Speaking another language

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

The first time I ordered lunch in Italian, I had practised the sentence so often that I delivered it at an unnatural speed. The waiter replied, and my prepared confidence ended at the full stop. I recognised almost nothing. He repeated the question slowly, I answered with two words and a gesture, and lunch arrived without requiring me to become fluent first.

That small success changed my practice. I began learning phrases for asking someone to repeat or explain, rather than only sentences designed to sound impressive. Mistakes still embarrassed me, but silence had become less attractive. A conversation was not a performance I had to complete without help; it was something another person might help carry. I do not romanticise every misunderstanding. Some are frustrating, and patience is not unlimited. But waiting until I could speak perfectly would have meant waiting without speaking, which was a poor method of learning to do it.

Source B: an original letter in a nineteenth-century voice. This is a period-voice simulation, not an archival document.

Dear Helen, I am pleased that you wish to learn French, but I would not advise neglecting careful study in favour of conversation alone. An obliging listener may understand a faulty sentence and leave its fault uncorrected. Gratitude for being understood should not persuade us that the expression requires no improvement. A bridge may carry us once and still need repair.

This is not an argument for remaining silent until every rule has been mastered. I have met learners whose knowledge of grammar was extensive and whose courage in using it was small. We need practice, but practice with attention. Write down the construction that troubled you; ask why a word belongs in one place rather than another. Speaking gives the lesson urgency, and study gives the next attempt firmer ground. I would have you be neither ashamed of beginning nor so satisfied with a beginning that you cease to examine it.

Refer to the whole of both sources. Compare the writers’ perspectives on learning to speak another language and how they convey those perspectives. Support your comparison with evidence from both sources.