I have spent the last six months in Tirana studying the Albanian language. The language is complex and beautifully unique, but in my opinion it has one glaring flaw. There is no word in Albanian for it. Sure, if you ask Google Translate, they will give you a word. But trust me, that word is not it. There is no singular neuter personal pronoun in Albanian. Of course, there are words… he, she, this, that, or even thing, that can take its place. But unfortunately, none of these words are it. Each of the potential substitute words represents a matrix of words, with two genders (male and female), two types (definite and indefinite), and five cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative). So without even considering number (singular and plural), or the rarely used vocative case, there are literally a hundred different ways to say it.

I can’t count the times over the last half a year when my verbal expression has come to a standstill while my brain desperately floundered around searching for the right word for it. It may be that the biggest barrier between me and my goal to learn Albanian fluently is my perceived need to say it correctly. If you are reading this in English, you are lucky to have it. My advice to you is to be grateful for it. Don’t take it for granted because it is an underrated powerhouse of a word. Until now, I didn’t realize how much I really like it. I miss it.