On Learning Another Language (or A Really Boring Post)

I'll admit, before I arrived in Switzerland, I expected my French to improve exponentially, osmotically, and without much deliberate effort on my part.  Perhaps I just had a heightened perception of my affinity for languages, but I imagined that, by the sixth week, I would be able to comport myself with relative ease through Swiss society.  And I'm not that far from my goal - today I managed to flounder my way through an inelegant exchange with a bookstore clerk to order a book I needed for school (ungraceful, but successful!) - but I feel as if the steps I've made toward fluency lie primarily in quantifiable knowledge gains.  In other words, I've answered my long held questions as to how to say "that means" (ça veut dire), "I have to" (je dois), and "it doesn't matter" (c'est egal), but I haven't yet gained the familiarity with the language necessary to understand and be understood.  Given enough time and perhaps a sheet of paper, I can formulate and decipher almost any thought I have in an (almost) grammatically correct sentence.  But such are not the circumstances of an ordinary French conversation; thus, I know enough French to survive, but I'm not good enough at it to make any use of it.  Undoubtedly, the most difficult thing about learning a new language (as it seems at this point in my experience), is transferring your memorized operational knowledge of where to place direct objects, how to conjugate verbs, which gender to use, and when to use the subjunctive, to habitual memory, so you can feel out what sounds correct, rather than wrack your brain for the applicable rule.   I know I'll reach this point eventually, but I'm a little impatient, because in the mean time, I'm stuck with awkward nodding and endless, obnoxious calls, for repetition and deceleration.

I have, however, been taking several independant steps to improve my language abilities.  I've tried linguistically isolate myself in French, avoiding English websites, books, and writing home (though I suppose I'm violating my resolution by posting this).  I've started reading Harry Potter et la Coupe de Feu (page 248!), and I think it's helped me take significant steps toward proficiency.  I can feel my vocabulary growing (admittedly, it's mostly a recognition vocabulary, as I rarely use the words myself), and I've gone from using the dictionary 30 or 40 times a page to about 5 or 10.  I feel a surge of pride each time I recognize a "Harry Potter" word in conversation, knowing that my independent study was worth it.  Also, my recognition of sentence structures, and comprehension of grammar has expanded too.  I can't really formulate the structures myself, but I can now understand the sentences that stumped me seventeen chapters ago.  An interesting note, however, is that although I can understand the words on the page, I don't always understand the tone or implication of the writing.  Consequently, I have, much to my chagrin, developed a sympathy for Draco Malfoy, and catch myself wondering why Harry, Ron, and Hermione hate hims so much.

Although it sounds like a lazy solution, I've also devoted myself to watching more television.  Since I've found television one of the most difficult things to understand, I figure frequent exposure to quickly spoken vernacular can only make my comprehension skills better.  And it seems to be working; I understand a little bit more each time I watch. It may not be pleasant, but I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and watch more television...

And whenever I acknowledge significant progress in the language, I immediately become ambitious.  In a month, I think to myself, I'll be able to start German, and by the end of the year I'll speak them both fluently.  Then once I convince myself of the practicality of my goal, my ambition becomes grows larger and larger, and by extention less realistic. I think: Since Italian is close to French, I can probably learn it in six months of intense independent study after that.  By then, I'll be really good with languages, so I'll be able to pick up Russian aftera few years of college classes, and then maybe I can start Chinese.  These are nice goals I suppose.  Just as I would like to read every book ever written, I'd like to be fluent in every language and be able to naturally communicate with any one in the world.  I know this is impractical if I want to do anything else with my life (like eat), but I will definitely strive to communicate in as many languages as possible.