I Have a New Thrill
“The thrill of new beginnings is immensely alluring!” ― Avijeet Das
In Canada, English and French are the official languages. However, when you migrate as a skilled professional with over a decade of experience under your belt, you have high expectations that there would be enough English roles for you. But then it gets almost scandalous when you see roles you’re unqualified for simply because you don’t speak French.
It was seeing this repeatedly that drove me to write on my visual board Learn French. This was in 2018. I downloaded the Duolingo app for starters. I took my first class. It was interesting. My classes, however, got interrupted by other life commitments.
Then 2019 came, I wrote it on my visual board again; Learn French By June 2020. That was how far it got. No class! Duolingo sent me many emails. Sometimes I wouldn’t open them.
Then 2019 ended, and we were now in 2020. That goal was still on my visual board. The app was still on my phone. I didn’t learn any French, and I wasn’t ashamed. I knew I would someday. At that point in my life, my plate was full. It would clear up.
Finally, in 2021, I took a trip overseas. On that trip, I logged back into the app and resumed my classes. It wasn’t a one-off. I saw myself always itching to get back to class, morning, afternoon, or night. I think some app upgrades made the app more intuitive and more user-friendly.
The major thrill is as you progress through classes and accumulate points, Duolingo ranks you with fellow learners. At first, I made it to the top 20. Then I was in the top 10. Then I noticed I was always in the top 3. Then consistently number 1. Every Sunday, all top 10 advances to an advanced league.
You should see me defending that position as if I was being handed millions of dollars. It is amusing and somewhat silly. There was a night I stayed awake till midnight, competing with a lady who seemed determined to chase me from that position. She didn’t succeed.
For now, I am top 3 in my current league. I still have that thrill to defend my position. If I knew learning French would be so enjoyable, perhaps I might have started earlier. Once I am done with French, I have my eyes on Arabic and Chinese. I hope I have as much fun. A bientôt!
