Abbondanza

I regret that I don't speak more languages, or, rather, speak those other languages more fluently. Despite the title (which I simply find to be a lovely word), I barely have any Italian. I know only the basics: who, what, where, when and I'm sorry. I do pretty well with menus, of course, because I'm well-fed, and I don't have much trouble reading it, since the Romance languages do pattern similarly.  

My Spanish is rudimentary. Mostly slang, with specific terms thrown in for child-rearing, dogs, and marital discord. I took a semester's worth of Spanish I in a continuing ed class at the New School and kicked ass without question. I don't think I learned more than two or three new words, but it was helpful to understand verbs better. I read at maybe a 5th grade level, and can follow conversations, as long as I know the context. One of my goals is to find a good Spanish class; UM has an intensive 7-day workshop. That might be fun... I could take a week off of work and ride the train down each day. Besides, I will need all the Spanish I can get so we can move to Costa Rica.

French is what I studied in school. Grades 8-12. I was freakishly good at it, and I vaguely recall winning some award at graduation (the last month of my senior year of high school is clouded by a haze of mononucleosis). I missed testing out of a language requirement in college by about 2 points, and was enrolled in French IV as a freshman. I was the youngest person in the class: when the gubernatorial elections rolled around, everyone was asked who they'd voted for. I had to explain to the class that I did not yet have 18 years.

Last week, overcome by insomnia, I lay awake in a number of places throughout the apartment. At around 2am, I was curled in a ball on the sofa, trying to stay warm in the night-time air conditioned chill. Since there was nothing else for my brain to do, it spoke French. My brain and I recited French poetry, sang the alphabet, counted to one hundred, and conjugated verbs. It was soothing, and while it didn't put me to sleep, it did quiet the panic that you feel when you know you should be sleeping but can't.

Languages are fun: they're patterns and codes and memorization. I don't know why I should like them but not math, which is also just patterns and codes and memorization. Maybe because languages mean something. Each word is a representation of an object, action, or idea. -4 x 82 + 6 = just another number, not "flower" or "coffee" or "rainstorm."