Some of the smallest decisions in life lead to an impact so massive and so beautiful, you wonder how your life would have been without it.
Today as I started a chat on one of my BBM groups, i recalled one of my "small" decisions - the decision in school to choose to learn French as a 4th language. It was learned with immense interest, although we were never taught pronunciation in school (or college for that matter). But the language was learned - the irregular verbs were rote learned, the tenses were written and practiced to perfection and the Larousse Dictionary became a faithful friend. Junior college repeated all that i studied in school - the joy of knowing something even before it was taught, all those days (and nights) spent teaching my friends so they could pass the exams ... unforgettable.
Then came the turning point, in degree college I cranked it up a notch and joined Alliance Francaise. My friend, ST and I made our way to the office and registered wondering which new hell of learning we were pushing ourselves into. Let me tell you, we continued to dwell in that "hell" for the next 3 years. What started off as an after college class turned into an activity we loved and looked forward to every day. The class structure was one you couldn't imagine. The students ranged from college students to a retired college principal to a housewife to a kid just out of school. Everyday between 4 and 6 pm we sat on those wooden benches, leaving behind our own personal lives to battle this new language. No English was allowed so in our broken language and messed up grammar we spoke and understood what the others said. We were fined for speaking in English :S Listening and understanding French with the proper accent was a big part of the class. I don't know about the others in class but when the guy/ girl of the tape would start talking, I would think Daffy Duck was easier to comprehend.Speaking in class was like someone had pinned you in a firing lineup... It was tension to think of the next sentence and what would happen next. But the fear passed and happiness set in.
We became this little bunch that managed to click no matter what the circumstance. We laughed at each other and all of our nonsense pronunciations, the teachers were all characters by themselves and provided enough entertainment to keep the class going. Our class at the end of level one got so close almost all of us signed up for the next class together. The joy of seeing each other after a break of 15 days between two classes overflowed and our happiness and the noise scared the other classmates. One of my first crushes happened there, it came it went ... but yeah its special. We became such a big part of each others' lives there. We were part of one's wedding and said farewell as two among us moved overseas.
Now we are in different parts of the world, some married with kids, some getting married, some living their dream in our common land of dreams; France and some like me who reminisce and write about it. We remember other people from class and talk about incidents like it was yesterday. I just realized its 10 years since I meet my happy bunch. So as we thank technology for letting us stay in touch (our group on BBM says 'almost French devils') we keep each other updated on happenings from around the world. Our latest plan - a trip to the country whose language brought us altogether ... It's about time, don't you think !!!
Today as I started a chat on one of my BBM groups, i recalled one of my "small" decisions - the decision in school to choose to learn French as a 4th language. It was learned with immense interest, although we were never taught pronunciation in school (or college for that matter). But the language was learned - the irregular verbs were rote learned, the tenses were written and practiced to perfection and the Larousse Dictionary became a faithful friend. Junior college repeated all that i studied in school - the joy of knowing something even before it was taught, all those days (and nights) spent teaching my friends so they could pass the exams ... unforgettable.
Then came the turning point, in degree college I cranked it up a notch and joined Alliance Francaise. My friend, ST and I made our way to the office and registered wondering which new hell of learning we were pushing ourselves into. Let me tell you, we continued to dwell in that "hell" for the next 3 years. What started off as an after college class turned into an activity we loved and looked forward to every day. The class structure was one you couldn't imagine. The students ranged from college students to a retired college principal to a housewife to a kid just out of school. Everyday between 4 and 6 pm we sat on those wooden benches, leaving behind our own personal lives to battle this new language. No English was allowed so in our broken language and messed up grammar we spoke and understood what the others said. We were fined for speaking in English :S Listening and understanding French with the proper accent was a big part of the class. I don't know about the others in class but when the guy/ girl of the tape would start talking, I would think Daffy Duck was easier to comprehend.Speaking in class was like someone had pinned you in a firing lineup... It was tension to think of the next sentence and what would happen next. But the fear passed and happiness set in.
We became this little bunch that managed to click no matter what the circumstance. We laughed at each other and all of our nonsense pronunciations, the teachers were all characters by themselves and provided enough entertainment to keep the class going. Our class at the end of level one got so close almost all of us signed up for the next class together. The joy of seeing each other after a break of 15 days between two classes overflowed and our happiness and the noise scared the other classmates. One of my first crushes happened there, it came it went ... but yeah its special. We became such a big part of each others' lives there. We were part of one's wedding and said farewell as two among us moved overseas.
Now we are in different parts of the world, some married with kids, some getting married, some living their dream in our common land of dreams; France and some like me who reminisce and write about it. We remember other people from class and talk about incidents like it was yesterday. I just realized its 10 years since I meet my happy bunch. So as we thank technology for letting us stay in touch (our group on BBM says 'almost French devils') we keep each other updated on happenings from around the world. Our latest plan - a trip to the country whose language brought us altogether ... It's about time, don't you think !!!
