Making progress …..Ok! May be not so much.

Sometime back I mentioned my efforts to learn French. What I did not mention in my last post was that I live in a predominantly French speaking province  of Canada and in a francophone neighborhood.  Language learning is as much for fun as for necessity. So yesterday’s clinic visit for the baby’s vaccination presented an excellent opportunity for me to practice my skills in the real world. I decided to not start the conversation with “Do you speak English?”. I dusted off my course material and played the conversation in my head.

 I wish I had a victory or achievement to report.

Receptionist – “Bienvennue”

Me- ” Bonjour”……. Awkward silence….. I look at the baby….. Flash a smile…..

“ummm” ……. Tongue tied….. Try again …. “ummmmmm”……. This is not how it went in my mind….

I have  been a chatterbox all my life and being at loss of words was a shock to my system. ……. For the first time in my life I understood what my mom would have gone through as a young girl from Kerala in New Delhi with little theoretical and no practical knowledge of Hindi language. May be that’s how she got into the habit of thinking long before speaking…..

Receptionist – “je peux vous aider madame( can I help you madam)?”

” Do you speak English ?”…… Grin!

Yeah, need more practice.

Now I just need to put one foot in front of the other……..taking one step forward after Two steps back may still be making  progress.

Phir Milenge!!