pourquoi

16 September 2017

via
Language is my passion. I love cognates, and tenses, and verb conjugations. I love listening to people speak in foreign languages, even when I can't even guess at what they're saying.

But why?
Why do I care so much about language?
And why did I choose to focus on French?

These are questions that a lot of people ask me when I tell them about what I want to do with my life, and I'm never entirely sure how to answer them. Probably because I ask myself the same question all the time.

Why?

When I was really young, I remember thinking about how cool it would be to learn how to speak in another language. I would pour myself over books about Europe and Asia and dream of someday being able to communicate with those people. But it always seemed like something so completely unattainable.
It wasn't until I needed language credit for high school that I started to think about it seriously.

There is no simple way for me to explain why I chose to learn French first, or why I have been so devoted to it ever since. All I remember is hearing about how my family came from France to Canada hundreds of years ago before eventually settling in America. I felt such a strong personal connection to the French. And I knew that I wanted to learn the language well, even if it remained merely a hobby of mine.
Of course I would love to be able to pick up other languages, but French is the only one that I've ever felt a need to learn it and to someday be fluent. Eventually that need developed, and it led me into pursuing my little hobby as a career.

Through learning French intensively over these past couple years, I have grown such a strong appreciation for language. It's truly one of the most amazing things that God has created. It molds cultures and keeps communities together. Everyone has their own special way of communicating, and it fascinates me to no end.

But learning a new language is hard. The more I learn, the more I realize just how much I have left to learn, and how hard it is. It's even harder when I'm trying to prove to myself and everyone around me that I can make a career out of it.
I've been trying to remind myself why; why I know I need to keep moving forward. I feel like somewhere between all my stress and worries I've lost sight of why I am where I am, why I'm doing what I'm doing, and why I love language and French so much.

This is why.
--------------------
J'accepte la grande adventure d'être moi --Simone de Beauvoir

7 comments

  1. It's always so neat to go back to the root of why you love something ... so cool. :) I've been learning a new language, too, and it's exhilarating! I love listening to fluent speakers and how it rolls off their tongue ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know you've written a couple posts about French before, but I'm not sure if I've commented on those or what I said, so I will say this now:

    It's good to hear you are someone who is interested in languages and learning a new one.

    I adore other languages and so often I hear people complaining about them. Thank you for being someone who appreciates languages. : )
    Also, I'm learning Latin this year for fun and absolutely loving it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, what a quote! And what a heart you have! I love how rich a language can be in culture and history. And to get in touch with your heritage is such an amazing, fulfilling thing. I so admire your drive and dedication! Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hannah, all I can say is: GO YOU. Keep going, keep learning and keep inspiring. I can relate to this post so much, being of French ethnicity as well. My grandparents were French-Canadian immigrants, originally from France of course, when you trace it back. I too have always felt that personal connection you talked about, and that is what lead me to learn the language as well. (I wish we lived closer, there's so much you could teach me!) My husband and I were just in France and I was kind of stoked that I could order food and have simple convos in French, but you've inspired me to dedicate more time to learning the language! Keep following your dream... can't wait to see where it takes you!

    Kate

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is so beautiful and inspiring! Foreign languages have always been a bit of a magical mystery to me, but your heart is amazing. <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is so brilliant! Though, I'm not learning French, I could guess what your title meant. Usually, when I say porqué at home, my older brother would say, "no, it's pourquoi!"

    Because we learnt different languages in school, we have these ridiculous 'fights' over the languages.

    I also really like learning languages. Though, I have a problem with procrastination, I am getting better this year. I want to push myself more and more. My sentences can still be quite awkward with Spanish since I haven't specifically targeted practicing sentences. I'm also trying to watch more Spanish speaking YouTubers, use Duolingo (though their sentences can be weird sometimes) and try to practice the grammar? I keep procrastinating about that, though!

    I don't really have a special bond with Spanish. I do enjoy the language but I learn it more because I don't really want to lose an opportunity to learn a language. So why not continue to self study spanish after school? And I also feel jealous when I see latinas speaking Spanish on YouTube but I can't really catch up mainly because they seem to talk so fast.

    I also decided to pick up Korean. Now with that language, I have more of a special bond with but I need to be fluent in Spanish FIRST.

    I can't wait to be bilingual. Then I'll get to rant about #bilingualproblems on twitter but I'm also lowkey scared of losing some of my English vocabulary.

    I hope you become bilingual soon as well!

    ReplyDelete