An accomplished lady

"It is amazing to me, how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are;  I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished...  they all paint tables, cover screens, and net purses..."

"A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word." 

"Yet to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

It might be a silly fancy on my part and Jane Austen might have sometimes been a little sarcastic concerning the topic of ladylike accomplishments, but for a while now I've wanted to possess all the accomplishments of a 19th century lady.  I can confidently say that I have a good start.  I can draw, dance, do all sorts of needlework, play more than one instrument (although my skills at the piano and at singing more resemble Elizabeth Bennet's level than that of Georgiana Darcy), and try to frequently read and expand my mind.  And while they are not fine accomplishments, I can also cook and clean tolerably well.

Where I really fall down, however, is "modern languages",  a phrase which most likely referred to French, Italian, and German.  I took one semester of French, and while I loved the language, I didn't have the time to study it further (something that has always frustrated me).  Last night, though, I had a stroke of positive genius!  Where I work, a lot of talking is discouraged but personal ipods are allowed.  Instead of sitting and listening to music for eight hours a day, I can use that time to listen to French lessons and various French podcasts and audio books.  I might not be able to speak along with the lessons while at work, but it certainly can't hurt.  Perhaps I'll finally be able to communicate in French better than a toddler!

And while I might be planning too far ahead (a bad habit of mine), after French I'll tackle German.  I'm not really interested in Italian and will mostly likely take on Spanish instead if I get that far, but there are plenty of people in the world who speak three or more languages, so why not me?  If I put in the work, it'll be completely possible.  Not only will it finally get me out of the camp of 'lazy-Americans-who-only-speak-English', but it'll properly round out my set of "accomplishments" very nicely.