Bonjour monsieur, comment allez-vous ?

My cousin took me to see Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro a couple of weeks ago, and we already arrange to go and see the French Film Festival tomorrow. Yes, I am officially infatuated with French.

This was not the first time I watch French movies, as I have attend similar festival a couple of years ago (my favorite was Delice Paloma, amazing!); however this is the first time I got really intrigued. It was not about the movies, although they are very well shot and scripted, and everybody looked so natural without over-makeup. For me it is about the language.  I love how they spoke their language, and how their pronounciation and intonation give life to the language. It is an embodiment of culture and way of thinking, not merely words and a jumble of letters. French fits the lady in the movie who went for a drink after working as a cleaner, it fits the man who enjoyed sunset on his retirement day, or an afternoon at the beach with their family. Given in another language, the exact same scene will have a different feel to it, a different life/soul. That is what language is all about. It is a way to communicate, thus it is only normal that a certain language will have a certain characteristic that mimic the characteristic of the said grup. It has to be that way else they can't communicate properly. 

For me, language and accents are my window to the world. American, South African, Javanese, Balinese, Celebes, Canadian, Australian, French, Spanish, Japanese, languages tell me more about the people that lived in that world/used that language and/or accent than any detailed information from Encyclopedia or NatGeo. I had my share with Spanish infatuation, and I still deeply attached to Japanese. I got my Russian period and also Germany, and now it is French. I don't think I will devoted myself to learn it properly (English being my one true love), but I do know I enjoyed it immensely, how the words form a much different world than what I knew. How it rolls through my mouth and tongue, vibrating my vocal sord; how it enters my ear and connect to images and senses within my brain. Ah words, magical words, open up your secrets to me and treasures and life within you!