“Language is your medium and use it to the max.”
—Anne Rice
Stream of Consciousness Saturday
I think about language as I sit in the quiet room of my local library on certain Wednesday nights. I am trying to come up with a bit of story to read out loud at the end of my writing group and I want to use the right sort of words and sentences.
Anne Rice is one who believes in adverbs, even though many so-called writing pros condemn the use of them. Ugh!
How am I supposed to know what is the right way to go?
I’m just glad I’ve managed/mastered the English language this far, when I wish I’d focused harder and done better at learning French when I was in school. I am proud that Canada is a multi-language nation and it can only serve as a benefit.
My family doesn’t all speak Polish or German. I wish we did. My father’s parents didn’t teach him their native European languages, by speaking them at home when he was young. I think they were so focused on learning English, as still fairly new to North America, that they couldn’t be bothered. I hope they didn’t feel any sort of shame surrounding the speak of their birth countries, being recent immigrants to Canada.
My mom learned German, as my grandparents always spoke it, but a certain dialect of the language. My grandpa used to tell me stories of how he didn’t even speak English before going to school. It was always German in his home as a child.
My mom speaks some and understands it. This allows her to speak to my uncle who visits from Germany every few years.
I was recently blown away by the beauty and rhythm of Spanish, as I prepared to travel to Mexico. I tried, for months, to learn some so I wouldn’t be totally lost when I went down there. By the end of my week, I’d gotten better at recognizing what was being said around me, but I would have needed many more weeks there to be able to speak any with much confidence.
Language is hard. It is one of those things that gets harder and harder to learn as you age. I am so set on learning to play the violin, at age 33, that I can’t possibly fit in learning any other language on top of that.
Ah well…there’s always my forties.
Her Headache 
Hello willow here, how lazy of me I had not read your ‘About Me’ and had no idea you are blind, my fault. To be honest I think I would still not of thought of how people who do not see cope with what we take for granted! We are selfish or maybe unthinking ,we who are sighted and can not comprehend what is involved.
That said I loved your SoCs you certainly have an eclectic family and life and your language skills are excellent. I speak English, and a tiny tiny smattering of French and German, enough to get by on holiday, to my shame I did not pay enough attention at school. Sending you a big smile .💝
Not able to comprehend. I can think of things I can’t comprehend and then I suddenly feel a connection of empathy with all who are sighted and can’t possibly understand. I do appreciate your commenting though.
I wish I could speak even a smattering of either of those languages.
Have a good day 💝
We all need to try harder..
I don’t think learning a new language is stressed enough here in the U.S. schools. It’s an elective, so lots don’t bother. I did take French for 2 years in high school, and wish I remembered more of the words. About the only other language we hear spoken here is Spanish, so that would have been more helpful! 🙂
I always assumed Spanish is a necessity in US schools, but I suppose it isn’t officially a language like English/French is in Canada. We are required to take French until nearly the end of elementary school. I had to take it and it still didn’t stick. A real shame.
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