Bob - thanks, you made something much better out of my post. I think you hit on something important (and that line - "Speaking a new language proficiently is more like a performance art" - is beautifully succinct). I grew up speaking Italian and well as English; I can't remember a time when I didn't speak both. Over the years, I've found the strangest thing: when I speak Italian, even to myself, in my own head, not only is the language different, but the very words/ideas that come to me are different. It's as if I was a celebrity impressionist: if I'm doing Marlon Brando, what I say is very different than what would I'd say if I was doing Woody Allen. Somehow the sounds themselves carry a kind of meaning/intention. So, as silly as this sounds, I think that when someone is trying to learn,say, French, the best thing to do (and the equivalent of your throwing caution to the wind/performance art) is to pretend that one is French, i.e. to give your sense of yourself over to the language, the sound. And so, yes, as you suggest: working on a new site/golf course is akin to jumping in to a new language -- the bolder and braver you are, the better it works out
Peter