I constantly marvel at my brain, and assume that everyone else has similar experiences. Things like dreams and the twists and turns they take, the random insertion of a similarly sounding but very inappropriate word for the word I'm seeking, the complete blanking of a memory that I later recall very well...

But only once have I forgotten my own language. Face to face with a bear on a road I tell myself that it probably doesn't realize that I'm human, therefore to be avoided, and that if I speak it will realize its mistake and go away.

I could literally not think of a word. So I said, la, la, la.