Fear of French and Other Stories

This story is about my experiences with foreign languages. It starts with me being kind of unenthusiastic or scared of learning them in school, and goes all the way to the present where I use foreign languages every day for my job and just for fun.

My first contact with another language was in school. Starting at the age of 10, I had to take English classes like many other students here in Germany. I have never been too interested in learning it, but I guess it wasn’t too bad. Eventually, after a few years of English classes the time came to choose another elective subject, and I ended up picking French. Don’t ask me why, I guess because all my friends chose French too. I actually quite liked my first French class because it wasn’t like English “which everyone has to learn.”

Around the age of 16 I had to change schools and that’s when the whole foreign language situation flipped. The English I had learned at my old school was good enough to get through the new classes and I liked my teacher a lot. But what about French? Well, I have to say I had a really hard time. When I walked into the French class I noticed that I knew maybe a third of what the other students knew. My listening and speaking abilities were especially bad, and because the teacher taught the class only in French I missed a lot of what was going on at first. Still, I had to get through it because I couldn’t change my elective for that year. In the end I survived the class, but this experience kind of traumatized me and ruined my appreciation for the French language. For a really long time after that, I didn’t want to learn anything more about French and I also didn’t want to speak it.

When it comes to English though, I managed to keep learning. After finishing school and starting my university studies, I ended up spending more time reading articles online, watching Youtube videos, and using social media. Well, because the whole internet is not conveniently written in German, a lot of these online experiences were of course in English. So during my university years I think was the time when my English evolved the most. I learned so many new words, slang expressions and differences between dialects… all thanks to the Internet. And I suppose because it was bringing me in contact with things that interest me, it was pretty easy to learn.

The next big event which changed my perspective on foreign languages was when I traveled to the Philippines. While I was there, I worked with some kids from an orphanage, and was really impressed with their curiosity for language and desire to learn about different cultures. Every kid spoke at least two languages (Tagalog and English), and they always wanted to learn new words and phrases from the various foreign volunteers that were working there. Somehow this made me realize that a language isn’t just a way to communicate but kind of a way to understand the world around you.

After I had come back from the Philippines I finished my studies and decided I wanted to experience another culture for myself. You know, really explore, learn and become part of it. So, with only a few months preparation and some online Spanish classes, I moved to Mexico… And it was awesome! Mexico is the opposite of almost everything I knew from Germany. Hot, dusty, chaotic, and full of surprises!

And learning Spanish while I have been there was also full of surprises. I noticed a big difference between the Spanish that I learned in class and the language people spoke on the streets. Words that you won’t find in any dictionary and even the locals can’t really explain what they mean. I also think it was actually these unpredictable moments when I learned from the locals which taught me the most.  Like shopping in the super market, or talking with the taxi driver, or my greatest achievement of setting up a bank account all on my own. Getting the language right from trial and error was really one of the best things about living in Mexico.

And now with a boost in experience and confidence in learning foreign languages I am back in Germany to start working at SpeaQ With Me. In my day to day job I get to communicate in both English and German, and in my free time I enjoy the mix of French and German culture here in the border town of Saarbrücken. And guess what, I have even started to try and conquer my fear of the French language. The plan is to dust of what is hidden somewhere in my brain and be able to talk to the neighbors just across the border.

What time is better to dive back into language learning then now?

Kerstin