Apropos of nothing, this is a wonderful turn of phrase that applies to so much more than just the learning of French:
As the man famously said, it ain't what we don't know, it's what we know for sure that just ain't so. That and the assumption that we can learn and gain things of lasting value over a weekend.
The Internet is overrun with advertisements meant for those who feel the longing for another language, who hope to attain understanding without the fear, the pain of mocking or rejection. There is a symmetry in language ads that promise fluency in three weeks and weight-loss ads that promise a new body in roughly the same mere days. But the older I get, the more I treasure the sprawling periods of incomprehension, the not knowing, the lands beyond Google, the places in which you must be immersed to comprehend.
As the man famously said, it ain't what we don't know, it's what we know for sure that just ain't so. That and the assumption that we can learn and gain things of lasting value over a weekend.
2 comments:
It will take me nearly six years total to attain my Bachelors. It has been a long slog, but when I finally get it? Part of the reason it will be so valuable to me is that it took so long to earn!
Yeah, there's definitely more value to appreciate in that, as well as in achieving it later in your adulthood. I don't think any of us appreciate the college experience -- or even get the most out of it -- doing it right out of high school. I don't even see how that would be possible. Experience and seasoning lends value and depth to that process.
Keep at it and finish it off. As much shit as I talk about higher education being a racket -- and it is -- there's still a lot of educational value in the experience, and it still lends perspective and opens some new doors.
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