allow me to indulge my inner language geek...
For those of you who don't know, I planned through HS and as I started college to be a Modern Foreign Languages major and study as many languages as possible. Nyack offered only Spanish and French starting in the seventh grade and while petitioning/begging them to add other languages, I enrolled in Spanish because it's infinitely more useful than French in this area. Sometimes I think Spanish is the first language of the NY area. I took only Spanish from 7th-10th grade, when I sat for the Regents (NY State Exam) and got a 99. While I loved Spanish, it wasn't particularly challenging to me, so I took French I Independent Study over the summer and in 11th and 12th grades sat in French II and III while also taking Spanish IV and V. At the end of Senior year, I had to sit for the Regents in French and the AP in Spanish. 99 on the French Regents, a 4 on the Spanish AP. I guess you could always say languages came easy to me.
I planned to major in Spanish and French, and when I took the placement test for both, I placed into the Advanced Levels. For Spanish it was a no brainer and I excelled, but my French class wasn't the same. It had no structure. On Monday we talked (in English) about what we did over the weekend, on Friday we talked about what we were going to do, and maybe on Wednesday we did some French. I don't even recall having a textbook for that class. Not liking the class took away my interest in the language. I never loved French like I do Spanish. Some say it's because I didn't spend any time in France, but I loved Spain even before I went there. So I dropped French, and eventually I switched to a minor in Spanish. It wasn't that I didn't like Spanish, but rather I realised that a Spanish major with no desire to go into education was useless. I still took Spanish all the way through my junior year and loved the Commercial Spanish class because it was the first time I was really challenged.
My Spanish fell by the wayside when I was in Japan, but I always loved reading books in Spanish. I've read El Principito, parts of Don Quijote, and several other titles. I only kicked it back into gear when I made the decision to leave Japan and go to Madrid to study for my TEFL Certificate. But in the mean time, I was struggling with Japanese. Part of it was I think the complexity of trying to learn a language based on a non-roman alphabet outside of a traditional classroom setting, and part of it was my age. I do believe it can be harder to learn a language as you get older. That being said, I learned to manage in Japan. I could hold a basic conversation, though I'd never pass a grammar test. I learned hiragana and katakana and some basic Kanji, but I didn't have a great interest in learning Japanese.
But then back to Spain and Spanish, whatever I'd lost in two years of non-study, I got back quickly when I was living in Spain in the Fall of 2002. My written grammar is better than my spoken grammar but if I slow down and correct myself, I can get it right. My comprehension is fairly solid, which amuses the students in my ESL class. They often forget how much I can understand them and blush when they realise I know what they've said. Nothing bad, just what you'd expect of a group of 20something men, no matter what their native language. I know that I'm at the level where the only real improvements I'm going to make is by immersion--living with native speakers, and not in a city like Madrid or Buenos Aires. Yes, for the first time I'm also looking at improving my Latin American Spanish. We learnt Castilian Spanish in hs and college and while useful, I really wish they'd taught us more LA Spanish. Maybe on my trip through South America.
That brings me (finally) to my point. I realised yesterday while trying to be a good soul and help someone in lj_maintenance that my French has gone to utter shit. I can still read and understand but because I never had much grasp on the grammar, I can barely form basic sentences. :( That makes me sad. It shows the truth in use it or lose it though. I was talking to lpp282 last night about how I wanted to work on my French again, but how I really wouldn't have the opportunity to put it to much use. Browsing the languages section in B&N today (for adult_esl purposes as well, which is a novel for another day), I started to think about how much I miss learning languages. I want to start one back again. Given my current travel plans, which language(s) do you think I should study? Anyone know why Poll Creator is sucking? The obvious answer seems, to me, to be Portuguese liven the sheer size of Brazil and my plans to travel north through South America, but I really don't know. Sure, there are a zillion and a half languages spoken in South Africa and while I plan to learn phrases so as not to be an obnoxious American while travelling, I don't really have an interest in learning any of those languages.
On the other hand, part of me wants to finally learn a non romance language. I want to challenge myself. I spent more than an hour in the language section of B&N (see subject) and I laughed that both the Latin and ASL sections were bigger than some of the other more commonly spoken languages. In terms of selection, the largest sections were ESL, Spanish, French, German, Latin and ASL but they had a little on everything--including Gaelic, Serbian and Tagalog. If I were to study a totally impractical language, any suggestions?
I'm going to geek around some of the language comms, I need to meet some new people and maybe find some answers. I've found quite a few comms through an interests search, can any of you recommend any comms? See,
Ashley, you're far from the only language geek here :-D
:points to icon:
*loves on a_thing_sublime*
This icon says so much about what I'm feeling these days.
Even though I thought better of it and made the anti-drama post private, what I said still applies. I've seen enough drama this last week to last me six lifetimes. I'm declaring my journal a drama free zone. We must protect teh gerbil! I think everyone has been spending waay too much time together--in comms, friends lists and commentversations. I need a break, I need a change of scenery. Not going anywhere, just commenting on a need to find new people not from the support or ER comms.
Before I run off, shivedheart gave me five questions to answer
1. What turned you on to taking photographs?
I don't know. I've always been somewhat of a shutterbug. I took a photography class in high school and loved it, and continued to click away. Got a digital camera in December 2001 and I took full advantage of being able to take as many photos as I wanted without feeling as if I was wasting money. 85 pics of sunset at the Twelve Apostles, sure. It's all gone from there.
2. When did you realize you were a George Clooney fan?
Detective Falconer! I started watching ER when he left Sisters. I'm not a huge Clooney fan, haven't seen most of what he's done, but I just think he's drop dead gorgeous.
3. If you could change one thing, and only one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'm fairly happy with myself. Sure, I'm not a model thin Miss America candidate, but I'm happy. I think I'd have to go with my teeth. Not because they're not perfectly straight and pearly white, but because they cause me so much pain and cost so much money. I wish I had a magic wand to fix them without pain.
4. Would you rather have all the wealth in the world, or true love?
Would I be poor if I were in love? I don't want all the wealth because I'd have no idea what to do with it, but I don't know what true love is, so I don't know that I'd want that either. I just want to be happy.
5. Do you believe in love at first sight and why?
Nope. Lust, yes. Love, no. I think in order to truly love someone you have to know them and you can't tell that at first sight.
I know this meme is a zillion and a half years old and I ignored it the first three times it went around, but if you want to ask me questions, comment, and if you want me to ask you questions, comment.
Wow. Novel. 1,549 words. I've had a lot to say this week, haven't I?
I planned to major in Spanish and French, and when I took the placement test for both, I placed into the Advanced Levels. For Spanish it was a no brainer and I excelled, but my French class wasn't the same. It had no structure. On Monday we talked (in English) about what we did over the weekend, on Friday we talked about what we were going to do, and maybe on Wednesday we did some French. I don't even recall having a textbook for that class. Not liking the class took away my interest in the language. I never loved French like I do Spanish. Some say it's because I didn't spend any time in France, but I loved Spain even before I went there. So I dropped French, and eventually I switched to a minor in Spanish. It wasn't that I didn't like Spanish, but rather I realised that a Spanish major with no desire to go into education was useless. I still took Spanish all the way through my junior year and loved the Commercial Spanish class because it was the first time I was really challenged.
My Spanish fell by the wayside when I was in Japan, but I always loved reading books in Spanish. I've read El Principito, parts of Don Quijote, and several other titles. I only kicked it back into gear when I made the decision to leave Japan and go to Madrid to study for my TEFL Certificate. But in the mean time, I was struggling with Japanese. Part of it was I think the complexity of trying to learn a language based on a non-roman alphabet outside of a traditional classroom setting, and part of it was my age. I do believe it can be harder to learn a language as you get older. That being said, I learned to manage in Japan. I could hold a basic conversation, though I'd never pass a grammar test. I learned hiragana and katakana and some basic Kanji, but I didn't have a great interest in learning Japanese.
But then back to Spain and Spanish, whatever I'd lost in two years of non-study, I got back quickly when I was living in Spain in the Fall of 2002. My written grammar is better than my spoken grammar but if I slow down and correct myself, I can get it right. My comprehension is fairly solid, which amuses the students in my ESL class. They often forget how much I can understand them and blush when they realise I know what they've said. Nothing bad, just what you'd expect of a group of 20something men, no matter what their native language. I know that I'm at the level where the only real improvements I'm going to make is by immersion--living with native speakers, and not in a city like Madrid or Buenos Aires. Yes, for the first time I'm also looking at improving my Latin American Spanish. We learnt Castilian Spanish in hs and college and while useful, I really wish they'd taught us more LA Spanish. Maybe on my trip through South America.
That brings me (finally) to my point. I realised yesterday while trying to be a good soul and help someone in lj_maintenance that my French has gone to utter shit. I can still read and understand but because I never had much grasp on the grammar, I can barely form basic sentences. :( That makes me sad. It shows the truth in use it or lose it though. I was talking to lpp282 last night about how I wanted to work on my French again, but how I really wouldn't have the opportunity to put it to much use. Browsing the languages section in B&N today (for adult_esl purposes as well, which is a novel for another day), I started to think about how much I miss learning languages. I want to start one back again. Given my current travel plans, which language(s) do you think I should study? Anyone know why Poll Creator is sucking? The obvious answer seems, to me, to be Portuguese liven the sheer size of Brazil and my plans to travel north through South America, but I really don't know. Sure, there are a zillion and a half languages spoken in South Africa and while I plan to learn phrases so as not to be an obnoxious American while travelling, I don't really have an interest in learning any of those languages.
On the other hand, part of me wants to finally learn a non romance language. I want to challenge myself. I spent more than an hour in the language section of B&N (see subject) and I laughed that both the Latin and ASL sections were bigger than some of the other more commonly spoken languages. In terms of selection, the largest sections were ESL, Spanish, French, German, Latin and ASL but they had a little on everything--including Gaelic, Serbian and Tagalog. If I were to study a totally impractical language, any suggestions?
I'm going to geek around some of the language comms, I need to meet some new people and maybe find some answers. I've found quite a few comms through an interests search, can any of you recommend any comms? See,
Ashley, you're far from the only language geek here :-D
:points to icon:
*loves on a_thing_sublime*
This icon says so much about what I'm feeling these days.
Even though I thought better of it and made the anti-drama post private, what I said still applies. I've seen enough drama this last week to last me six lifetimes. I'm declaring my journal a drama free zone. We must protect teh gerbil! I think everyone has been spending waay too much time together--in comms, friends lists and commentversations. I need a break, I need a change of scenery. Not going anywhere, just commenting on a need to find new people not from the support or ER comms.
Before I run off, shivedheart gave me five questions to answer
1. What turned you on to taking photographs?
I don't know. I've always been somewhat of a shutterbug. I took a photography class in high school and loved it, and continued to click away. Got a digital camera in December 2001 and I took full advantage of being able to take as many photos as I wanted without feeling as if I was wasting money. 85 pics of sunset at the Twelve Apostles, sure. It's all gone from there.
2. When did you realize you were a George Clooney fan?
Detective Falconer! I started watching ER when he left Sisters. I'm not a huge Clooney fan, haven't seen most of what he's done, but I just think he's drop dead gorgeous.
3. If you could change one thing, and only one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'm fairly happy with myself. Sure, I'm not a model thin Miss America candidate, but I'm happy. I think I'd have to go with my teeth. Not because they're not perfectly straight and pearly white, but because they cause me so much pain and cost so much money. I wish I had a magic wand to fix them without pain.
4. Would you rather have all the wealth in the world, or true love?
Would I be poor if I were in love? I don't want all the wealth because I'd have no idea what to do with it, but I don't know what true love is, so I don't know that I'd want that either. I just want to be happy.
5. Do you believe in love at first sight and why?
Nope. Lust, yes. Love, no. I think in order to truly love someone you have to know them and you can't tell that at first sight.
I know this meme is a zillion and a half years old and I ignored it the first three times it went around, but if you want to ask me questions, comment, and if you want me to ask you questions, comment.
Wow. Novel. 1,549 words. I've had a lot to say this week, haven't I?