cultural background, etc.
i snagged this from veraxia after responding to her. call it learning more about you guys if you are willing to share :)
-- What do you consider your cultural (ethnic/racial/whatever) background to be? Does it make you a minority where you live? Do you "look like" the common perception of your background?
-- How does language fit into your cultural background? How many languages do you speak? Which ones? Where does English fall into that dynamic?
Basically, anything about your cultural/ethnic/racial background you feel like sharing.
What do you consider your cultural (/ethnic/racial/whatever) background to be? Does it make you a minority where you live? Do you "look like" the common perception of your background?
well as anyone knows me knows, outwardly in appearance i am Caucasian/white. ancestrally, i am mostly* Irish/Italian. my dad is full-blood Irish, and my mother is half-Irish, half-Italian. Grandpa was full-blooded Italian--his parents emigrated from Bologna in the early 1900s. Dad's grandmother (whom i called GG, though her real name was Catherine) came from Ireland in 1914 as i recall.
* - unfortunately little else is known about my ancestry but mom's best friend is Mormon and therefore has access to their extensive geneaology records. she has had some luck research my grandpa Larry's (dad's dad) parents (Great-grandpa Larry Sr. and his wife) and it is possible that there is some German mixed in there because it appears that Larry Sr's mother was a woman whose maiden name was Weber and was said to be from Eastern Germany.) i hope to learn more eventually.
on looks, i have had people tell me that i look both Italian and Irish, and i hear Irish more these days but this does tend to come from people who are acquainted with the parents, therefore they say i have "your father's Irish look". interestingly enough, i have had strangers tell me that, despite their being no relation between trinitylayne and myself, that her daughter/the child i call my niece (who has some Irish/British in her, but is Hispanic from her sperm donor's side and resembles that side at times) could pass for mine. maybe we have a common ancestor from the Irish side? who knows.
How does language fit into your cultural background? How many languages do you speak? Which ones? Where does English fall into that dynamic?
regrettably i'm only fluent in English. i was forced to take Spanish for my high school language and promptly forgot most of it once i passed the classes. my second year teacher was not very conducive to a good learning environment (treating you like an idiot if you didn't grasp the little things) and i wanted to learn French instead of having to learn Spanish "because i should because of all the Hispanics who can't speak English in this state" (so said mom. my response: and they can learn English just as well, thank you very much).
i've been trying to teach myself Gaelic since that IS one of my native languages, but it's slow going. however i do have an English-Gaelic dictionary.
i know tidbits of Latin also--dad's longtime friend John took five years and when i asked for translations of Enya songs that she did in Latin, he provided them in detail and explained some of the Latin syntax to me as well.
-- What do you consider your cultural (ethnic/racial/whatever) background to be? Does it make you a minority where you live? Do you "look like" the common perception of your background?
-- How does language fit into your cultural background? How many languages do you speak? Which ones? Where does English fall into that dynamic?
Basically, anything about your cultural/ethnic/racial background you feel like sharing.
What do you consider your cultural (/ethnic/racial/whatever) background to be? Does it make you a minority where you live? Do you "look like" the common perception of your background?
well as anyone knows me knows, outwardly in appearance i am Caucasian/white. ancestrally, i am mostly* Irish/Italian. my dad is full-blood Irish, and my mother is half-Irish, half-Italian. Grandpa was full-blooded Italian--his parents emigrated from Bologna in the early 1900s. Dad's grandmother (whom i called GG, though her real name was Catherine) came from Ireland in 1914 as i recall.
* - unfortunately little else is known about my ancestry but mom's best friend is Mormon and therefore has access to their extensive geneaology records. she has had some luck research my grandpa Larry's (dad's dad) parents (Great-grandpa Larry Sr. and his wife) and it is possible that there is some German mixed in there because it appears that Larry Sr's mother was a woman whose maiden name was Weber and was said to be from Eastern Germany.) i hope to learn more eventually.
on looks, i have had people tell me that i look both Italian and Irish, and i hear Irish more these days but this does tend to come from people who are acquainted with the parents, therefore they say i have "your father's Irish look". interestingly enough, i have had strangers tell me that, despite their being no relation between trinitylayne and myself, that her daughter/the child i call my niece (who has some Irish/British in her, but is Hispanic from her sperm donor's side and resembles that side at times) could pass for mine. maybe we have a common ancestor from the Irish side? who knows.
How does language fit into your cultural background? How many languages do you speak? Which ones? Where does English fall into that dynamic?
regrettably i'm only fluent in English. i was forced to take Spanish for my high school language and promptly forgot most of it once i passed the classes. my second year teacher was not very conducive to a good learning environment (treating you like an idiot if you didn't grasp the little things) and i wanted to learn French instead of having to learn Spanish "because i should because of all the Hispanics who can't speak English in this state" (so said mom. my response: and they can learn English just as well, thank you very much).
i've been trying to teach myself Gaelic since that IS one of my native languages, but it's slow going. however i do have an English-Gaelic dictionary.
i know tidbits of Latin also--dad's longtime friend John took five years and when i asked for translations of Enya songs that she did in Latin, he provided them in detail and explained some of the Latin syntax to me as well.