Saved from the evil Français

Does anyone remember how much I disliked French when I took it at college? I didn't really either, until I signed up for and attended my first French for Beginners with Limited Previous Knowledge (that comes off some much better in German!). I had been thinking of taking a language class and was trying to decide between Dutch and French, both of which I have studied before. After being in southern France last June, where I started to be able to understand individual words in sentences, my interest in French was renewed. I managed to surpress the memories of that wretched French class in the first semester of my sophomore year and convinced myself that not only was French more practical than Dutch, but I could certainly handle it now. So I signed up, shelled out the €160 for class and books, and went to class. As I sat there during that hour and a half, I realized I had made a grave mistake.

J'deteste Français!

What what I thinking???? I still couldn't understand anything the teacher said, although I was impressed by how much I did indeed remember. I left class with a bitter taste in my mouth, which grew increasingly bitter that evening and throughout the next day. In my heart, I knew that I really wanted to take Dutch, but, instead of listening to my gut (which, according to Malcom Gladwell's excellent book "Blink", is almost always right!), I decided to be practical. Foolish!

I read through the school's cancellation policy and it said that once a class has started, no refunds will be issued. I felt like there was a rock in the pit of my stomach. I decided to go to the school anyway and beg them to let me out of it, even if I had to pay some sort of cancellation fee. The desperate look on my face must have been convincing enough, because the administrator I talked to agreed to let me out of it and didn't even charge me the cancellation fee! And they allowed me to return the books as well! It was like my own personal miracle. I left the school and felt sooooo relieved and grateful.

Monday I'm going to sign up for the Dutch class and do what I actually want to do. One of my teachers heard this story on Friday and she asked me what could I possibly do with Dutch. My answer? It makes me happy and I love it--who cares what I can do with it! I'm practical in almost every other aspect of my life--I deserve to be impractical this one time.