This is for anyone who has had a bad day during language study. You may identify. You may not. Anyways, here goes!
Sometimes I love being a woman. Sometimes I don’t. Yesterday, I was in one of my “mood” swings. I was also very tired. When my tutor arrived at 1:30 to have my French lesson for the day, I served Coke (to keep myself awake!). This was not a good sign to begin the 2 hour lesson!
As the lesson progressed, my brain kind of shut down and I kept giving the wrong answers to his questions. It got worse and worse until finally I started to cry. How awful. I was sitting with an Algerian man at our kitchen table and I couldn’t stop crying. He said “You are sick??” I said no. He said “Well, let’s continue with some speaking practice” (which is my worst thing to do in French thus far). I said “Okay.” But as the next question came the tears flowed again. I had to excuse myself to get a tissue. When I returned I was a little more composed, but still not sure how long I could go without it happening again. I asked him if his wife ever got like this. He said, “No.” So I guess this is his impression of American females!
I was never so glad to have my lesson done. By the end I was answering correctly and it was okay. It was embarrassing to say the least. Well, today is another day. I’m rested and ready to go again. What a difference a day and a good night’s sleep can make!!
©2004 Thrive
View the original print magazine where this article was first published.
