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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5474 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 129 of 164 02 April 2010 at 10:20pm | IP Logged | ||
Hey, Quabazaa! Nice to hear from you and thanks for your explanation son Arabic! I'm not surprised you understand Italian as well as you so. Even I can understand Italian (not every single word, but pretty much all of the meaning in native show and even conversations) and I've never studied it! Plus I don't know that much Spanish and French isn't quite as similar to Italian as Spanish is. It must be nice anyway, already understanding a language when you're only just starting to learn it. I think while you're in Italy and France, if your goal is speaking the languages, you should - Stay in hostels, people socialize more in them than in hotels plus of course go out, etc... all social things - Not lock yourself in your room to learn Arabic. Whatever you forget will be more easily relearnt than the first time you learnt it and the opportunity for your other languages is too good to waste. Depending on where you are, you will certainly hear some Arabic spoken in the streets (mostly Maghrebi though, there are a few people from Lebanon in France but they don't usually use Arabic in public). It might be awkward actually getting someone to speak Arabic with you though, but you never know. In cities like Marseilles and even where I live (St Etienne), there are parts of town (not the most touristy ones) where you will hear almost only Arabic , so why not go there, even if the Office of Tourism doesn't recommend them. And most cities have a Maghrebi community. And have a good time! I don't know if my advice is any good and if it fits your project but I hope it'll be a great experience for you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 130 of 164 03 April 2010 at 12:18am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Joan thanks for the comment :) Hehe I suppose I should be happy that I can understand so much Italian, and not sad that my Arabic isn't better!! ;)
I think I did come to the conclusion that it would be silly to study any Arabic in France or Italy, although you are right, if I meet anyone speaking Arabic I should try it out :D I will just have to see how everything goes :) Anyway I am really looking forward to it! I probably won't log in here for a while so good luck on your studies for April :) Buona notte! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 131 of 164 16 April 2010 at 9:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm back! :) Luckily avoided all the volcanic ash too.. we took the train, but our original plan had been to fly, so I'm really glad we didn't! Unfortunately my parents are stuck in England right now :( May be days before they can get on a plane, and once they do it will still take them more than 30 hours to get back to NZ.
Anyway my holiday was benissimo & formidable! Sometimes I still can't believe I'm living in Europe, let alone travelling to some of the places I always dreamed of seeing! Also I can now say with authority that Buenos Aires has the best pizza ever ;) The languages were fun!!! The first thing my mum said to me was in German too :) One thing I loved about this holiday was hearing her speak more French! She may not have really used the language with me when I was young, but it may be safe to say I know where my first linguistic influence came from! :) Italy was wonderful because most people didn't speak any English to us at all, so I got to use a lot of my "Italiñol" :) Especially that part where we had a problem with our rental car... luckily the woman was really patient XD "Unfortunately" having such a great time seems to have added Italian to my overly long list of Languages I Want To Learn. My French (especially speaking) was more shaky than I remembered it being, especially the first few days in France - my brain was SO confused! Any combination of Spanish, Italian, German, English and even Arabic would come out of my mouth. An example: Buying bread. Me: Bonjour! (So far so good!) Boulanger: Bonjour Me: Voudrais deux baguettes per favore (Umm.. Italian! And no pronoun) B: (gives me a weird look but gets me the bread nonetheless) C'est tout? Me: Sí, gracias!! (I smile until I realise what I just said) B: C'est 4.30 Me: Ok.. Moment mal.. (peering at the euros I'm still not accustomed to.. oh god not another language popping out) B: (can only smile with bemusement as she gives me my change) Me: Merci beaucoup, au revoir! (Not sure whether to laugh or cry but at least I came away with lunch haha!!) Happily that mess only lasted a few days, by the time our holiday ended I was actually saying whole sentences in French. It's weird because due to learning Spanish, I think my understanding of French has actually improved, but my speaking is definitely Not Great! However, in addition to trying to interact as much as possible with local people, and going out with our French friend, I also saw a play in French, watched the news each day as well as a few movies and tried to read and listen as much as possible to whatever happened to be going on around me. Funniest encounter was probably a woman on the metro in Paris who was lost, all I could tell her was the name of the station we just arrived at, who knows if that helped.. then she left her son's toy car behind on the train, I leaped up to rescue it since the child was already starting to cry and scream "Maman, ma voiture! Ma voiture!!", and as the tone sounded to close the doors we were stretching out to each other so I could hand it back to her :P In my memory it's all in slow motion as if in a movie! In Paris I went quite far off the tourist track as well, since I was seeking out some of the places where my favourite author, Anaïs Nin, lived and wrote. That was perhaps some of the most interesting parts of my trip! So basically... it was awesome :) It definitely reawakened my love for French! And who knows about Italian, I guess I may try to work on it every now and then, because I am sure I would like to return to that country <3 Edited by Quabazaa on 16 April 2010 at 9:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5474 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 132 of 164 17 April 2010 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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So, wait. Are you living in Europe now? Or did you just visit?
Anyway, it's nice to hear you had an enjoyable trip, although you paid the price for learning three closely related languages at the same time. It will probably all become nice and separate as you get better. Although I've never gotten to a really high level in other latin languages, so I can't tell you for sure... Enfin bonne chance à toi aussi avec toutes tes langues ':O. Et ça me fait plaisir que tu te sois remotivée pour le français... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dantalian Diglot Senior Member Bouvet Island Joined 5686 days ago 125 posts - 156 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 133 of 164 18 April 2010 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Quabazaa,
I’ve dropped in at your log to write that you had awesome «linguistic holidays»! I hope (but unfortunately I cannot be sure) that the Icelandic volcano has loosened its grip to let your parents come back to NZ at long last. I saw its irruption in one of the Kenneth Anger's films I downloaded of late and it was a horrifying but impressive sight. I mentioned Anger not only in connection with the volcano but also since your favorite author, Anaïs Nin, played a role of Astarte in another film of him. I am always curious when people mention their favorite writers, which I have not read before, and made a quick search to have a look at some of her works in Russian. Although Russian internet libraries are usually full of all sort of stuff that has been published the only thing I could find this time was a short story about a rather voluptuous baron.. Having read it I can definitely say only one thing about her so far, namely, that it is not by chance that Anaïs Nin collaborated with Henry Miller. :))Her sophisticated fantasies in that story, I should say, probably exceed even those that a certain notorious marquis embodied in his works centuries ago. Anyway, the story proved that some woman’s «dreams», if unveiled, can be not only of the same quality as men’s ones or even more elaborate and imaginative but also full of psychological implications. So, it’s so nice to read your log and see you here again filled with fresh impressions and cultural insights, with your «language baggage» as full as never before! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 134 of 164 29 June 2010 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ooops I need to post! I have been diligently working away on my Spanish and German (ok, admit it, more just having fun with them than serious study) but my Arabic has slipped lately. Time to get back into it!
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 136 of 164 01 July 2010 at 5:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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x Edited by Quabazaa on 10 May 2014 at 3:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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