language acquisition trauma 2025-09-17T01:45:47Z
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The cabbages laughed at me. Not literally, of course, but the vendor's smirk when I stammered "one... gè cabbage?" cut deeper than any language textbook failure. Measure words were my personal hell—those tiny linguistic landmines turning simple market trips into humiliation rituals. I'd mastered tones, conquered characters, yet ordering fruit felt like defusing bombs. "One gè watermelon?" Wrong. Laughter. "One tiáo watermelon?" More laughter. My notebook filled with crossed-out attempts until pa