Eureka, I understand English!

Do you remember a "eureka!" moment in your life where you realized you could understand without thinking too much what people around you were saying in another language?
A language you did not speak fluently?
A language you had been learning recently? Or trying to learn with great difficulty?

I do.

I was living in India, around 2000, and one day while in my kitchen doing the dishes, the news on tv in the other room, an English speaking channel, I realised I understood what they said. All of it. I thought that there had been some change of channels, I jumped in the other room, checked and well... yes! I could understand everything they were saying. I felt a sense of jubilation. I even made a little giggly sound.

I had been trying to learn English for years without much success, I could not really understand beyond a few short sentences, certainly not live news and much less express myself with ease. But being fully immersed and listening to, reading and speaking the language every day, putting my self-conscious tendency aside, that was the key.
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At 30 years old and being in a diplomatic position where I was expected to give speeches in English, it was about time.

What about you?

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