Fourth places

Finding home in another language

“A café, interiour” (1869), Edouard Manet

At the end of the first day or two, I’d lose words. I faltered. I had a headache. I knew what I wanted to say, then I’d reach an end, an errrrrrrrr, an emptiness, basically, an open field void of sound, where I didn’t even have sufficient English at my disposal to say what I meant, let alone the French.

Then a co…