Get Messy, Make Mistakes

If you've ever played SceneIt? or any other you-need-to-know-about-pop-culture game with me, then you know that I'm a lousy teammate. I just haven't seen that many movies or had enough interest in the lives of celebrities to pay that much attention. I have a hard enough time remembering "real" people's names! Anyway, there is one television show (or maybe it's a movie; I don't know) that popped into my head this week--The Magic School Bus. Random, I know. Let me explain.

Again, if you know me, then you know that I'm maybe, slightly, possibly a tiny bit of a perfectionist. And I really don't like to make mistakes. I especially don't like to make mistakes in front of other people.

As our substitute Arabic teacher reminded us today, the best way to learn Arabic is to just give it a shot and make mistakes. Kind of like Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus said, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" And I've found that this is very true. Maybe you read my last post about my horrendous translation? If only you could hear me when I try to make a coherent sentence in class. It must be quite humorous.

Outside of class, if you try to do something simple like hailing a taxi and then talk to him in Arabic, and he laughs at you, you have to realize that this is part of the learning process. And I'm finally starting to realize this.

And so, I guess all of the mistakes eventually pay off in the end--I got an "A" surrounded by a combination of lines, seahorses, and various other squiggles on my Arabic mid-term, which made me quite happy!

This situation reminds me of a WONDERFUL song I've heard...

I feel like I've already written about my love for Hannah Montanta, and it fits the theme of this blog post, here is the music our youngsters: