Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris Analysis

Many people around the globe can speak more than one language. In some countries, like Den-mark, it is required by the government that you learn a foreign language at school. Of course not all countries are as privileged as Denmark. Some people have to reach out themselves if they feel the need to learn a new language. One of those people is 41-year old David Sedaris, who wrote an essay called ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day’ in 2005. He tells the story of how he moved out from New York to France to learn French. In his attempt to learn the language he comes across a rather mean teacher who influences the way Sedaris learns French. Sedaris’ tone in his essay is generally casual. The use of causality makes the essay more identifia-ble to the reader.

The teacher’s approach to teaching is: The harder she pushes the students the harder they will work and the more they will learn. Some people might argue that this is not the proper way to learn. Many people would surely prefer a safe environment where it is okay to make a mistake and discuss issues in a language they are far more comfortable to speak. As a result of the teacher being so mean the students are frightened to speak. Though through hard times most people will often feel like it helps that you are not the only one struggling, something that the refugees most defi-nitely must be feeling when they arrive at a new country and has to learn a new language.
“My only comfort was the knowledge that I was not alone. Huddled in the hallways and making the most of our pathetic French, my fellow students and I engaged in the sort of conversations commonly overheard in refugee camps.” (L. 105-107) To sum up, David Sedaris wrote the essay Me Talk Pretty One Day in 2005. He did this because he had chosen to learn French and came across a really mean teacher. Though, he kept going and eventually he came to understand French. Not speak it fluently, but managed to understand which is a big achievement in general when you are a student in school. David Sedaris’ message is: When life gives you lemons make lemonade. Everything is a process and there are different ways to cope with any situation. He chose to keep going even though it was