Lings, straight jackets, and tears: Journal 11/30/06
I think I may be a language whore. Not only am I getting a degree in English this spring, but in the past I’ve also studied Spanish, German, and Thai. Yeah…. Thai. That was undoubtedly the most excruciated academic year of my life. The language is so incredibly different than any European language that I could barely grasp writing a single word at first. The course was two semesters long and five days a week. That’s practically unheard of for an undergraduate course. But guess who loves a challenge?? I do! I do!
There were evenings when I would be studying my Thai from that day and would literally have to write a single sentence at least 50 times before it started to sink in. I would bring myself to tears after I had moved on and realized that I had already forgotten that first sentence I was practicing. It was wretched and painful and I wanted to quit at every other moment. But I got thru the year. Ten months worth of spirit crushing Thai. And I succeeded quite well with a respectable B for both semesters. Not to mention I found that I was improving my English skills as well by learning another language. After my final oral exam with my professor, I don’t think I had ever felt as good about myself as I did at that moment. I could have done cartwheels all the way to my car afterwards.Â
But even with all that hard work and intensive study I can only remember how to count to 10 and greet someone. (And the word for monkey. Ling!!)  My same ineptness for longterm memory goes for German and Spanish too. I suppose it would be different if I kept using the languages I studied and most certainly different if I was immersed in it. My point here is that I’m considering Hebrew which I’ve fallen in love with since my trip to Israel. Perhaps I just haven’t found a second language that will stick with me until now. Einat inspired me with how easily she could flow between Hebrew and English. And she also inspired me by how dedicated she is to continue to improve her English. Where the hell is my dedication to a foreign language?? I know it’s going to take more than just a fleeting desire to really get a language to stay with me. I suppose I’ll never know unless I try.
Either way, I think this further proves my insanity.  But what harm would come from a little brain activity anyway? Oh geez… might as well just put me in a straight jacket now.
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so wait, ling is the word for monkey in spanish and german too?rad