Kristel Pedrina

1234 Five Street, Six Avenue,

Seven Hills, California 91370
David Sedaris
8765 Four Oaks,
Three Hills, California 91200
December 7, 2014
Dear Mr. Sedaris,
Your story Me Talk Pretty One Day is a very interesting and relatable story. At first, I assumed
that, since the character is a forty-year old person, I would not be able to comprehend the
narrative. I am only nineteen and it is understandable that the age gap between my age and the
characters age is significantly huge. But, as I moved along the story, I loved it and the concept
behind the title.
Honestly, I overlooked the title at first. I thought, What a inappropriate title, using Me instead
of I. My expectation, upon reading the title, was reading a hardship of another girl, just like in
the Hyperbole and a Half stories, who cannot speak English well or merely cannot communicate
effectively just yet. Yet after reading, the content proved me wrong.
I grew bored as I read the first paragraph, given that the character is about twenty years older
than me. Obviously, as a young lady, I patronize stories about people my age or in their twenties
or early thirties, not in their forties. Also, the narrator started talking about school and tuition fee,
which are the most stressful factors of my life right now, aside from my job. I prefer reading
romantic and science fiction novels, not school-related novels. As I moved along the second
paragraph, though, the story captured my attention.
My boredom turned into enthusiasm. I am an immigrant myself who pursue to learn speaking
English fluently and living in accordance with the American culture. I am definitely going to
read it, I whispered myself. With the descriptions incorporated in the second paragraph, I knew
that the forty-year old New Yorker student must be attending an international school of some
sort. Like the narrator, I was intimidated by the people, with different races, who sounded great
speaking English when I first moved here in California. Honestly, adapting the culture and
Americans way of speaking and thinking is a difficult task to do.
Philippine culture is so different than American tradition in so many ways. First, the fashion
there consists of shirt and shorts throughout the year. Given that it is tropical, I was not used to
jackets and pants during fall and winter season. Second, rice is a big part of a Filipino meal.

Eating hamburger with fries or pizza was not my thing. Third, learning how to drive is not a
must there. And when I learned that mass transportation is not that promoted in the Los Angeles
area, I simply prayed every night, hoping to not crash myself one day.
As I moved along more to the story, I find it enjoyable to read the French words included in the
other paragraphs. Although I do not understand the full meaning of the sentences being said, I
like the fact that the emphasis of being in Paris and learning French language is present in every
sentence.
Like the narrator, I was also overwhelmed by the flow of words of another language. Many
people noticed my thick accent when I moved here. Therefore, some made fun of me, subtly
laughing at or imitating me behind my back. Those people are very similar to the teacher of the
narrator, discouraging improvement for my part or for the part of the forty-year old. Various
students can be really inconsiderate, but similarly, that did not stop me from adapting and
improving my ways of learning and living with satisfaction. I certainly pushed myself to receive
more criticisms so I can be better at my goalto adapt and learn a new languagejust like the
forty-year old.
The two things I disliked about the story are the French words that are not translated and the fact
that the name of the author was not mentioned. The not-translated words are probably part of
your style, Mr. Sedaris but at the same time, it was a bit inconvenient for the readers to translate
the words themselves using some dictionary or internet search engine. I am not saying that the
style is not unique. It is absolutely one-of-a-kind but you should have included some form of
translation, especially for those who completely do not know French. And as for the name of the
narrator, I was not sure if the author was a he or a she. Maybe it was briefly mentioned in the
story but it was not clear. Hence, the whole time I was reading the story, I was guessing whether
the narrator is a male or a female. Not that the gender of the narrator matters but the sex tend to
clarify the fears or feelings of the narrator in general.
The story overall, as I have been mentioning, is very relatable and I would definitely recommend
it to others. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story to the world, Mr. Sedaris. Have a
wonderful day.

A new fan of yours,

Kristel Pedrina