By Sara
I really love learning a new language. There is something so satisfying about seeing improvement on a day-to-day basis and actually being able to understand and be understood in what is considered to be one of the more difficult foreign languages for English speakers.
Both Eric and I have one-on-one tutoring sessions two hours a day, five days a week, and then we study between 2-4 hours afterwards (Eric is a more dedicated student and I am easily distracted by whatever bad shows are on English-language TV). I have moments when I think I will definitely be able to eventually master Arabic, but also many moments of doubt.
Last week was a bad week for my Arabic learning. My confidence was down, I felt like I wasn't learning fast enough and as a result, wasn't doing much homework. This week, however, I have a renewed sense of self. As I've always known, confidence is major factor in being a good language student- if you don't think you speak well, you hesitate and have trouble completing a sentence, whereas if you believe you are up to snuff, even if you're not, you can fake your way through anything.
Today a woman asked me for directions and I was actually able to understand her and explain where she needed to go. I was feeling quite smug and happy with myself afterwards for a few seconds as I walked away...until I turned around and saw she was walking the wrong way.
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