4:58pm. How I would love to be one of those lucky people who have an ear for languages. I clearly do not. Duolingo, bless it, has a new section where little vignettes are told through conversation. They speak, or I assume they speak, 'normally'. They speak and the words they speak are on the page so the student can follow. Occasionally a phrase is spoken and not written so the student gets to practice writing what they hear. This new section is very helpful and also quite depressing as after how many years of practicing French, I still don't understand it when it's spoken. Studying has been invaluable in my ability to translate the written word in books, but understanding someone who is speaking French....hopeless.
Occasionally we watch French films or catch the French news on SBS. Occasionally I understand a word, sometimes two on a good day. Even with subtitles I am unable to process what seems to be machine gun delivery. Machine gun delivery delivered through a sieve,
And speaking? If I were in France I would be arrested for cruelty in torturing a language in front of native speakers. Quite sad. Quite true.
So the little spoken vignettes, while illustrating how little I have mastered the language, are another way to practice and perhaps, improve. C'est mon souhait.
Another thing we share. I believe I fail to hear other languages correctly. So many dear people have come into my life and valiantly tried to help me learn other languages. Sadly, they were greatly disappointed in my ability, or perhaps my disability would be more accurate.
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