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Solfrid Cristin’s way TAC 2011 Team Ohana | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5265 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 73 of 221 11 February 2011 at 1:25am | IP Logged | |||||
The French do make fun of the Swiss people's accent. Personally I love it as it reminds me of my holidays in the South of France and the friends I made there -- a lot of Swiss people vacation where I went as a kid. In any case we also make fun of the Belgian accent. Everyone makes fun a little of everybody else, and it's all in good sport. Perhaps they just though you had a Germanic accent but that you spoke very good French, and deduced you were Swiss? Also, I find it great that your family doesn't mind you travelling and sometimes comes along. Does everyone in your family love languages? Edited by joanthemaid on 11 February 2011 at 1:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5129 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 74 of 221 11 February 2011 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
The thing is, I may be delusional, but I didn't think I had a Germanic accent. I have previously gotten a lot of compliments for it, and this is the first two to have mentioned anything about a Swiss accent. None of them were native Wallons,though, even if they were both fluent in French. One of them was Arabic, and the other one I am not quite sure. But I suppose that it would make sense if I after decades of hardly using it would lose the accent, and get a more Germanic one. Actually my kids do mind me travelling, but since it is part of my job, they just have to live with it. And yes, we are all fond of languages, though the rest of them are not language fanatics the way I am. My husband speaks English very well, he speaks German and can do a little Polish, particularly on the topic of steam engines, where he can be positively eloquent in Polish. My 14 year old is fluent in English, and is learning Spanish with excellent results, even though she is too shy to speak with strangers.She dabbles a little in French. My 11 year old is fluent in English and dabbles a little in French and Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5265 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 75 of 221 11 February 2011 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
Of course I don't know your accent at all. Maybe you do have a Vaudois accent. Are your kids also familiar with other Scandinavian languages, like you said you were? In any case they seem to be on the right track to becoming polyglots. When I was 11 I was entirely monolingual. Well, ok, I only speak two languages fluently now, but if I learn one every ten years... Well, that's my current rate but I'm hoping to pick up a little speed. What is your job? Apparently your husband's is something to do with steam engines? Edited by joanthemaid on 11 February 2011 at 5:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5129 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 76 of 221 12 February 2011 at 9:34am | IP Logged | |||||
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My kids are not particularly familiar with the other Scandinavian accents, because where I used to watch the Swedish television, they watch English or mostly American films. However the languages are so similar, that by their own estimates they understand 70%, and my guess is that after a couple of weeks of holidays there they would have understood close to a 100%. Not because of their language interest, but because the languages are really very similar.
I am head of International Affairs at the Norwegian Rail Infrastructure Company, Jernbaneverket, and my husband works for the same company, and the steam engine part is in principle just a hobby of his. He is 4rth generation railway man, whereas I could just have worked in any company, as long as I worked with international affairs. It is however a brilliant opportunity for someone with my language inclination, because I get to use foreign languages every day, I get to travel to foreign countries where I can practise my languages and they actually pay for my Russian lessons and all my study materials. Sadly, I do not have much time for taking lessons,my last lesson was in October or November, but I guess that would be too much to ask for. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5129 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 77 of 221 13 February 2011 at 8:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Today I will not write about my language studies, because it is so hard for me to focus on studies right now, so apart from my 10 minutes here and there of Russian, and a few pages of French, I have not done anything the last few days.
I do however want to share with you what has been a very special day in my life. We celebrate Mother's day in Norway today, and as those of you who have followed my log might understand, it was a day I had dreaded, as it is only three weeks since I lost my mother, and this is the first Mother's day without her. My own two daughters had made plans to make it a special day for me, and woke me up at 6.30 this morning to serve me breakfast in bed and to give me my presents. They had even dragged their father with them shopping yesterday, to make sure that he would get me a present. At 11 we went to church, because my daughter is preparing for her confirmation, and it was freezing outside, 18 degrees below zero, and lots and lots of snow, but it was also a beautiful, clear day with lots of sunshine. In the afternoon we were invited to the house of a friend of mine from Peru, and she and her mother had coocked us a typical meal from Peru, and I was translating back and forth between Norwegian and Spanish, since my husband and a friend of his, that he had brought, understood no Spanish, and my friend's mother speaks only Spanish. February 13th is also a very special date for me, because that is the date my husband and I started being together. We had been meeting up a few times, as friends, but that evening I had invited him to dinner, and he brought me a box of After Eight chocolate, wishing me happy Mother's day. "But I do not have any children ", I protested. "I know, but that is for the children you and I are going to have" he answered. I thought he was raving mad, but that evening we kissed for the first time. Exactly one month later, March 13th he asked me to marry him, in April we bought a house, in May we moved in together and in June we got married and we now have two beautiful daughters aged 11 and almost 15. That first evening was 17 years ago, today, and as you see, it changed my life. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5265 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 78 of 221 14 February 2011 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
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My thoughts to you, and to your mother... I am glad to hear that you managed this Mother's day well.
The story of how you met your husband is very romantic. Happy Valentine's day (I don't know if you celebrate that too) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5129 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 79 of 221 23 February 2011 at 12:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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@joanthemaid Thank you for your kind words
FRENCH Over the last week I have been reading a crime novel in French, of 520 pages. It has gone very slowly, because I disliked the story so much. I am starting to realize, that I prefer romantic, fluffy stories, or if it is a crime novel I want my murders nice and unmessy, preferably with unpleasent victims, Agatha Christie being at the top of my list. This book was translated from English, and its original title was "Child 44", and the author was Tom Rob Smith. I chose it, because the action was from the Soviet Union, and I figured that I would then learn some more about Russia as well. The problem was, that under Stalin, that was not a very nice society, and the whole atmosphere got under my skin. The contrast between peaceful, easygoing, democratic little Norway in the year 2011 and the Soviet Union from the 30ies to the late 60ies/ early 70ies could hardly have been greater. I am actually praying that conditions were not as bad as depicted in the book. The bad news is that I bought the next book in the series as well. Ough. Now I will have to read it. At least I did not have much problems with the language. I never use a dictionary when I read a book, but here there was in any event not more than 1-3 words per page that I did not understand, so that was o.k. Do the rest of you find that literature in translation is easier to read than materiel which is in the original language? I do. I have a theory that it is because when you translate something, you have to make the language more "flat" and therefore also easier. RUSSIAN I have only done my little 10 minutes here and there, and some Anki lately. I seem uncapable of doing serius studying at the time being. SPANISH/ENGLISH/GERMAN I have talked a bit Spanish with my friend from Peru, and seen an episode of a show called "Moonlight" in Spanish. I am overdosing on the "Vampire Diaries" in English with English subtitles with my daughters at the moment, since we just decided to go to a vampire convention in Barcelona in June to meet the Salvatore brothers, and I decided I needed to know what it was all about. (When I told my sister we were going to a vampire convention, she said" Now that was one thing I did not expect to hear from your mouth"). I have not actually done any German this week, but I will need to do that very soon, as we are going to Kiel in Germany next weekend. I'll be travelling with 4 children and my husband, so I do not think I will actually get to speak all that much German, but it is nice to be prepared. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5937 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 80 of 221 23 February 2011 at 12:57am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ahhh, I envy you living in Europe and being able to travel internationally so easily and frequently. I leave the United States maybe once or twice a year maximum; the last time I even left my state was in October, never mind the country which was back in July. And I know lots of people who have never left the country at all... I'm moving to Europe as soon as I get the chance. I don't care where really, as long as it's in Europe (and preferably English wouldn't be the official language). Edited by ellasevia on 23 February 2011 at 12:59am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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