J’ai engagé la conversation pour casser le silence – Wait, I ran out of words

It’s a funny thing when pushing oneself to learn a language. It makes perfect sense to try new words, entire sentences, and preferably in daily situations.

But then, what to do when you run out of words. Case in point: I had practised the sentence J’ai engagé la conversation pour casser le silence to my heart’s content. And then, as I was about to describe a situation I recalled it, and quickly blurted out the sentence. I could see her eyes widening in astonishment.

Mais c’était parfait! Qu’est-ce que tu as dit?

Uhm.. Ah.. Well, I said that I heard from a mutual friend she had attended the same museum exhibition I went to yesterday.

But in French? Ah, je suis désolé.

It is one of those perfect examples how you stumble as you rattle off a more intricate sentence in French, and find that you have hit a language wall.

So the takeaway? Don’t give up, keep trying sentences and words.

• Work on pronunciation and fluency.
• Try to capture the cadence (timing or flow of the sentences) of French.

And as you do, your friends and colleagues may be happily impressed. That will most likely lead to them helping you more with more French words and sentences. Slowly, slowly, you will learn French. 🙂