“BELLADONNA, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.”
Every Monday I go next door to my neighbor’s house and we chat for an hour or two. She is from Brazil and wants help with her English. I find chatting the most comfortable way for both of us. Today we planned her son’s birthday party. The way the chatting works is that when we’re talking and Niecy makes an error in grammar or conversation, we stop while I explain. She also has me write it down so she can see what I mean. I love it when she says, “Good to know.” We have become friends.
I have the worst accent when I learn a new language. My ears hear it but my mouth doesn’t cooperate. I can never Iive in a country where you have to roll R’s. French was the language I learned in high school. We didn’t have a choice. I remember Sister Madeline Marie making us listen to learn. My memory grabbed all the words, and that was the best I could do. I got A’s on tests but cringed when I had to speak. I think Sister Madeline Marie did too.
In college I decided to desert French and try Spanish. The problem in the beginning was I mixed my languages. I remember on the first test the professor circled all the French and Latin words I had used, but it didn’t take long before I knew the vocabulary and could understand most of what was said. The problem was I could barely be understood, but we had mostly written tests so I did well.
During second year Spanish, we were supposed to go language lab once a week. I did in the beginning but after a while I got bored and substituted a music tape. I generally got caught and had to go back to the Spanish tape and drone in repetition. I stopped going. My Spanish professor was an Augustinian and he was wonderful. He had fled Spain during Franco’s time and told us stories about hiding and wearing mufti. He brought me into the hall once and told me for a smart girl I was stupid. He had just gotten the attendance for the language lab. He said he could fail me, but he wouldn’t. He’d give me a D instead of the A I could have had. I meekly said gracias and went back to my seat.
I used my French vocabulary in West Africa all the time. I seldom spoke in sentences but strung words together which were usually understood. I could give directions, order food and shop in the market. Sister Madeline Marie would have been proud.
In South America I used my Spanish to go from Venezuela to Brazil. I could order food, buy bus or train tickets and chat a bit with fellow passengers using the strung vocabulary technique. I could understand almost everything said to me. I just couldn’t easily reply. Father Acanada would have had a few words to say about that. He’d tell me, “See, you should have gone to language lab.”
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Augustinian, chatting, error in grammar or conversation, Franco, French and Spanish, Good to know, language lab, teaching English, vocabulary, worst accent
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
September 14, 2015 at 1:55 pm
Very windy here today and it sounds as if it is getting worse. I don’t mind, the wind comes from the right direction so my garden is absolutely still.
I’ve never had any problems sounding like the language wanted it to sound, my problem was to remember what words I should use 🙂 I can read German, French, dutch and Spanish without any problems but I just can’t remember the words when I open my mouth 🙂 Well, if I get really angry as I often did in Paris since most of them are so rude, those times I remember a lot 🙂 Norwegian is very easy since it is so close to Swedish and I can talk some Danish (just sound as if one has lots of porridge inthe mouth while talking 🙂 🙂 🙂 but it is very difficult to hear what people from west Denmark says, I’m not sure they understand it themselves 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
September 14, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Christer,
It has jumped between sun and cloudy. When I started to do errands, it was cloudy then the sun came right out. I had Gracie with me and turned around and took her home as the car would get too hot.
I can understand what is said to me and can answer but my pronunciation is horrid, but it didn’t matter as I got along just fine and always seemed to get what I wanted.
I found Finland difficult to hear. They pronounce every vowel so I had no guesses as to what they were saying. That Swedish is the second language made it even worse. I carried and English-Finnish dictionary with me and pointed to the Finnish word. At dinner I had no idea what I was eating half the time.
September 14, 2015 at 8:07 pm
I am the world’s worst language student. I took Spanish 101 in High School several times until I got a passing grade to enable me to graduate. I could have sat in the language lab for eight hours and not remember a thing. When I’ve traveled to Spanish speaking countries I’m amazed how many words I can still recognize fifty years later. My speaking vocabulary includes, no ten go dens to and donee esta de embassia de Ustados Unidos. The only way for me to learn a new language would be the immersion method. Drop me into a small town and either I will learn to speak the language or starve. 😦
Today was another beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 80s. Tomorrow summer will return with warmer and more humid weather.
September 14, 2015 at 8:41 pm
Bob,
I did well even in Africa. I got a high score on the language proficiency test at the end of PC training.
I had been blessed with a superb memory, but I do have word retrieval problems as I get older.
We too had a lovely day today, but tonight is a bit chilly. I have shut a few windows.
September 14, 2015 at 8:44 pm
I’m sorry but I’m having trouble remembering what I wanted to say. 🙂
September 14, 2015 at 8:48 pm
Exactly!!
September 16, 2015 at 12:16 am
Never had the knack for languages. I am so envious of the bi-(or tri-) lingual.
Sophomore high school we had a very young nun for Spanish II. She put everything into speaking la lingua properly. She passed out little mirrors so we could see where our tongues touched our teeth. Down the road, it helped bluff me through 4 years of college Spanish. I should find a course to help recapture what I’ve lost!
September 16, 2015 at 11:44 am
Jay,
Every one of my African students was multi-lingual. They all spoke English and at least 1 tribal language though most spoke two or more tribal languages.
I learned Hausa from the Peace Corps. I remember many of the words and used them when I returned to Ghana after 40 years, but I have also forgotten many words. I found a Learn Hausa app for my iPad from the app store. Maybe you can find the same for Spanish.