DIY History | Transcribe | World War I Diaries and Letters | Conger Reynolds correspondence, February 1918 | 1918-02-13 Conger Reynolds to Daphne Reynolds Page 6

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Conger Reynolds correspondence, February 1918

1918-02-13 Conger Reynolds to Daphne Reynolds Page 6

and sweep of gas clouds. No doubt they would think our living arrangements pretty fine. 
Living in barracks and eating at an army mess, we don't see much of the civilian population. I haven't spoken ten words of French since I came. My good resolution to practice the language will suffer here, I hear. I went into a store tonight to buy a flashlight. The clerk insisted upon speaking English. It was marvelously wierd English, but when one is addressed in his own language he can't very well do otherwise than reply in kind. I was getting fine practice at my billet.  The madame would fire a volley at me that sounded like machine-gun fire. I usually got very little of it, but the little was enough that I could make a pretense of understanding, - and so I was learning French as she is spoke.

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and sweep of gas clouds. No doubt they would think our living arrangements pretty fine. Living in barracks and eating at an army mess, we don't see much of the civilian population. I haven't spoken ten words of French since I came. My good resolution to practice the language will suffer here, I hear. I went into a store tonight to buy a flashlight. The clerk insisted upon speaking English. It was marvelously wierd English, but when one is addressed in his own language he can't very well do otherwise than reply in kind. I was getting fine practice at my billet. The madame would fire a volley at me that sounded like machine-gun fire. I usually got very little of it, but the little was enough that I could make a pretense of understanding, - and so I was learning French as she is spoke.