Indledning
Learning a new language can be an arduous task, particularly as you age. To overcome this challenge, it is crucial to have a supportive teacher, receive constructive feedback, and learn in a relaxed and safe environment.
However, David Sedaris' experience learning French in France was far from ideal, as he recounts in his essay "Me Talk Pretty One Day."
In this essay analysis, I will delve into the writer's tone and attitude towards foreign language acquisition, as expressed in the text.
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Uddrag
Due to her harsh and unfeeling approach to teaching, the students were filled with fear and insecurity about speaking up in class.
They felt as though they were in a war zone, constantly on guard, "We quickly learned to avoid her flying chalk and to shield our heads and stomachs whenever she directed a question at us.
While she had not yet physically struck anyone, we felt it was wise to prepare for the inevitable." (p.2, l.83-85) Clearly, this was not a conducive environment for learning a new language, and David Sedaris felt that he was not making any significant progress.
The teacher even went so far as to call him a "lazy kfdtinvfm", which he tried to disprove by putting in more effort into his homework.
However, it seemed like the extra work was pointless, "The teacher conveyed through both her words and actions that she had no interest in my identity, and this only served to make me feel even more afraid and insecure about speaking French - not just in the classroom, but also in public." (p.2, l.96-97)
Ironically, David had come to France specifically to learn the language by speaking it in public - ordering at a restaurant, buying groceries, and so on.
However, as a result of his experiences with the teacher, he no longer felt confident speaking to "real" French people.
"Stopping for a coffee, asking for directions, depositing money in my bank account - these were all out of the question, as they required me to speak." (p.3, l.99-100)
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