How I learned to hear again in French
When an audiologist confirmed that I’d lost a significant portion of my hearing comprehension, I decided to retrain my brain in a new language.
By Wayne Perry
Being from the southern United States, hospitality is a strong part of my heritage, and for me, being able to greet someone in their language is an important part of hospitality.
I started my language journey in Spanish because there are so many
Spanish-speaking people in our part of Alabama. Servers in Mexican restaurants and workers that I happened to meet in stores or on the streets appreciated my attempts to speak to them in Spanish. That kept me motivated.
I also travel to Walt Disney World four or five times a year. As anyone who has been there knows, there are literally people from all over the world at Disney World, and I have had many opportunities to use my Spanish to help visitors there have a more magical time.
It came as a surprise to me when I struggled trying to learn French. I soon found out why.
Frequently, this was something simple, such as helping them find a particular attraction they were looking for. Once, my wife and I encountered a very charming couple from Argentina who spoke almost no English. I admired their courage in coming to the U.S. and traveling on their own with little to no knowledge of the local language. However, as we were parting company, the couple became very frightened when they realized that they were totally lost and in the wrong place. Because I could speak their language, I was able to find out where they needed to go and help them get back to their car. To say that they were relieved and grateful would be a great understatement.
That experience motivated me to add French to my language repertoire. Although there are not many French speakers in my part of Alabama, I frequently encounter them in my trips to Disney World. A lot of Disney staff members and visitors speak Spanish, many of them better than I do. However, I have seen very few cast members or guests who could comfortably speak French. I wanted to be able to assist French-speaking guests the way that I had been able to assist the Argentinian couple.
I remembered just enough French from my college courses to be able to speak a few phrases, but not enough to be comfortable or helpful. I have been pretty good with languages throughout my life, so it came as a surprise to me when I struggled trying to learn French. I soon found out why.
Unrelated to my language journey, I went to an audiologist for a hearing examination, and I found that I had a profound loss of hearing in the upper frequencies (above 4000 Hz). Because of this hearing loss, I had lost between 30 to 40 percent of my comprehension of English words.
In order to speak correctly, I have to first hear correctly.
Because hearing is at least as much a process within the brain as it is the mechanics within the ear, the audiologist suggested that I retrain my brain to use the prescribed hearing aids to help me rebuild my comprehension.
The audiologist suggested some English-language websites that I could use to practice, but I decided that French would be a much better vehicle to help me retrain my brain.
French sounds different, so I wouldn’t be able to just guess at the words. There is a difference between “bon” and “bonne,” and “fil” and “fille,” for example.
Further, because the vocabulary is so different, my brain wouldn’t be able to just “fill in the blanks” (not always correctly) as it had so often done in English conversations. I had to learn to actually hear and understand what was being said, rather than just assuming. Some of the learning exercises require that I
repeat words back, and the computer program checks my pronunciation. That is even better for my hearing comprehension, because in order to speak correctly, I have to first hear correctly.
Needless to say, this new development in my life has only added to my motivation to learn French, and to continue my development in Spanish. I seldom travel outside of the United States, and when I do, I have had, for the
most part, very little trouble surviving on English. Even so, I have found language learning to be an enjoyable, hospitable, and very practical thing to do right here in the good old USA.
When I am comfortable enough in both French and Spanish to be able to read magazines and listen to lectures, I am probably going to try to add another language. This is a journey of hospitality I am not ready to end.
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