Lots of Mots
Editor’s Note: Cecilia Capuzzi Simon specializes in long-form feature writing. She wrote for The New York Times Education Life section for 12 years, and for The Washington Post Health section, where she covered psychology and mental health issues. She teaches longform feature writing and writing for the mass media as an adjunct at American University's School of Communication.
I’ve been learning French for the last five years—two nights a week at the Alliance Française D.C.
Why am I studying French? Several years ago, when I had very limited ability to speak the language, I would blurt out a glib but honest response when asked: Je veux. I want to.
I really couldn’t define it much beyond that, even in English. But even now that I am somewhat more adept at speaking (barely), I guess I’d answer the same way.
I’ve learned many things being a student of French at my age: how learning a new language is like doing verbal sudoku; that words, which have always fascinated me, become even more intriguing when you have to re-learn and process them differently, especially at 64; that there is a population of like-minded souls out there who love language and fantasize about travel and culture and literature the same way I do—even during the barely navigable pandemic years.
I have loved connecting with mes collègues: In our Sunday afternoon online “bavardage” (our “chat”); at a crowded DuPont Circle French resto (pre-pandemic) called Bistro de Coin.
As a writer, my weekly French homework assignments—mes devoirs—have also forced me to reassess and drill down into the essence of effective writing: What do I need to say? I simply do not have the luxury of vast linguistical resources in French to fret too much over embellishments or word choice.
What I write (and try to speak) is, by necessity, the essentials—simple language, familiar words and action verbs, straightforward tenses, colorful imagery, direct storytelling. It is exactly the strategy that I preach to my journalism students.
And now I see its relevance across disciplines and in my life in general. Un leçon imprévu—a lesson unforeseen and profound. In a world that feels way too noisy: Fewer words.
