Bringing good cheer to all nations

So what's painful about watching this video is knowing that we will sound like that when we try to learn a new language. One of the major difficulties in learning a new language is hearing it correctly. Some non-native English speakers don't hear the difference between the English r and l and consequently, they don't pronounce them differently. Undoubtedly, as we seek to learn French and then Wolof in Senegal, we will likely encounter sounds we've never made before and bring laughter into the lives of many people.

Today in class, we spent a few hours learning what some of those sounds are in other languages that we can't hear. As we were told, "if you don't hear it right, you won't speak it right." Our class began with 7 pairs of Vietnamese words and each pair was different. I could only tell the difference between 2 pairs. Today was very helpful although I have a sneaking suspicion that I need to continue going to class to ensure I can sing Jingle Bells in French and Wolof without people laughing at me.