I have been studying French with Lingq for a couple months now, and I’ve been loving it. Right now, I stand at about 4,000 words I ‘know,’ or at the very least, recognize in context. (Much of those of course are resurrected words that have been lying dormant since high school).
When I have tried to SPEAK though…what a stressful, halting, awkward experience. I told myself, I’m not going to worry about making mistakes, I’m just going to go for it!!! But it turns out entrenched habits of searching for the right tense and verb conjugation to pass your oral French exam die hard. Holding on to these habits really cripple communication, as I’ve come to realize.
My father-in-law lives above us, and speaks nothing but Portuguese, (although he has lived in Canada for 40 years :). When Paul and I first got married, like any excited new spouse marrying into a new culture, I tried to learn some Portuguese, in the form of an ‘Unforgettable Languages’ CD ROM and a phrase book, etc. I amassed possibly close to 250 words - NOT A LOT in comparison to my 4,000 French words. However…much to my surprise, and frustration, I’ve realized that in many ways I communicate better in Portuguese than in French!
When I speak to my father-in-law, I could not care less about grammar, or tenses, of which I know nothing in Portuguese. I can say, in baby-talk, but without batting an eye, “Paul work now. Home later.” “Want food? Here soup for you.” “Water for garden, please.”
Having to butcher Portuguese doesn’t bother me because I can make myself understood, and I don’t care about being graded or judged on my ability.
So now my French project is turning into not so much focussing on amassing more vocabulary, but trying to break down those barriers to communication. Somehow I have to be ok with communicating in French instead of speaking, even when that means speaking like a baby when that’s all I can do.
I’m really seeing that in learning languages, the biggest barrier is ourselves! But I’m thankful for finding Lingq, and its community. I’ve probably learned as much from creeping the forums as I have from the lesson content
Hope everyone has a great day, and thanks for reading.
J