I have a fancy schmancy master's in linguistics, and I love everything about this post. I totally agree that the subjunctive was invented for deceit! And I totally read that text the same way your friend did. It's not as straightforward as a "false friend"...seriously, why is embarazada Spanish for pregnant.
I've found I will never be the same person in French as in English because, despite mastering the subjunctive and many aspects of French that the French don't even have down, I've kept my accent. This qualifies me as "cute," "charming," or "adorable", which I'll take but if I am those things, it's not because I have an accent. On a less pleasant note, some people say "I can't believe you've lived here so long and still have your accent!"
there is so much humor in our efforts to speak in another language we English speakers will be laughing the rest of our lives while attempting to speak French (and getting feedback from the French)
Love this! And so true. Two surprising things that happened to me on my way to becoming fluent: 1. I felt surprisingly more patient in French, since I had no choice but to slow down in order to express myself clearly and 2. When I was pregnant with my son (who was born in France, my daughter was born in the US), I did all my medical appointments in French without much issue, but the minute I went into labor, I couldn't speak a lick of it. My husband had to translate for me in the delivery room because I couldn't put a sentence together in anything but English. That was unexpected!
Love this one!
Avoir une seconde langue, c'est posséder une seconde âme. ~ Charlemagne.
Brilliant !! No more subjunctive ever !!!
Salut Carolyn! Believe I'm less fluent than you but do resonate with attempting French mots in Worldle!
Great article and valid question. I restacked your story with some insights (from a French native.)
I have a fancy schmancy master's in linguistics, and I love everything about this post. I totally agree that the subjunctive was invented for deceit! And I totally read that text the same way your friend did. It's not as straightforward as a "false friend"...seriously, why is embarazada Spanish for pregnant.
I've found I will never be the same person in French as in English because, despite mastering the subjunctive and many aspects of French that the French don't even have down, I've kept my accent. This qualifies me as "cute," "charming," or "adorable", which I'll take but if I am those things, it's not because I have an accent. On a less pleasant note, some people say "I can't believe you've lived here so long and still have your accent!"
there is so much humor in our efforts to speak in another language we English speakers will be laughing the rest of our lives while attempting to speak French (and getting feedback from the French)
Love this! And so true. Two surprising things that happened to me on my way to becoming fluent: 1. I felt surprisingly more patient in French, since I had no choice but to slow down in order to express myself clearly and 2. When I was pregnant with my son (who was born in France, my daughter was born in the US), I did all my medical appointments in French without much issue, but the minute I went into labor, I couldn't speak a lick of it. My husband had to translate for me in the delivery room because I couldn't put a sentence together in anything but English. That was unexpected!
When I get super stressed or anxious I can't speak a word either!
Superb
Thanks for sharing your experience with such humor and candor. Reminds me of my first year living in NYC as a newly arrived French speaker.