Challenge 59: French

49. Describe your most important academic accomplishment or intellectual experience to date. We don’t want to know about test scores or course grades, rather we want to know about your creativity, your willingness to take intellectual risks or your affinity for scholarly endeavors. (MIT)

I thought being able to speak three languages was enough. I spoke Nepali since I was a small, I could speak some Hindi from all the movies I used to watch, and I could speak English. And then came eighth grade where I had a choice between taking Hindi and French, which was completely foreign to me. Of course, I chose French. But, I had no idea how challenging it would be. It was a completely different dialect than what I was used to. However, I told myself that it wouldn't be so bad and took on the challenge.

In the beginning I struggled with it. I would try to memorize all the rules, the gender of every other object, how to make words plural or singular, and what not. But, even when I tried my hardest, I would still end up with a B. I was disappointed and was going to quit without giving it much thought. Anyway, that would leave me with other options. However, I still had to finish my language credits, and wanting to give it another try, I didn't quit.

Then, it started getting easier in the second year. I started to understand almost everything the teacher would say in class. I started to speak French with my friends outside of class. We shared many jokes together. We would speak French if we didn't want others to know what we were talking about. We would talk in French to improve out pronunciations and "liaisons." I even started to listen to French songs!

Learning the language also meant learning about the culture and different aspects of the French society. I learned more about the country, its people, and their ways of living. From pourboire to collocation, I saw what it would be like to like in France. And now, that has inspired me to visit France, maybe study there, or live there for a few years. I could use what I learned in class to gain a first-hand experience in the country itself.

Taking on the challenge to learn French proved to be wonderful after all. By the end of the third year of learning French, my language credits were complete. I could have quit right there and moved on to something different. However, I stuck to the challenge and wanted even more to master as much of it as possible in the two years left in High School. And, although I am not as fluent in French as I would like to be, learning another language proved to be my most important and wonderful accomplishment in High School.