a letter made in Dakar

Dear You,

I recently had to travel to Dakar, which automatically meant I had to speak French. If you've been here for a while, you know I learned basic French, but I have few spaces to practice, except Duolingo.

Anyway, I had a quick stopover in Madrid, and while we were there, I tried to order some food, and the waiter spoke Spanish to me. For some reason, I spoke French back before I could stop myself. Even when I asked for my bill or thanked him as he cleared the plates, my subconscious automatically cued French, and it came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Because this was the foreign language I felt comfortable with, it just jumped out.

Now, imagine what happened to me in Senegal. I started to find myself saying things I didn't know I knew how to say. I had probably learned them in the past, and they were dormant until I came here. I remember speaking to the hotel staff about my card not working [ma carte ne fonctionne pas] and having a whole conversation, answering her questions. I was slow; it wasn't perfect, but I was doing it. I remember she said something very fast, and I responded, "Je comprend un peu. Je ne parle pas bien francais." I don't know if the sentence construction was good, but I just put the words together to communicate. And she looked up at me and said. "Non! Tu pales bien francais. C'est bon". I was floating the whole day! She had just told me my French was good.

Fast forward to today, I found myself saying English words [like experience] with French accents or randomly inserting French into my English sentences unprovoked! I caught myself doing it, and I laughed. It has been happening. I noticed that my brain started thinking in French. And something my French teacher had tried to teach me back then, "Blessing, stop translating English words to French, think in French". I always looked at him, puzzled. "How am I to think in a language I do not understand?". I asked around, and the most frequent hack I got for learning a new language is to travel to a country where they can't speak anything else, and you'll be immersed in it by default. 

I have travelled to a few French countries, but this is the first time I have "stayed" long enough and been surrounded by people as well as non-English speakers with barely any interpreters in my daily life. This was the first time I truly understood what my French teacher meant. And I think it applies to many things. Your environment has an impact on accelerated learning. This applies to physical and non-physical environments. If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people, and you might start to think like them. If you want to learn a new language, surround yourself with speakers of the language, and you might start to speak the language. If you want to do or be anything, surround yourself with people whose realities are your dreams, and you might start to live your dream. Your brain will adjust to see possibilities based on your environment.

What is a dream you have? Who are people living it? How can you create or be in an environment that helps your mind adjust to the reality and possibility of that dream? Think about it.

With Love,

Blessing Abeng

Sidebar: While thinking about the title, I wondered if I should call it "Dakar or Light-er"😂😂😂😂. #OkBye!