[random] in which the clueless chemist says "wat? wie?"
I've been doing this a lot lately online, during Skype video chats with friends based in Germany and friends back in Manila.
What? Who? Two basic questions just to keep abreast with news and issues. My ears miss listening to (certified true) gossip either in English or in my native tongue. Not so much as to spread the news, but to understand what is going on in their part of the world.
And they also ask "wat? wie?" about me here.
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I've been Plurking in Filipino at least once a day. If only to remember how the language is thought of and written. (And conveniently disguise my personal thoughts and opinions about everyday life here as a science-scholar and a female.)
"Wat? Wie?" is translated to "Ano? Sino?" in Filipino.
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I think there's a joke somewhere in this everyday situation where you have non-native English speakers talk to each other in English. Somehow, the fullness of expression is lost in the translation.
(I can never claim to be a native English speaker, because I'm neither American or British. However, English is the second official language in the Philippines, with US English being the preferred mode of speaking. It still amuses me to find that Europeans here mistake me for an American.)
But singing is a different matter. No matter what language--English, Dutch, German, Spanish or Japanese--the emotional truths can easily be felt by anyone.
Which is why I signed up for the church choir in ACL a few weeks back. Singing in English and Latin has never felt cathartic before.
---
Workwise, everything's still fresh, exciting and interesting. And a bit stressful when one tries to multitask major things in the lab.
But there are light moments. Intriguing moments of self-discovery and entertainment. Maybe a dash of frisson caused by a trick of the mind.
What? Who? Two basic questions just to keep abreast with news and issues. My ears miss listening to (certified true) gossip either in English or in my native tongue. Not so much as to spread the news, but to understand what is going on in their part of the world.
And they also ask "wat? wie?" about me here.
---
I've been Plurking in Filipino at least once a day. If only to remember how the language is thought of and written. (And conveniently disguise my personal thoughts and opinions about everyday life here as a science-scholar and a female.)
"Wat? Wie?" is translated to "Ano? Sino?" in Filipino.
---
I think there's a joke somewhere in this everyday situation where you have non-native English speakers talk to each other in English. Somehow, the fullness of expression is lost in the translation.
(I can never claim to be a native English speaker, because I'm neither American or British. However, English is the second official language in the Philippines, with US English being the preferred mode of speaking. It still amuses me to find that Europeans here mistake me for an American.)
But singing is a different matter. No matter what language--English, Dutch, German, Spanish or Japanese--the emotional truths can easily be felt by anyone.
Which is why I signed up for the church choir in ACL a few weeks back. Singing in English and Latin has never felt cathartic before.
---
Workwise, everything's still fresh, exciting and interesting. And a bit stressful when one tries to multitask major things in the lab.
But there are light moments. Intriguing moments of self-discovery and entertainment. Maybe a dash of frisson caused by a trick of the mind.