The speaker shares their emotional experience of learning a new language, discussing the initial struggle to have complex conversations and the subsequent improvement in comprehension. They highlight the regret of not being able to visit their father's home country while he was alive and the sense of connection to ancestral roots achieved through speaking his native language. The chapter also explores the speaker's current relationship with the Czech language and their determination to regain fluency.
What goes on in the multilingual mind? And what does it mean to 'lose' your language?
Author and linguist Julie Sedivy with a story of losing – and re-discovering – her native language.