The joy in learning a language comes from really tiny moments. There are those moments so subtle that they are sometimes almost unrecognizable. These moments have come before, and will likely come again tomorrow.
One of those moments is when pronouncing a certain word becomes possible after struggling for quite a while. Is it my tongue? Or is it the word? (It’s my tongue, yes, always). It had always been hard to pronounce that word, and then one day, it’s done. Clean and easy. Of course, sometimes, it goes back to the struggling stage. And then, it’s doable again. Back and forth. Those moments are precious. They may be considered minor events, yet they can feel huge. I mean, huge.
Another moment is when there’s an instant understanding of certain words learned a few months ago. They had been totally forgotten. Even the fact that I had learned that word was forgotten and the possibility of me speaking that word during conversations was close to zero. Yet, here they are. Catching that word while listening to an audiobook immediately brings back the understanding of its meaning. It also brings back the memory of the moment when I was learning that word. It probably went like this: Who would use this word? I’ve never heard this word before.
In language learning, there are these small and minor moments of joy.
Today, and someday in the future.
As long as I keep learning languages, those moments will be with me for the rest of my life.