Language Lesson Part V: It’s Like Golf
Sometimes, I get a hole-in-one with my Dutch conversational skills. I can walk away quite satisfied with my effort when I make par. The double-bogey attempts test all of my patience, and then there are the times I drive right into a water hazard and just need to start over.
Monday was a water hazard day. I was in trouble the moment an appointment started and my PT told me, in Dutch, at 700 words per minute (at least) that she would speak Dutch to me and I should understand her. My pleas for her to spreekt langzaamer alstublieft ("speak more slowly, please!") went unanswered. She continued to rattle off information and ask me questions faster than I could understand or respond. Zwangerschap hormones rearing their head, the pain shooting through my body, and the heat keeping me from concentrating on what she was saying, tears welled up in my eyes. I’m not sure if she saw them or not, but soon after, she exasperatingly said, “I’m just going to speak English.” So maybe that’s my new trick when I don’t have the motivation to work on my Dutch…act dumb and start to cry.
On a happier note, though, I had my second appointment with her today. I think would have to say it was a par. I understood most of what she said (I hope!) and communicated about 50% of what I needed to in Dutch.
Also, I have made a couple holes-in-one recently, most notably one at a bike shop where I communicated that my husband’s tire needed to be fixed and understood when it would be ready and how they would notify me. Of course, I didn’t know the word for “tire” and simply said it was “not good”, but my technique isn’t nearly as important as completing the task at hand is.
I suppose, when learning a new language, the important thing is to keep trying to make pars. Celebrate the birdies and holes-in-one, but don’t make them a standard. Walk away from the bogeys and the water hazards trying to learn from where it went wrong, but shake it off and don’t let it derail the learning.
Monday was a water hazard day. I was in trouble the moment an appointment started and my PT told me, in Dutch, at 700 words per minute (at least) that she would speak Dutch to me and I should understand her. My pleas for her to spreekt langzaamer alstublieft ("speak more slowly, please!") went unanswered. She continued to rattle off information and ask me questions faster than I could understand or respond. Zwangerschap hormones rearing their head, the pain shooting through my body, and the heat keeping me from concentrating on what she was saying, tears welled up in my eyes. I’m not sure if she saw them or not, but soon after, she exasperatingly said, “I’m just going to speak English.” So maybe that’s my new trick when I don’t have the motivation to work on my Dutch…act dumb and start to cry.
On a happier note, though, I had my second appointment with her today. I think would have to say it was a par. I understood most of what she said (I hope!) and communicated about 50% of what I needed to in Dutch.
Also, I have made a couple holes-in-one recently, most notably one at a bike shop where I communicated that my husband’s tire needed to be fixed and understood when it would be ready and how they would notify me. Of course, I didn’t know the word for “tire” and simply said it was “not good”, but my technique isn’t nearly as important as completing the task at hand is.
I suppose, when learning a new language, the important thing is to keep trying to make pars. Celebrate the birdies and holes-in-one, but don’t make them a standard. Walk away from the bogeys and the water hazards trying to learn from where it went wrong, but shake it off and don’t let it derail the learning.
posted by Beth at 6:00 PM
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