Why am I learning French?

My greatest achievement on Thursday was asking the waitress for water in French. Both the waitress and my French colleague were beaming ear to ear during the act. Of course, I got it all wrong as I ended up saying "of water", conveniently missing out the "cup" or the "jar" from the spoken words. Well, it was a small step for the outside world and a giant leap for me!

Why am I learning French? I have been asked this question a lot. The obvious answer of meeting new people does not qualify as my objective. Ironically, when you learn a language, the baby steps are targeted to speak comfortably in order to make friends. There are three events contributing to the sudden urge for learning French.

My colleagues and friends who are French take extra care to translate the conversation into English. They struggle in doing the translation. I do feel bad about not making an effort to learn French.

Pappettan stood right besides me looking, over my shoulders, to ensure that I had all the essentials for learning French. There was no escape route available!

I came across an article stating men are not as bad as it seems at learning a new language. That is true because of many of my friends have demonstrated the ability to learn a new language in the shortest possible time.



Comments

  1. Hey, good luck at learning French ! I think learning a language is very liberating and also gives an insight into understanding the languages you do know better. For instance, I learnt Arabic and in gave me a better understanding of English grammar than I ever did in school.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Sudhagee - That's encouraging. :) Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good luck ahead.. By trying to learn a new language we reduce 50% of risks on developing dementia :) :) Lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Deepak Karthik - Really? Where are you quoting these numbers from?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmm.. that's a nice gesture. Wonder if Kannada figures in your list of languages to learn.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Sanju - I would love to learn Kannada. Is there a Michel Thomas for Kannada? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Enjoy the new language....seems I too should pick up Arabic soon

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Pesto Sauce - Thank you. Same to you. It is about time as you have been there for more than an year. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Its always awesome to learn a new language. Its known fact that PV Narasimha Rao could speak in 14 different languages. The "apna Pan" ka chord that one can connect in new areas whilst speaking in their own language is amazing. People beam up with smile when they see you speaking their language.

    I usually first try to learn all the cuss words in foreign language though :) :P it helps understand the slang more easily :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Ranting Indian - You bring up PV Narasimha Rao! You know what? My mother used to tell the same thing about it. But I never learnt.

    It is natural for anyone to pick up the cuss words in a foreign language.

    ReplyDelete
  11. All the best :)
    I used to learn German, but I was under no pressure, I just chose to learn it, and I loved it. Like Steve Jobs said, nothing like the weightlessness of starting something new :)
    Besides, it's music to ears when someone talks in french (and italian too :P)
    PS, are you a malayali? Cus Pappettan seems to be a malayali term (the ettan part, which means big brother :) )

    Could you read my post if you have time? And vote for it if you like it? :)

    http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=90039

    ReplyDelete
  12. @The Story Teller - Thanks. :) Yes, I am a malayali. I have promoted your post.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment