Talking has been a impediment of mine, ever since the good old days when I couldn’t pronounce “monkey,” and it coagulated to sound like “monk-eee,” with a sort of German emphasis on the ‘monk.’ To this day, my father brings up the story from time to time, but what can I say? At least he doesn’t stuff baby photos in his wallet for the joy of any innocent bystander to giggle at. That, I am grateful for.

English was my second language, Vietnamese being my first, but that shouldn’t be left as a valid excuse for not being able to talk as coherently as a write. I’ve had 9 years of English study; I can write one heck of an essay; and I can grammatically correct sentences. Otherwise, my English teachers would be ashamed of teaching such an incoherent student, and certainly that is not the case (I have yet to find an English teacher send me a threatening letter to work on my pronunciation). What’s left is the oratorical issue. Honestly, how hard is talking? How hard is speaking? How hard is jabbering one’s mouth? It should come natural. I mean, I could even say it’s inherited, since my mother and her girlfriends can talk and talk and TALK endlessly on the phone.

For instance, the following direct quotes from myself of the other day, of random conversation, so it would be understandable if no one really understood.

WARNING: The content following is of a kid who had difficulty in forming coherent sentences. You were warned.

What I meant to say was: “He’s drinking his milk.” What came out was:

“Well, he’s milking… he’s… I mean… drink…uhhh ” as I stuttered, buffoon-like.

What I meant to say was: “Hey! You forgot the conditioner!”

“Hey! You, condition! Condition…! Wait…” as I babbled.

I believe there was a third one somewhere during the day, but, I’d rather not elaborate.

It’s all due to sleep deprivation, I believe. No one can form coherent sentences with 5 hours of sleep, now, can they? Goodness, I’m the morning zombie, and the midnight wolf. Something tells me that this may not be the best combination. Plus, thinking before talking? Not a forte of mine. Or, in other cases, I ponder too much about what to say, that, in the end, there is not enough time to say what I intended to say.

I’m getting over it.

What obstacles do you have in your life?