Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris' essay takes readers on a nostalgic journey as he recounts his struggles and encounters while attempting to learn French in Paris. The narrative begins on the first day after his vacation, when he arrived in Paris with high hopes of mastering the French language. However, it quickly became apparent that his goal was more challenging than he had anticipated.

Prior to leaving his secure hometown of New York, David had only taken a one-month French class. He enrolled in an international school where students of various nationalities and languages convened, but where French was the only permissible language spoken.

David's limited French-speaking ability induces nervousness in him, and hearing his classmates speak near-perfect French with different accents only exacerbates his anxiety. It highlights the crucial role confidence plays in communicating and speaking a foreign language. In his perception, everyone else is fluent in French, and he is one of the few struggling to keep up.

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The school expects all students to perform from day one, without mercy. David figuratively describes the situation as "everybody into the language pool, sink or swim," a rapid way for the teacher to assess the students' performance.

As the class begins, the teacher, who seems tough and a bit malevolent, walks in and begins scrutinizing every move and mistake. She asks each student about their likes and dislikes, and when a student named Anna expresses her hatred for mosquitoes, the teacher sarcastically responds, "Oh really, how interesting. I thought everyone loved mosquitoes…."

This interaction exemplifies the teacher's personality; she is not nurturing or caring towards the students' insecurities. Instead, she adheres to the old adage "you learn from your mistakes" and pushes the students to make errors, which she then points out.

Despite its insensitivity and cruelty, the teacher's method seems to work, as David later describes with a metaphor: "She hadn't punched anyone yet, but it seemed wise to protect ourselves against the inevitable." The students start thinking in French, even when not asked directly, due to the teacher's sarcasm, rough tone, and relentless criticism of even the slightest mistakes. Anna, another student, was asked the same question and appeared nervous after witnessing her classmates' humiliation.

Like the rest of the class, she struggled with French and had limited vocabulary, making her appear foolish, although she was not. This aspect of language being power is the most interesting theme of the essay. People change when they feel uncomfortable and cannot express themselves as they want to. David says, "Before beginning school, there'd be no shutting me up, but now I was convinced that everything I said was wrong."

This illustrates a significant shift in his behavior because he fears that his French is so poor that the rest of the class cannot understand him. A person's personality can change when they cannot communicate effectively in a foreign language. Although David may understand much of what is being said, understanding and speaking a language do not necessarily go hand in hand.

There is a significant distinction between understanding a language and speaking it fluently. In a foreign country, not being able to communicate effectively can result in an identity that is different from the truth, which is what happened to David. His lack of confidence in speaking French made him appear quiet and boring, which did not reflect his true personality.

The purpose of David Sedaris' essay, published in 2000, is to discuss the importance of language, which remains relevant today in a world where globalization brings nations closer together and communication is crucial. For example, China, historically a monolingual country, needs to find a way to communicate in other languages to play a significant role in international trade.

As a student in Gymnasium, the subject is also relevant to me. In Denmark, students begin learning English in third grade and later have the opportunity to choose between German, French, and Spanish. This opens up the world and creates many possibilities for communication.

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