Reflection on my university French Language courses

I coined a phrase for myself: “French lessons won’t help you win a war.” The meaning behind this phrase is pretty simple. The phrase or proverb, if you will, is meant to remind me (and possibly you now) that there’s no simple answer for anything.

At the time, I was in what seemed like an intensive language course that was entirely outside my comfort zone. My sanity was clutching onto my grades which were sinking to the bottom of an all-time low. I was looking for any excuse to drop the French course, but the fact was I needed my French LOE (language other than English) credit to graduate. Learning French was excruciatingly hard for me. I felt that if French came easy to me or at least studying for it happened naturally, my life would be 10x if not 100% better.

But the truth was that French wasn’t my only obstacle (though, at times, it felt like it). The French language was a contributing factor in the war, but it simply wasn’t going to be the deciding factor in winning the war. Thus “French lessons won’t help you win a war” means it’s never as simple as you think, and in a darker sense, “nothing is easy.” Although the phrase may not be positive per se, it does bring hope, to me at least. The phrase reminds me of a time when I was triumphant. Because I passed French and ended up getting my degree. I prioritized the right things to lead me to a hard-won and bittersweet victory. Oddly, “French lessons won’t help you win a war” reminds me to look at the “big picture” and focus on the little details to help me achieve the desired results.

originally wrote this: October 22, 2022