Thanks JP, that gives me hope too! I actually TRIED a French college class, I audited it, but (and I had no clue I had anxiety disorders at the time) it took so much fear, the 2-3 times I went, it took so much out of me, that I just couldn’t. So for now, it is other methods for me, but eventually I would like to formalize my education in it. I would have pursued these other methods long before now, if it weren’t for mental illness plaguing me for so long (did not even know I was bipolar/anxiety disorder until a year ago; getting access to help w/no insurance has long been impossible).

Anyway, I know as I continue in therapy that having interests and things to work on and improve myself, and to jump into, will be good for me. PLUS, with the ways the illnesses have kind of sapped my memory in some ways, yet I hope with medication and therapy to win some or most of normality back in that function, and have read that knowing more than your native tongue is one way of keeping your mind sharp as the years progress; it can help mitigate memory loss as one ages. At least, in some cases.

About 20 mins after my post a few comments up, I realized, “DOH! Nous is “we”, not “you”. I misread it as vous. And then worried overmuch about it. C’est la vie. C’est MA vie. Too much anxiety over little things; much ado about nothing.

I hope that my interest in French will be something that I follow up on; so much falls by the wayside in my daily struggles with bipolar et. al. I KNOW, though, that it is a goal I will NEVER give up on, though I may pass through periods where I am just surviving.

Thank you for helping re-visit this subject to my attention! I guess I need to figure out if there’s anyone whom I can find to speak this with, to practice. That, I think, may make a big difference in my success.

Give me some chocolat and good French conversation in Heaven, and I’ll BE in heaven. Oh, and some beads, too. Lol!

For example, Koreans use a “high form” of language in prayer–different conjugations for the verbs (as Floyd the Wonder Dog noted), and some of the words are words only used for that particular level of social relation. In ordinary discourse between equals, the verb “to ask” is “yoguhada.” (My apologies that I don’t transliterate correctly–that I haven’t learned.) However if I am speaking to someone superior to me, I have to inflect the verb differently by inserting the honorific syllable “shi” after “yogu” and then conjugating the verb with the conjugation appropriate to our relation. In prayer, however, I do not use “yoguhada.” Instead, I use “pilda” with the honorific syllable and the appropriate conjugation. And I usually combine that word, translated “beg” with the verb “to give”: pilyojushida (beg to give).

So, I’m not sure how to understand “pilda” in prayer, whether “beg” is a better translation or whether its use represents a formality that cannot be translated into English.

I recognize your reasons for praying in Dutch. Were it not for the political implications of doing so, I would probably have prayed in English when we lived in France. Instead, because I was concentrating on praying “properly,” my prayers were seldom genuine.

And I had quite a surprise a few weeks ago. I haven’t spoken German in many, many years. I went to a German elementary school for a while in the 50s, so at one point I could speak at an acceptable level. I could get by in ordinary conversation. Since then, however, I’ve done nothing but read German, and philosopical German at that. Just before Christmas I was in Salzburg for a few days and was very pleased to discover that I could still converse in German. It wasn’t good German, but it was understandable German. And I could understand a great deal more of spoken German than I expected. It made me want to stay in Austria longer so that more of my German would come back.

Anyway, you’re right about remembering language learned earlier in life. It is never lost, though it can be pretty deep asleep in the brain. The phenomenon is called attrition in second language acquisition research, and the studies indicate how much the elements of language learned previously remain stored in the brain, even with children who learned a language up to e.g. age three, and then shifted to another mother tongue (like in the case of foreign adoption). Even after 50 years, the original language is still stored somewhere in the brain, waiting to be reactivated… We know: whatever we learn, it will be with us in the resurrection. And since Elder Didier once said that French is the language spoken in heaven…

Tres belle est(?) la langue francaise. Elle est la musique de ma couer(?). Merci pour votre parlement(? probably wrong) avec moi. Moi aussi, je t’aime la francais. Vous ette tres um shoot, I forget the word for KIND, to speak to me. DANG, english seems clunky after that. I am pleased I remember a bit.

That last sentence of yours, is more fuzzy to me, but it’s something about you (me) only a good system for my learning? practice? of acccents here. Faudrait completely escapes me, but it sounds familiar. And direct translations don’t always capture the meaning. I understand the intention of absolument, anyway. I’m not trying to put English down, but for me, French can just say so many things that may not translate well but are beautiful, expressive.

Somewhat unrelated, I’ve read that things one has learned before, are much more easily regained than new things. So that’s encouraging, anyway. I hope!

I can understand more than I can compose, at the moment, although I suppose that’s natural. I’m 33, and I was 15-16 when I last took French.

I’d love to find whatever method for learning or perfecting my accent that you were mentioning in that last sentence, as well as any recommendations you might have for me to pick up the language again, books, etc.

Tres bien! Merci beaucoup. A bientot.

The Korean language has special verb forms depending on the level of the speaker and the recipient. I found the language forms used when speaking with God to be particularly beautiful. Prayers are concluded through the name of Jesus Christ.

As a missionary, I tried (not always successfully) to remind myself that I was the _guest_ in their country, and let the locals do it their way. After all, they were going to be fellowshipping, living with and working with the converts and members. And I think it’s better to be discreet, and discuss problems in private afterwards instead of confusing the poor convert and any others who are in attendance. An ordinance can be redone in private later if need be.

I like the idea of “teaching opportunities”, and if I’m ever called upon in the future to perform ordinances or conduct meetings where ordinances take place, I may just whip out DABOTP/B and read the appropriate section to the audience. And perhaps remind the audience and the baptismal candidate that if a foot comes out of the water, that the ordinance will need to be done again.

I like the idea of rehearsals. When I was first asked to bless the sacrament shortly after joining the church as a young adult, no one told me that they were reading the prayers from a card. I thought they had it memorized, and so I worked for hours that weekend trying to memorize the two prayers. I only had one memorized by Sunday morning, and as we sat at the sacrament table, I told the other guy that he’d have to do the one, because I only memorized the other. Then I was finally informed you’re allowed to read the prayer instead of recite it from memory.

I was still pretty nervous my first time. Looking back, it would have been nice to have a private rehearsal in an empty chapel with the sacrament supervisor. Administering the sacrament the first time can be a bit intimidating no matter how many times you’ve seen it done.

Seeing how nervous 16 year olds get when they administer the first time at the sacrament table, I thought again how a private rehearsal under the direction of the sacrament supervisor or a member of the bishopric might have helped them too. Even without the deacons there, I think it helps the new priest to practice in advance the motions of uncovering and recovering the bread and water, and learning how far to hold the microphone from his mouth, so that when it comes time to do it for real, he can focus on the meaning of the ordinance, and not be overly worried about the mechanics.

Mel (23) and Dustin (30), those are sweet stories you shared with us. Indeed, the Spirit will remind us those precious words when we need them.

Mark B (20), Ivan (25, 27) and Jason (26), thank you for that interesting linguistic input. I guess a book could be written filled with such interlingual experiences by missionaries. Would throw a lot of light on aspects of second language acquisition.

Sarebear (28, 29) quel plaisir de vous lire! Vous avez parfaitement raison, la langue francaise a un charme et une musicalite incomparables. Il nous faudrait seulement un systeme absolument fiable pour mettre les accents ici…

Ryan (21), Bookslinger (31) and Troy (32), thanks for broadening the topic to intercultural (mis)understandings and even clashes. No doubt those are the source of numerous anecdotes. But you rightfully draw the attention to the problem of maturity and experience in local Church leadership. When such a problem is next compounded by lingual challenges, there is a lot of room to learn to grow together…

It sounds like you and me was in the same mission. I had stuff like that happen to me. The first couple times I ended up in heated arguments where I had to basically “pull rank” on them by showing I’d been ordained before them and thus was correct. That was a mistake, and in the end I just let locals do all the ordinances themselves, not really caring what they said, figuring Father would see the intent and honor that rather than some rote phrases.