Breaking the Sound Barrier

This week I "broke the sound barrier." Not literally, of course, but in the "I'm actually going to try to speak out loud" sense. Wow, not an easy thing to do, let me tell you. I had decided this fact (the fact being that I was going to try to start speaking more) on Sunday or Monday. Monday night at dinner I was told to "SPEAK!!! Just try to say SOMETHING in French!!!" and felt like crawling under my chair. But, I was able to mutter some words in French and stutter out random sentences for about 2 hours that night......it felt like 10 hours! So, even though I am one to run from confrontation, I guess this kick in the pants to start speaking was a good thing for me.

Now, it's like the faucet has been turned "ON" and I can't stop trying to talk! Not that I can really "talk" a lot yet, but I sure am trying. The process of trying to form a coherent sentence in a foreign language is quite a challenge in the beginning stages. I feel like my brain keeps firing off all these circuits that just can't connect correctly. Just imagine all of these new random words and short phrases floating around in your brain. You keep filling this "tank" up and trying to figure out how all these words go together. Then, you meet someone who actually speaks the foreign language you are learning. The process then begins of trying to grab out the words/phrases you want and put them together in a reasonable order. This my friends, is a scary moment because you actually have to try to #1 understand what they are saying to you, and #2 reply in their language! Here's a little sample (in English) of how a portion of my day went at the soup lunch at church today.........(I was speaking in French most of the time, so imagine that part, okay.)

Rachel - "Hi Priscilla...........(long pause as my brain gears are clicking away trying to find the right word to start off my question, my face contorts and my eyes open & close.) ........... where do you work?" (Relief! I actually got it out and it seemed to make sense to her!)

Priscilla - "At my house." (Okay, totally NOT a fair answer.....she did it on purpose too, so I would have to try another question.)

Rachel- (Thinking, thinking, thinking......totally blank and it's because I realize I have NO idea what the verb is for "do" as in "what do you do?") "What is it .... where ...... you.." At that point I do break into English with her since I have no idea what verb to use.

Priscilla- "I'm a Graphic Designer for various projects in the city and such." (And if you're wondering how I understood all that......FYI, I didn't. It's called catching a few words I know and ad libbing the rest of the story!)

So, these "painful" experiences ARE helpful because I realize what verbs I need to learn, what phrases I do know, and I truly am gaining more confidence to talk to "strangers." (Good strangers not "strange" strangers.) Please keep your prayers coming for my language learning and growth - I sure need them! However, I do see how God is helping me through this time too and I couldn't do it without Him!