I am at a loss for words. I am at a loss for words in three languages. There are experiences in life we know we shall encounter and there are those that take us by complete surprise. I have heard friends describe what it was to move to the US and be surrounded by only English, or to move to Spain or Argentina or Uganda and describe what it is to have to learn Spanish or Swahili — but I have never heard anyone describe the actual experience of learning a new language in a new country, not the day-to-day realities of not only learning a new language, but functioning in that language and the slow process by which a language is learned. David Sedaris’s “Me Talk Pretty One Day” offered anecdotes on learning French, but he never referenced the mental fugues that take place — the complete lack of comprehension one moment followed by utter clarity and competence the next. As I find myself now in a state of language acquisition through immersion, I have been keeping notes — every week gives birth to something new — and the mental states, the alterations between states — between levels of comprehension and confusion are fascinating, so I catalogue them, note them, document their appearance and frequency the way an anthropologist collects data in the field.
The Starting Block
The Starting Block
The Starting Block
I am at a loss for words. I am at a loss for words in three languages. There are experiences in life we know we shall encounter and there are those that take us by complete surprise. I have heard friends describe what it was to move to the US and be surrounded by only English, or to move to Spain or Argentina or Uganda and describe what it is to have to learn Spanish or Swahili — but I have never heard anyone describe the actual experience of learning a new language in a new country, not the day-to-day realities of not only learning a new language, but functioning in that language and the slow process by which a language is learned. David Sedaris’s “Me Talk Pretty One Day” offered anecdotes on learning French, but he never referenced the mental fugues that take place — the complete lack of comprehension one moment followed by utter clarity and competence the next. As I find myself now in a state of language acquisition through immersion, I have been keeping notes — every week gives birth to something new — and the mental states, the alterations between states — between levels of comprehension and confusion are fascinating, so I catalogue them, note them, document their appearance and frequency the way an anthropologist collects data in the field.