Thanks for taking the time to share this story. I'm not deaf, but I can very much relate to some of what you've said. Especially the loneliness part. I'm an

Thanks for taking the time to share this story. I'm not deaf, but I can very much relate to some of what you've said. Especially the loneliness part. I'm an English speaker who's spent the last year in France. I'm currently working in a French company, and the spoken language is still VERY difficult to follow (ie - when they use slang, jokes, etc). For six months, I've been feeling like I'm in the shadows quietly sitting with my colleagues at lunch and hearing them laugh at jokes while I'm still trying to figure out what they were talking about with a lag of 10 seconds. It's frustrating, crushing, and you want to just go and hide somewhere. Yes I can ask them to repeat things, yes I can ask them to explain the jokes, but it just makes me feel like dead-weight that needs to be dragged along. It's frustrating beyond anything. The advantage on my part is that I can get (and have gotten) used to the language to the point that I now follow things quite well. And with time it can only improve. I'm not sure how this will pan out for you, but I wish you all the best. The fact that you're putting in the effort is in itself an awesome thing.