I am struggling in French class. I didn’t think it would be as bad as it is but, now that I think about it, I’m the only fellow who doesn’t speak another language. The only training I had was a couple semesters of Spanish where we conjugated a few verbs and watched the Lion King in Spanish. But I don’t let that get me down or think of it as a handicap. In fact, I take comfort in the chance to start over with a new language because that means that I a lot more room to grow. I feel like a baby in a 6’2 frame and I even make my host brother read me children books in French at night.
I think the hardest thing about learning a new language it’s not being able to think in that language. It’s so annoying when trying to read French while thinking in English. It makes me lethargic and the grammar is outrageous. I have to honest, one of my biggest fear is not being able to speak a language that is not mother tongue before I leave. I plan on doing more work in Frencspeaking West Africa in the future so I use that as incentive to study harder. I take French and Wolof seriously but I’m trying to have fun while growing. It’s like my professeur always says:
ca viendra…. mathieu….. ca viendra
