In France, you have generally to choose between two languages to learn in school: German and Spanish. I chose Spanish. So I arrived here in Liechtenstein not speaking a word of German and, I must admit, a little bit lazy to learn a new language for only five months. But I still learned some German words: schloss, bahnhof, berg… Still, listening to German on a daily basis has changed my perspective on that language. In France, a common cliché that people have on the German language is that is sounds very harsh and mean; but here, I realized that on the contrary, people sound very sweet and warm when they speak!
When I met, on the other hand, Mexican and Spanish people, I thought : “Oh, that will be a great opportunity for me to practice my Spanish!”. Turns out, the Spanish you hear in movies (with subtitles) and the one they speak on a daily basis are very different. They speak so fast that I feel like I have learned an entirely different language. I try to train my ear by listening to them, but I get too shy when it gets to speaking it, event though I studied Spanish for almost ten years. I see how shyness can come in the way of practicing a language one is not very good at, even though people know it is one your mother tongue and expect you to make mistakes.
As for the language I do speak here, English, I must say that I have faced a certain disillusionment when I arrived. Before coming here, I thought I was almost fluent; but now, I realized how far I am from speaking English as if it was my mother tongue! I find myself often struggling to find the right words, or to convey accurately the message I want to express to my interlocutor. This can feel very frustrating, especially during debates, where my arguments lose their “power” with the translation… But this also allows me to develop my creativity, as some words are simply not translatable from French to English; in those situations, I find ways to express them, to go around the problem. I also realize that I got more and more at ease with speaking English, and my speech rate is getting more fluid with time. But more importantly, even though I am not fluent in English, I managed to create some real and deep relationship with my friends here. We have a lot of fun, and we still manage to make jokes in English!
I guess overall, this experience helps me improving my English, by learning new vocabulary, new expressions, and getting more comfortable while speaking it. This is something very valuable that I hope I will not lose later on… Speaking a foreign language on a daily basis allows to see very clearly how it impacts a whole way of thinking and being. I feel like I am not the same person when speaking French and when speaking English. This can explain some cultural differences among countries and regions of the world…