I live in Montreal, Canada which is a bi-lingual city of French and English. When I first moved here from England I really battled to learn French. I had many intense French classes, did hours of French homework which caused me lots of mental anguish. However the other evening I have a lovely surprise. I had rented the Movie ‘Coco before Channel’ a film set in France. I sat down, started to watch it and then 30 minutes into the film I realized that I had been watching the movie in French and not my usual movie watching language English. I was stunned and delighted. My French listening skills had improved enough for me to effortlessly watch a movie without even being aware of the language it was in. This was aided I am sure by the fact that the movie is set in France rather than the US or England
Me learning French, is a little like when you start to put into place new habits recommended in ‘Untapped Brilliance’ to help minimize your negative aspects of ADHD. At first it seems like a lot of effort to implement new habits into your life. Then, all of a sudden you realize you are doing it effortlessly and without being conscious of doing them! Ahh… what an amazing feeling.
What a delightful article, Jacqui. I loved your story about watching the movie in French. I would never have made the connection to implementing new habits. Thanks for the inspiration.
Bonnie