We started off the semester by reflecting on what I learned while we were in Greece. After returning, I could have kicked myself for my shyness. Many times, I would think of something which I knew I could say in Greek, but I would usually hold myself back. My fear of slipping up or taking too long to say a simple phrase would paralyze me and keep me from offering a simple thought to Smaragda’s family or friends. It was more the awareness of the fact that I would speak slowly that would impede my speech than anything else, even though the “language hacking” video encourages us to speak despite ourselves.
Many of the people I met in Greece did not speak much or any English, so we would not be able to speak except through Smaragda, who was sometimes not around to interpret. This led to many instances of me sitting around looking at someone and just nodding or smiling for long periods of time.
If I could have done anything differently in Greece, I definitely would have spoken up more.
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