I kept a language journal while studying abroad in Paris. I'd write down every unfamiliar French word I heard or read, all the then-incomprehensible idioms or s

I kept a language journal while studying abroad in Paris. I'd write down every unfamiliar French word I heard or read, all the then-incomprehensible idioms or slang I overheard, things people ordered in the boulangerie, platitudes relayed back and forth at the market. Now, looking back at that journal, I remember the context of nearly every single word, which makes each unforgettable. The lists of words seem random out of context, but read in context I am brought back to the occasion in which I heard the word. Even now, years later, I still know most of the words I learned that year.