Strange Pride

Every single day when I read my morning newspaper from cover to cover, faithfully follow my favourite radio programs without skipping a beat, absorb novels and poetry like a sponge, and chime in on conversations at my regular locales... I can't help but do so with a gleaming smile on my face. Why? For me, it's the fruit of very hard work. I've claimed my second language as my own, 100% self-taught from zero in about a year -- no schools, no government programs, no fears -- just sink/swim immersion, a faithful dictionary, a stack of books and tapes, giving the middle finger to the idea of giving up, ratty diaries filled to their brims with notes and words, and dirty-shirt attitude about learning from my mistakes. At first, everything I heard was all a blur of mumbled sounds that made no sense. Now, well, I couldn't be prouder of myself.

3 Comments

Post a Comment

and your a great writer too!

Sep 2, 2015 at 10:13am

This is fantastic! what a great motivator for myself! You have grit, you have alot more than that, including the knowledge of two languages, but you definitely have grit. thanks for the inspiration!

0 0Rating: 0

Very inspirational!

Sep 2, 2015 at 11:42am

Thank you!!

0 0Rating: 0

OffMyRocker

Sep 2, 2015 at 8:19pm

Excellent post, I love it!

0 0Rating: 0

Join the Discussion

What's your name?