Do You Speak My Language?

(co-written with my daughter)
 
One of my daughters takes French in school. I was pretty excited when she chose French--while I might not be able to help her sister with Spanish or either of them with advanced math, I figured I could handle French.  After all, I did take French for 4 years in high school and several years in college (and spent a very quiet week living with a French family). How hard could it be to help my daughter, particularly with her first year?
 
Tomorrow, she has a quiz.  A little verb conjugation, days of the week--things like that. So she came to me for studying help.  After all, I'm the one who took years of French. And even if I barely spoke to my exchange family, I did survive, so I must know something.  Right?
 
I'm good with the days of the week. But how do you conjugate the verb 'avoir'? Uh, oh. Is this the same French?
 
We were fine, but it did make me think about how, as one navigates job changes, one of the challenges is reconciling the language barriers.  Is something called a Voiceover or an OTF? Depends on whether you're working in scripted TV or reality (and terms even vary from show to show).  Is the schedule called the Order of the Day, Way of the Day, or Rundown?  When you're editing, are you pulling up or trimming?  Sliding or rolling?  Depends on the edit system you're using.  And these are just terms within a specific field. What about when you're exploring a brand new field?  You may think you know your native language, but do you, really?
 
So, this year has been a series of language lessons for me, and not just brushing up on my French to help my daughter.  It's hard to visit new places without learning the language first, so language learning, it appears, will be an education that lasts a lifetime.  And while helping my daughter might make me ready for a trip to France (ooh, that'd be nice!), learning the assorted languages of work will help me too--for some interesting journeys a little closer to home.