Writer's Block: Multilingual
Or how many languages do I want to speak? Or how many languages do I wish I spoke?
Really, I guess I'm only fluent in English. Though when I was little I was in French immersion and apparently only speaking french there, so.... maybe it's still there in my brain somewhere. Actually, I was watching a french movie and was thinking that, so I closed my eyes and relaxed - not trying to understand but just... passively listening... and I knew what they were saying. I thought I did, anyway. I just knew. It was weird. I wasn't necessarily hearing every word and remembering what they meant, but I just heard them say something about him not liking her hat and that she should get another one... and I opened my eyes and she was running back with a hat on her head and another one in her hand, so.... I guess in a way I know French. But i won't count that.
Then there's German. I wish, wish, wish that my family had brought me up knowing German!! My Granddad speaks it fluently, and we could have easily learned it too - except that he really just wanted to get away from Germany and his past, and move here to Canada. So, he never spoke it in front of my mum... I mean not a lot... he did if he was talking to visiting relatives or relatives on the phone or something (same as now) but it was never constant or anything.
Really though, German is so close to English that if i wanted to learn it now it could probably be easy. Right? Plus, I am used to hearing it now and again by random relatives... just.. I don't know.
You need to really have a passion to learn a language well I think, or atleast to stick with it long enough... especially if you're learning it basically on your own. So I don't know about German. It would be mega good to have, though.
And of course Japanese. That's a given. I'm learning right now.... and it's very fun. I'm aware that I will hit spots that are not as fun, but... right now... it's pretty fun. It's fun looking at Japanese websites and actually having and idea of what they might be saying. Each time I watch Elizabeth it's like a whole new play. Each time I know so many new words and phrases that it's a whole new story opening up to me and it's awesome!!
Anyway... after getting all these Chinese gifts from my granddad, I really want to learn Chinese still, I think. It's just that it would take so long... right? But there's nothing wrong with atleast having a general knowledge of Chinese... I did start taking a class in college. Apparently I pronounced things well... and I got the hang of the tones. Hm. Whatever....
So, Korean would be nice, but would I really spend all that time if I might not even go to Korea? Why else would I need it... to watch what are (in my opinion) the best damn movies in the world?!?! hmm...
And there's also Slovak, which I think is the most beautiful sounding language that I've heard (and then maybe Hebrew?) and then there's also Hungarian. I would actually like to go to Slovakia, and Hungary... it would be cool to settle in a mountain village in Slovakia and grow my own food and live off the land. Yeah, I say that now....
So, I think that's it. Oh fucking goodness!!! WELSH!!!! How could I have forgotten!??? That is a language I'm learning. I have been learning it between Japanese... and a year or two ago there was a time that I was learning that solely and not Japanese, and I actually knew more of that than Japanese (which still wasn't much) but still - love!! Cymru am byth!!! (I think..?)
Oh and somehow I've found similarities between the two, and between the cultures even.... I think they both eat this exact type of seaweed food that grows along their shores... I thought that was cool. And some words are the same too, i think, like eto... and I can't remember the other ones. dansio and dawnsio sounded the same... ok I'm not sure if those are the correct spelling. Eeeh. But it's cool finding similarities in languages... I think I am really, really interested in linguistics.
Ok so for Welsh, I don't know what the need to be to speak it would be... it's not like you need to speak it to live there. But... I don't know... it all started with the series that I am writing and really in love with. I don't know. I love Wales a lot, and I want to know Welsh, and I can also read old beautiful texts of mythology and so on? Maybe the Mabinogian?? Yay, that would be awesome.
Ok that's it. What a long ramble....
Really, I guess I'm only fluent in English. Though when I was little I was in French immersion and apparently only speaking french there, so.... maybe it's still there in my brain somewhere. Actually, I was watching a french movie and was thinking that, so I closed my eyes and relaxed - not trying to understand but just... passively listening... and I knew what they were saying. I thought I did, anyway. I just knew. It was weird. I wasn't necessarily hearing every word and remembering what they meant, but I just heard them say something about him not liking her hat and that she should get another one... and I opened my eyes and she was running back with a hat on her head and another one in her hand, so.... I guess in a way I know French. But i won't count that.
Then there's German. I wish, wish, wish that my family had brought me up knowing German!! My Granddad speaks it fluently, and we could have easily learned it too - except that he really just wanted to get away from Germany and his past, and move here to Canada. So, he never spoke it in front of my mum... I mean not a lot... he did if he was talking to visiting relatives or relatives on the phone or something (same as now) but it was never constant or anything.
Really though, German is so close to English that if i wanted to learn it now it could probably be easy. Right? Plus, I am used to hearing it now and again by random relatives... just.. I don't know.
You need to really have a passion to learn a language well I think, or atleast to stick with it long enough... especially if you're learning it basically on your own. So I don't know about German. It would be mega good to have, though.
And of course Japanese. That's a given. I'm learning right now.... and it's very fun. I'm aware that I will hit spots that are not as fun, but... right now... it's pretty fun. It's fun looking at Japanese websites and actually having and idea of what they might be saying. Each time I watch Elizabeth it's like a whole new play. Each time I know so many new words and phrases that it's a whole new story opening up to me and it's awesome!!
Anyway... after getting all these Chinese gifts from my granddad, I really want to learn Chinese still, I think. It's just that it would take so long... right? But there's nothing wrong with atleast having a general knowledge of Chinese... I did start taking a class in college. Apparently I pronounced things well... and I got the hang of the tones. Hm. Whatever....
So, Korean would be nice, but would I really spend all that time if I might not even go to Korea? Why else would I need it... to watch what are (in my opinion) the best damn movies in the world?!?! hmm...
And there's also Slovak, which I think is the most beautiful sounding language that I've heard (and then maybe Hebrew?) and then there's also Hungarian. I would actually like to go to Slovakia, and Hungary... it would be cool to settle in a mountain village in Slovakia and grow my own food and live off the land. Yeah, I say that now....
So, I think that's it. Oh fucking goodness!!! WELSH!!!! How could I have forgotten!??? That is a language I'm learning. I have been learning it between Japanese... and a year or two ago there was a time that I was learning that solely and not Japanese, and I actually knew more of that than Japanese (which still wasn't much) but still - love!! Cymru am byth!!! (I think..?)
Oh and somehow I've found similarities between the two, and between the cultures even.... I think they both eat this exact type of seaweed food that grows along their shores... I thought that was cool. And some words are the same too, i think, like eto... and I can't remember the other ones. dansio and dawnsio sounded the same... ok I'm not sure if those are the correct spelling. Eeeh. But it's cool finding similarities in languages... I think I am really, really interested in linguistics.
Ok so for Welsh, I don't know what the need to be to speak it would be... it's not like you need to speak it to live there. But... I don't know... it all started with the series that I am writing and really in love with. I don't know. I love Wales a lot, and I want to know Welsh, and I can also read old beautiful texts of mythology and so on? Maybe the Mabinogian?? Yay, that would be awesome.
Ok that's it. What a long ramble....