Polyglotte: Is learning a second language risky? (A French woman's warning)

Jean-Marc Lake Garda Italy
"Salvataggio"--looking at the foreign word in this picture, can you grasp its meaning? It reminds me of "salvation" and, though I don't speak Italian, my guess is this is a rescue craft. Read on for more thoughts about words and language learning. (Photo of Jean-Marc on the shore of Lake Garda, in Northern Italy.)

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TODAY'S WORD: POLYGLOTTE (m,f)

    : polyglot, multilingual, someone who speaks more than one language

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse

"Bilingualism = Risky Business?"

When our children were little and just beginning to communicate, an elder in the village of St. Maximin came to have a word with me. "Il ne faut pas parler les deux langues à vos enfants!" You mustn't speak both languages to your children!

Abasourdie, I automatically nodded in respect for my neighbor's wisdom, but secretly I had no clue what sort of threat bilingualism posed to my equally speechless offspring. Max was just beginning to babble his own name: "Affime!" he declared (this was as close to "Maxime" as he could get). It tickled my heart to hear my children's first words, in any language, including the universal tongue that is "baby talk." As his Anglophone mother and sole English teacher, was I to respond only in French (here in France)? I like to think my voisine was either misinformed or superstitious, but there was a gnawing doubt that her warning about le polyglottisme contained a grain of truth. After all, my son didn't speak as soon as the other toddlers at la crèche

With time, the dual languages sorted themselves out in Max's growing cerveau, and once our son began talking he never stopped, in French or English. Don't tell my neighbor but Max went on to become trilingual, learning Spanish and studying in Mexico, where his grandmother Jules lived at the time. Now Jules lives here in France and, though she doesn't speak Spanish or French, she has no problem communicating with the locals in either country when she speaks with her heart and her hands.

I gesture a lot, too. Jean-Marc often teases me for it, mimicking me as I "speak." 
"Ah. Bon, Vraiment? C'est comme ça?" He'll say, swirling his arms all over the place. 
I do all those hand moves when I speak to get my point across when my family seems distracted or distant.

But all my hand gesturing didn't translate to much on our recent trip to Italy, The Land of Gesticulation. And there I'd thought my French would surely help me to understand Italian, thanks to their shared Latin roots. Instead, I stared helplessly at the menus and the signs, and the instructions on the box of flu medicine I purchased.

Finally, Jean-Marc admitted he didn't understand much Italian either. Maybe we should sign up for Duolingo? he suggested. (This is not an ad and I have no affiliation with the company. But, for his  daily efforts, my Dad is a platinum member and he's inspired all of us to join--or at least to think about it...) This brings back memories of the elder's warning, years ago. Will learning a third language be somehow detrimental? Will it confuse me or cause me to make mistakes in both languages? I'm embarrassed to admit my reservations, especially given the language-learning theme of this blog

Reservations aside, if you want to know my personal feelings about learning another language, the following quote by Frank Smith expresses them in all their polyglot glory: 

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way. Une langue vous place dans un corridor pour la vie. Deux langues ouvrent chaque porte sur le chemin. Una lingua ti mette in un corridoio per la vita. Due lingue aprono ogni porta lungo la strada.

Just imagine where three languages would take you! Down a corridor, through several doors, and into the hearts and souls of some fascinating people.

Amicalement,

Kristi
 

COMMENTS
Do you have particular concerns or reservations about learning a language? Let me know here in the comments and GRAZIE MILLE for reading today.

Jean-Marc in Bergamo
While I understood the word "salvataggio" in our opening photo, "pasticceria" doesn't call forth any associations in my brain. My guess is it's connected to pasta? (I now see it means "pastries"...as hinted in the word's prefix!)


FRENCH VOCABULARY

Click here to listen to Jean-Marc and Kristi pronounce the following words

le/la polyglotte = multilingual person
le voisin, la voisine = the neighbor
abasourdi(e) =
stunned, taken aback
la crèche = day care, child care center
le cerveau
= brain
Ah. Bon, Vraiment?
= Oh, really. Truly?
C'est comme ça? = Is that how it is?
grazie mille = a thousand thanks (in Italian)
amicalement = yours

Doorstep in Bergamo Italy
"La Drogheria"--does the word evoke its correct meaning for you? We bought a few snacks in here, after being wooed by the colorful doorstep.

Kristi and Jean-Marc in Bergamo Italy
Me and Jean-Marc in Bergamo


REMERCIEMENTS
A heartfelt thank you to these readers who have recently shown their support through blog donations or by purchasing our online memoir. This journal relies on your thoughtful contributions, and I am deeply grateful for your help in ensuring its continuous publication. Your commitment to our work is invaluable, and I want you to know how much your support means to me. Merci beaucoup! --Kristi

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Christopher R.

Mercally Italy church
Driving through Mercallo, Italy

Cinzano Italy river
On the road near Cinzano....

Wheat fields near Cinzano
Rolling past wheat fields in our RV

Bordigherra restaurant Amarea
This refreshing break came on our last day in Italy. Jean-Marc found a beach with parasols and chaises-longues. After he struggled to park our camping car in Bordigherra, he was rewarded with a cool dip in the sea and chilled glass of rosé.

Bordigherra restaurant Amarea

A Message from KristiOngoing support from readers like you keeps me writing and publishing this free language journal each week. If you find joy or value in these stories and would like to keep this site going, donating today will help so much. Thank you for being a part of this community and helping me to maintain this site and its newsletter.

Ways to contribute:
1.Zelle®, The best way to donate and there are no transaction fees. Zelle to [email protected]

2.Paypal or credit card
Or purchase my book for a friend and so help them discover this free weekly journal.
For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety


Words, Meaning & Avoir le déclic (to have a lightbulb moment)

A cafe in Montmartre Paris
A café in Paris. A bit of a coffee theme in today's story, so we'll pair that now with a picture taken years ago in Montmartre.

TODAY'S FRENCH EXPRESSION: "avoir le déclic"

  : to have an aha moment, a lightbulb moment

FRENCH SOUND FILE:
Click below to hear Jean-Marc pronounce the French words in today's post. Then scroll down to the vocabulary section to check your French comprehension.

Click here for the audio clip


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
, by Kristi Espinasse

I will never forget the time the true meaning to an English word jumped from a French page. It was Christmas at our vignoble near the Drôme and a children's storybook was concise enough for me to pause amidst the holiday flurry and read to the kids. Only, as soon as the lecture began a certain mot moved me to tears.

Fast forward 11 years and one more vineyard later... My husband and I are going through another phase, and for this we have been talking a lot to each other. These causeries are encouraging, difficult, relaxing, and sometimes funny. Especially amusing is how each time Jean-Marc says the word "express" (a recurring term lately) it conjures up an image of an expresso machine in my mind. Suddenly I picture hot water being forced through a dense mass of ground coffee, the liquid coming out the other side in rich, dark droplets (our cafetière italienne could use a good détartrage for the expressed coffee to flow out).

"TO EXPRESS"
The exact definition of the verb reflects this high-pressured process: to express... from old French expresser: “to press out, to obtain by squeezing.” Quelle image! Can you see how it illustrates the effort involved in transporting our thoughts or ideas to words? The next time I struggle to express myself I'll remember those precious droplets of expresso—it’ll also be a needed reminder to service our machine.  

Funny how remembering those gouttelettes is not helping much now as I try to conclude today’s causerie*...though droplets of another kind are forming on my brow from effort... One thing that helps me when I cannot express myself in French or English, specifically when I can’t find the word needed, is to stop squeezing my brain and quickly grasp for another way to say the same thing (this often involves a series of words to replace the unknown term). This keeps the conversation going fluently and requires creativity and un chouïa, or smidge, of confidence. When all else fails I have invented words, often accidentally, always to the amusement of my French interlocuteur.

In the name of expression, you might even borrow an inexact word (a colorful one, in theme with the discussion...) and plug it in juste comme ça, pour le plaisir. So, in closing, and for your thoughtful words following our recent update, Jean-Marc and I would like to espresso our thanks, in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, like good coffee, like a good verse.*  

Amicalement,
Kristi

Le café populaire

FRENCH VOCABULARY

avoir le déclic = bingo! eureka! to have an aha moment
le vignoble = vineyard
la Drôme provençale = French department
la lecture = reading
le mot = word
la causerie = informal conversation, chat; *also means short essay
la cafetière italienne = Italian espresso maker
le détartrage = descaling, tartar removal, cleaning
quelle image = what a picture
un expresso = espresso
une gouttelette = a droplet
un chouïa = a tad, a smidge
un interlocuteur, une interlocutrice = conversation partner
juste comme ça, pour le plaisir = just because, for the plaisir 
amicalement = yours, best wishes, best

* "pressed down, shaken together, and running over" from Luke 6:38 

Cordonnerie shoe repair shop to coffee shop
La Cordonnerie: a former shoe repair shop now expressing itself as a coffee shop in Paris. Ah! The power--the sheer percolating force--of expression!

A Message from KristiOngoing support from readers like you keeps me writing and publishing this free language journal each week. If you find joy or value in these stories and would like to keep this site going, donating today will help so much. Thank you for being a part of this community and helping me to maintain this site and its newsletter.

Ways to contribute:
1.Zelle®, The best way to donate and there are no transaction fees. Zelle to [email protected]

2.Paypal or credit card
Or purchase my book for a friend and so help them discover this free weekly journal.
For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety