Bonjour!

For years I’ve toyed with the idea of learning French, and recently I was given a terrific reason to do it.  Although I’ve studied languages before–lots of German, two years of Russian, one year of Spanish–this will be a new challenge for me. I’ve always taken the traditional route and studied language in a classroom, sometimes augmented with long- or short-term immersion. This time around, I’ve opted to try the Rosetta Stone methodology. Not only am I accountable to myself rather than to a professor or a grade book, but I’m also a whole lot older than the last time I did this.

Pshaw. I’ve never completely bought into the age argument. I don’t think anyone is too old to learn; I just think people have a tendency to become less flexible over time. People often narrow their perspectives or ensconce themselves in the familiar, and they don’t always leave much room for new and different. And let me tell you, learning a language takes a lot of new and different: sounds, sentence structures, tenses, cases. Well, in the spirit of one of my recent posts, this will be a refreshing change. Honestly, I can’t wait to start.

If you want to communicate effectively, you have to speak the other person’s language. Usually I mean that in a more cognitive sense as it relates to a shared language. Today though, I’m taking that to its most fundamental level.

How are YOU going to improve your communication skills?

%d bloggers like this: