random thoughts – Day 1,114 – (Wednesday) – je suis très fatigué

It may now be day 1,001 of the streak in Duolingo lessons, but in no way am I fluent in a language other than English. Ok, maybe sarcasm. 

My dalliance with Duolingo first began in 2014 when I was recently returned to New England from Tennessee, couldn’t find a full-time job, and was working part-time in retail to keep from completely losing my mind. The Duolingo thing was an attempt at free entertainment and a refresh of the French studied in high school. 

In high school, Monsieur Dube, our French teacher, said we needed to think in French to speak it well. My thinking seemed to be stalled at “merde,” (shit), “Je suis très fatigué” (I am very tired), and “Je suis très faim” (I am very hungry). That tracks. The first language thing didn’t go well, didn’t last long, and didn’t progress much beyond merde and being tired and hungry. I tried learning Spanish, but abandoned it all and Duolingo was ignored for years.

The big Duolingo streak began with starting to learn Finnish 1,001 days ago. The language was a recent addition to Duolingo, it seemed like a fun idea, and I want to go to Finland some day. Eventually. Last fall, I began in-person Finnish classes but it could be a while before I can think in Finnish and have a conversation. Someday. 

I know how to be hungry in Finnish (Minulla on nälkä) and really tired (Minä olen tosi väsynyt). And my current favorite swear word is the Finnish curse “perkele.” It's fun to say.  I even got an embroidered patch of it.

There was a flirtation with Italian before vacation, and now I'm juggling both languages. Sorry Finnish, I gotta keep up the big cheat because there are more points to be earned in the Duolingo app with Italian because I already hit the end of the road with the Finnish modules. Sometimes I revisit French, too. 

There have been spells where I feel well rested, but the past two weeks are not in that category. Part of the reason is my beloved Canine Overlord Winston keeps waking me up between 12:30 am and 2:30 am to go outside to potty. Sometimes there is a bonus when he gets up twice in the night. Last night, he woke me up at 2:15 to go out, and by 2:30, he was back in his bed snoring. Unfortunately, I was wide awake until 3:38 with monkey brain chattering and swearing in multiple languages. 

There was finally some more sleep, but in a blink it was 6:00 and the alarm was going off and I was not happy. The butt dragged today and it really caught up with me after work. By 6:30 pm I was fighting the urge to go to bed. Minä olen tosi väsynyt for sure, but perkele, it was still light outside for crying out loud. And if I went to bed that early, Winston would soon have me up for one of his many post-supper trips outside. 

So now, it’s just the waiting game. Maybe I can see how many Duolingo lessons I can cram in until I decide it is an appropriate time for bed.