Watch Your Language Blog

That "Aha!" Moment

Language learning can be hard work, with plenty of frustrating times when you just feel like you're not making any progress at all. But every once in a while, you have what we like to call an "aha!" moment, when something just clicks, and you know you've actually crossed some threshold, large or small.

Here are two examples:

"I studied in France as a college student, and even though I tried really hard to master the language, it was still pretty easy to peg me as an American.

"A few years later I went back for a long visit, and right before I was about to leave, I happened to strike up a conversation with a friend-of-a-friend who I'd never met before while I was hanging out at a bar with some friends. Long story short, he invited me to a party he was having the next weekend, and the exchange went something like this, en français:

– That would be great, but I'll be in New York.
– Oh, too bad. When are you coming back?
– I… Um, I'm not. I'm going back to New York.
– Going back?
– Yes. I live in New York.
– Cool. Since when? How long will you stay there?
– Um, I moved there a few years ago. I don't know when I'm coming back to France.
– Well, what about your family? Won't you miss them?
– No, they live close to New York. I see them regularly.
– They're in New York, too? Why did they all move?
– They didn't move, they've always lived there.
– Do you mean… you're AMERICAN?

"On a scale of one to ten, getting a French person to think that you're French when you're really American is like a fifteen. That felt really good!"
—Alan (New York)

"I've only been studying Zulu for a few weeks. When I first started, I went through the pronunciation, and some of it was okay, some was hard but doable, and then the clicks were just impossible. I had no idea how to make them, or if I could, I could only make them on their own.

"The thing is, these sounds come in the middle of words, like regular consonants. I sounded ridiculous when I tried to do that. But just the other day, I was walking to the train station listening to my CDs, and all of a sudden I could say the word xoxa (chat), maybe not perfectly, but good enough. Cool! I'm still no pro, but I feel like I've gotten past a major hurdle!"
—Daryl (New Jersey)

[By the way, if you want to hear some Zulu clicks, check out this site. The click sounds are at the bottom, starting with ukucula. Even the word xoxa is listed, so you can hear what Daryl managed to pronounce.]

Tags: France, French, newsletter, story, Zulu
July 16, 2009