While my blood's still flowing:.

Ok, today I want to ramble about the subject that has been on my mind for the last months: the French language.

Before I started studying it, like many people, I had a biased opinion towards the language. I thought it would be very difficult to use, due to its guttural nature, it's writing also seemed daunting, and most of all, the speed at which french people seem to speak is shocking. But as many things in life, if you try to understand something from its very basics, you eventually realize it all makes sense.

I've been studying with an approach that doesn't rely on teaching you grammar rules, instead, you infer them from small conversations and guided exercises. It's all based on the way children learn, and it's great. It's no secret that in order for this, or any other, approach to be effective, you really need to put effort and time. But unlike children, we also have another tool at our disposal: abstraction!.

From the very beginning, you start recognizing similarities with other romance languages. I had previously studied Spanish, English and Catalan, so many things in French already seemed familiar. As you progress, you also recognize patterns in the way things are pronounced and written, and you understand it's not as chaotic as you thought it would be. You start using it and you like the way you sound, obviously not like a french native, but strange and interesting =).

So far my strategy has been focused on learning enough grammar and vocabulary by my self, but now I'll pass to the next level, practice the language and challenge myself with other people. I know this is the only way to master anything in life.

In brief, after 5-6 months of studying French, I can tell you it's a great language, daunting at first, but always interesting. I never thought I would stop almost all of my activities just to learn a new language, but I don't regret it =):.

My regrets are few,
if my life is mine,
what shouldn't I do?