I am sure that there are many people in this class who have come up
against major barriers in communication in their lives. Many of you
likely moved to America to find a place that was far less inviting
than you had hoped for. Some of you were forced to adapt to a new
language that would sadly take the place of a language makes up a part
of who you are.

The truth is, I have never been in an environment where I had to
change the way I spoke in order to be understood. This naturally
means that I have not given as much thought to the question of what
language means to me. I have always communicated on an almost sub-
conscious level (a little bit more than I should by the way), and
therefore never gave much thought to how I spoke or how I was
perceived. I mean, I was one of the "normal" ones.

And now I am in a French class. This question has been served to me
with impecable timing. My struggles with French enable me to take a
glimpse into the world of a person trying to survive in a place that
doesn't understand them. The only difference is, when I get
overwhelmed, I can just step out.