There are a few things I dislike with such intensity they border on fear – talking to strangers, talking over a computer and attempting to speak aloud in a new language. I tend do do ok with understanding languages, but when it comes to attempting to speak, I freeze. I understand where this come from – I hate making mistakes in front of people; I hate being wrong. This is not to say that I am never wrong or don’t make mistakes. I do both with great frequency, but I still hate it. So what am I doing tomorrow as part of my quest to learn French? I’m going to talk to a native French speaker over the computer in French. Take the three things I don’t like and do them all at once. I figure the only way to get over this fear of speaking in a foreign language, and really learn it, is to just try. Similar to my fear of bridges, I’m going to approach this the same way – grip the stealing wheel, take a deep breath and hope to the heavens that there isn’t a strong wind or j#^%+s who wants to make the trip as miserable as possible along the way.

I think I’m doing fairly well with the French. I am still having problems with differentiating who, when and what, but that is just going to take memorization and practice (there is a reason Emmie and I are starting this a year out from the Brussels trip). The vocabulary is coming ok, and I’m even getting, at least according to the computer, the pronunciation of most words correct. I’m still having trouble with “chaussures” which pains me as I L-O-V-E love shoes.

Speaking of shoes, Gracie also likes shoes …

or at least shoe boxes.

Au revoir!