do i have covid, confusion and creole

[amw]

The past day or two have been consumed by me worrying if i have COVID. The odds are that i don't, because most recent numbers only show a few thousand active cases in the entire country, and anyway my lifestyle is relatively safe... Or, at least, i think it is

Comments

[spiffikins]

When I was in high school, and actively taking classes in french and english - and hanging around other people who were in the same classes - I would find myself using French words when speaking English

[savoylibertine]

It's hard learning a new language without acrewing things up. :( I am trying to learn Portuguese and the only French I know is, oui, Pourquoi?, non and tais toi. (Shut your mouth). I suck. LOL

And that hallaca looks yummy. Get better soon.

[king_of_apathy]

Like you, learning languages takes it out of me, much more than teaching them does. And especially when my lessons are online, which really makes it a struggle to focus. I was doing Korean lessons for a couple of hours on a Tuesday and Thursday morning, and will start again in the New Year.

Unlike you I don't see to making nearly as much progress, despite having a lot of need to learn in order to get by in my day to day. Maybe some people are just naturals at picking it up, though that could also be an excuse i'm telling myself.

Hong Kong is mostly Cantonese and Shenzhen is mostly Mandarin, right? I think before I presumed Shenzhen was Cantonese but now it sounds like you have a decent understanding of both of China's most common languages!

Hope it turns out to be just a cold. I know that feeling of uncertainty well. Every time I cough in the classroom I'm answered by "teacher, corona?"

[amw]

I do think some people are better at learning languages than others, but i also think that it is a cop out for anyone to say that they point-blank can't learn other languages. The fact we all learned at least one language as children tells us that the capacity to learn is in there somewhere, it's just a matter of committing to it

[king_of_apathy]

I'm trying to imagine eight hours of language lessons for five days a week, I think i'd get so zoned out after a while.

I'll keep trying, but what with work, house work and my own free time to squeeze it around, it may well take some years yet.

[opakele]

Happy New Year!

Get better.

[mhaithaca]

Thanks for the language laughs! French is the foreign language most deeply ingrained in my head, since I started learning it as a kid, and every once in a while it leaps out of my mouth at wildly irrelevant moments. Your Creole comments also remind me of an Italian professor friend's little kids who were totally bilingual but would come up with things like "molto close."

Hope you're feeling lots better soon!