Parlez-vous francais?

Je ne parle pas bien. Long ago, in what seems like a millennium ago (and it was, sorta), I did speak and understand the, so called, "language of love" with some confidence and skill. That is no longer the case. And it's very frustrating. (I still know Latin pretty well, but I doubt I'm going to run into Julius Caesar any time soon)

So, in my continuing efforts of improving all aspects of myself (physically, mentally and emotionally), I am attempting to relearn French. I've gotten books, references, a dictionary, and a practice partner (namely, BC, who is fluent - this venture was, in fact, sparked by BC who would write notes to me in French, which would then take me far too long to translate). I think that I remember more than I believe but have definitely forgotten more than I realize. It's quite sad really.

Well, I've been working on this very seriously for about a week. And I have learned two very important things - my vocabulary sucks and I speak/write like a child. How do I know this? Well, BC decided since my efforts in emailing him in French were obviously aided with a dictionary (some of the words I would use are not used commonly), that I needed to make an attempt to read and write emails "sans dictionaire". As with Chinese, I understand more than I speak and therefore cannot make equivalently good responses. So, understanding BC's email requesting that I write him without the aide of a dictionary, I had a go with my 20 word vocabulary. (It is also worth noting that, in my brain, all verbs are in the present tense.) Although the result was somewhat understandable, I believe it was also quite embarrassing. As I said, with a 20 word vocabulary, I speak/write like a child.

But this is learning. And it's fun, which is the whole point of this venture. I'm certainly not doing this to torture myself. Although others may feel tortured with my constant unintelligible speaking attempts!

C'est la vie...