onto the chair next to him. At least Chris wouldn't have to worry about that.
"How much have you looked over?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:57 am
He wasn't surprised to see Ever's notebook, full of notes and whatever else he needed for teaching. Sure, Chris would usually go to he campus resource center to make sure the tutor he'd get was passed by the school, had good recommendations, and was a good student, but he figured he could take a risk on this guy. Besides, it was a last minute thing, just as picking up a French class had been rather out of the blue.
"You can say that again," he mumbled, mostly to himself as he flipped through the pages. "See, I've been over the basics, but... is there a reason why learning the grammar is important? I mean, if I just wanted to speak it, I wouldn't have to worry about all these little... accents and squiggles..." he said, his voice trailing off as he realized how dumb he must sound. Give him some kind of math problem and he'd be fine, but this language stuff was completely over his head.
"I started at the beginning," he admitted. "Why is there an 'R' there when it doesn't make a sound?? I thought English was supposed to be the confusing language..." Or at least that's what he'd heard. He'd grown up hearing various languages, but he really only knew English and maybe a phrase or two of German (thanks to his best friend), but French... it was completely foreign!
"Do you usually tutor for DCU or do you accept just about anyone?" he couldn't help but wonder. The guy seemed okay, appearance wise. He smelled a bit like smoke, but Chris did his best to ignore that. As long as he didn't catch him throwing cigarretts on the ground, he was perfectly fine with it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:02 pm
The questions made Ever hesitate, blinking, his eyes flashing up onto Chris with genuine surprise. Most of the students he'd met so far had been all about learning the how, more than anything else. Wanted to be able to speak the language, and quickly; one man who wanted to take his girlfriend to Paris to propose, one sullen teenaged girl who didn't want to be there at all, and one not-quite-granny who seemed more interested in him than in the books. They asked 'what', and grumbled over the conjugations, but it was definitely usually 'how'.
"...you. Uh. You have a lot of 'why's." He blinked again, attention flashing back over his shoulder to the rest of the library while he considered his answer. When they resettled on Chris, it was with a bit more focus, something thoughtful.
"You want quick answers, that suffice to give the idea and get us moving on, or do you want a more involved etymology lesson?" He cracked just a brief flicker of a smile. "Because I'm not a great etymologist, but give me a week or two and I could probably figure out some of that..."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:36 am
Chris stared at his tutor for a few moments of confusion, before that confusion quickly turned into embarrassment. "Oh, sorry about that. No, you don't have to get into an etymology lesson," he quickly explained, feeling dumb for asking questions that weren't all that important to learning how to pass his tests.
"Uh, quick answers would be fine, if you don't mind," he said, offering a sheepish grin of his own. He wondered if he should take notes or just try to remember whatever Ever told him, but in the end he picked up his pen and pulled his notebook closer. If he was going to pay him for tutoring, why not try and remember everything he was told? It would suck if he forgot and would have to waste his time repeating everything.
While he knew he wasn't all that great at languages, he knew it might make him feel a bit better if he knew why things were the way they were, instead of just accepting it and moving on. Then again, he'd also been that kid in his classes asking the teacher why some rules in English were okay and some had exceptions. He never really accepted the answer of 'that's just how it is', which might also explain why he always got frustrated with languages in general.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:36 pm
Ever had a lot of flaws -- but he was, at least, good at this. His own French was easy, fluent, if touched strongly with a hint of the Marseilles, down-and-dirty dock worker's mumble. He'd mostly trained it away. Mostly.
He was also diligent: given the week between now and their next lesson, he was going to end up reviewing some of the sources of the rules. He might get caught up and a little lost. But he'd try.
For now, he'd review what work Chris had done, eyebrows knitted together and biting his tongue on anything teasing. Ever'd made that mistake once. Not great for business.
"You need. Um. It seems like you needs some mnemonics." Which, fortunately, he had, and jotted down at the top of Chris's notes in an impossibly tidy hand. "THis isn't that bad. Not at the beginning level. It's just all memorization."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 12:16 pm
For being in a family so well traveled and diverse in languages, Chris really struck out on the particular talent of being able to converse in a language outside his native American English. Sometimes he wondered if there was something he was doing wrong, or if his brain was really just meant to be programmed for things... other than speech.
He kept his mouth shut when Ever wrote some helpful tips at the top of his notes, wishing he'd grabbed another piece of paper for his tutor to use. It wasn't that Chris was obsessive compulsive or anywhere close to being a neat freak, but keeping his notes organized was one of the key elements for his good grades.
The slight discomfort was allowed to pass for the moment as he listened to what Ever had to say, nodding in understanding. "I can usually memorize how to write things down... but speaking and comprehension always seems to get me," he admitted a bit sheepishly. His pride wouldn't allow him to ask Ever to repeat things over and over until he got it, though.
"Thank you..." he said after several more minutes of trying to figure out how he was supposed to remember the silent letters. "I think I'll be okay for the quiz, at least... Uh, oh right... I've got your payment..." he added, glancing down at his watch to see what time it was before digging out his wallet from his back pocket. "If you wouldn't mind, I could definitely use your help for the next quiz as well," he said with an embarrassed sort of half-grin. He hated asking for help, but if he didn't get any... he didn't want to know what that would do to his GPA.
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