Comments on: The True Confessions Of A Language-aholic http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/ Online travel magazine dedicated to exploring travel in the 21st century. Offering travel news, compelling interviews, online travel tools, and more. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:14:28 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: mposani http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-90844 mposani Fri, 08 May 2009 03:49:36 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-90844 I, too, am a language-aholic. I mainly stick to the romance languages. In junior high, I was at a school that forced me to take Latin. Understanding Latin at the age of 13? No way. Not me anyway. In high school I took Italian and fell in love. Now, I'm in college, working hard as a double major in Spanish and Italian (and i've even dabbled some in French). Like you though, I just don't want to be that ignorant American who only knows English and refuses to try anything else. I, too, am a language-aholic. I mainly stick to the romance languages. In junior high, I was at a school that forced me to take Latin. Understanding Latin at the age of 13? No way. Not me anyway. In high school I took Italian and fell in love. Now, I’m in college, working hard as a double major in Spanish and Italian (and i’ve even dabbled some in French). Like you though, I just don’t want to be that ignorant American who only knows English and refuses to try anything else.

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]]> By: wietske http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-84562 wietske Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:59:26 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-84562 Hi great article!! I am also a language aholic I love learning new langauge, currently I'm learning Korean and it's just awesome to see how many words I already know because they are similair to English (bit written and pronounced different) and it's awesome to read or write something that nobody in my place understands. Besides Learning Korean I had 2 short courses of Spanish and Chinese. I'm fluent in Dutch and English, and I sort of speak the basic French and German and I know a few words in the Mongolian language. I still want to learn Cyrylic though, since that would everything much easier, altough you can recognize the most important word (supermarket) In almost every language:D Hi great article!! I am also a language aholic I love learning new langauge, currently I'm learning Korean and it's just awesome to see how many words I already know because they are similair to English (bit written and pronounced different) and it's awesome to read or write something that nobody in my place understands. Besides Learning Korean I had 2 short courses of Spanish and Chinese. I'm fluent in Dutch and English, and I sort of speak the basic French and German and I know a few words in the Mongolian language. I still want to learn Cyrylic though, since that would everything much easier, altough you can recognize the most important word (supermarket) In almost every language:D

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]]> By: Fabio http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-75446 Fabio Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:07:31 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-75446 At last I met people who love languages the way I do! Your article is not less than spectacular, fantastic, superb!!! I'm Brazilian and have always wondered to know what a foreigner would think about our Portuguese, and voilà that's the first time ever I can hear of somebody's impressions. Thanks for letting me know. Today I speak English (considered fluent by many), Spanish (fluent by everybody!), French (learnt 15 years ago and now it's basic as I don't have anybody to practice it with me) and am to start German. For an European it is not that much, but for a Brazilian it sure is. As Benny, the Irish polyglot, said, the Brazilian Northeastern region is needier of English teachers than the Southeastern one. But after this splendorous article, I want to invite Rebecca to stop by Sao Paulo and visit me! At least I'll have the pleasure of speaking many languages at once with somebody! As Brazil is one of your dreams, I'm at your disposal to give you further information in case you need. Just email me: jwt03@hotmail.com. Fabio At last I met people who love languages the way I do! Your article is not less than spectacular, fantastic, superb!!! I'm Brazilian and have always wondered to know what a foreigner would think about our Portuguese, and voilà that's the first time ever I can hear of somebody's impressions. Thanks for letting me know. Today I speak English (considered fluent by many), Spanish (fluent by everybody!), French (learnt 15 years ago and now it's basic as I don't have anybody to practice it with me) and am to start German. For an European it is not that much, but for a Brazilian it sure is. As Benny, the Irish polyglot, said, the Brazilian Northeastern region is needier of English teachers than the Southeastern one. But after this splendorous article, I want to invite Rebecca to stop by Sao Paulo and visit me! At least I'll have the pleasure of speaking many languages at once with somebody! As Brazil is one of your dreams, I'm at your disposal to give you further information in case you need. Just email me: jwt03@hotmail.com. Fabio

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]]> By: wolms http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-75444 wolms Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:04:44 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-75444 Terrific article. Terrific article.

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]]> By: Joe http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-75322 Joe Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:18:39 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-75322 i love languages! i love studying, and learning them, dissecting them, and then comparing different ones. i didnt used to be too good at spanish, i could always speak it though, but now i'm starting to make sense out of it. i've played around with french, and i had italian classes, i came in late into the course, and in less than half the time i learned far more than all my other classmates who had been there for a long while. i'm in love with latin and i'm learning it pretty fast, i'm surprised sometimes that i can actually read it. i had never liked portuguesse before, it felt like weird spanish, but recently i've found that i can actually read it without much trouble, and when i tried writting it worked out good! when i was in freshman year i got into japanese and german, which i tackled, but never really got too into it, though lately i have been studying chinese and russian, and i found chinese is not that hard really, i've been trying to pick up on greek, and although i'm still starting i can read words just fine, not so much write. languages are awesome! i love languages! i love studying, and learning them, dissecting them, and then comparing different ones. i didnt used to be too good at spanish, i could always speak it though, but now i'm starting to make sense out of it. i've played around with french, and i had italian classes, i came in late into the course, and in less than half the time i learned far more than all my other classmates who had been there for a long while. i'm in love with latin and i'm learning it pretty fast, i'm surprised sometimes that i can actually read it. i had never liked portuguesse before, it felt like weird spanish, but recently i've found that i can actually read it without much trouble, and when i tried writting it worked out good! when i was in freshman year i got into japanese and german, which i tackled, but never really got too into it, though lately i have been studying chinese and russian, and i found chinese is not that hard really, i've been trying to pick up on greek, and although i'm still starting i can read words just fine, not so much write. languages are awesome!

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]]> By: sheens http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-74712 sheens Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:15:15 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-74712 this made me feel so much better about my tendency to pick up and throw away languages. also nice to see you are getting a lot of comments! <br /> the first language i ever tried to learn was russian. in sixth grade i had russian once or twice a week, but i only managed to learn the alphabet and basic travel phrases. both long forgotten. two years later my eighth grade teacher had a french-canadian neighbor and would try to teach the class french as she learned it herself. again, i didn't learn much.<br /> in ninth grade i started spanish which i took for two years. then i decided to study abroad for a year in germany. i got a good handle on german and came back to the states to finish up high school. <br /> in college i continued with german and started hebrew. i took hebrew for two quarters (mind you, today all i can say is i want to drink beer with friends) and studied yiddish in my free-time. i also started practicing reading dutch. then i decided to go to switzerland to improve my german and give french another try. i quickly discovered that i would rather have construction workers outside of my window at night than engage in conversations with french speakers. i really just don't like french. <br /> then i decided to teach english in japan, and now i am studying japanese with a teacher.<br /> after all of this i would sum up my language skills so: english: mother tongue<br /> german: proficient<br /> spanish: basic level only<br /> hebrew: idiot's level only<br /> dutch: basic reading level<br /> japanese: basic but improving daily<br /> russian: when i hear it on the street i think it is polish<br /> french: i have a rough time ordering a cafe o'lait<br /> my goal is to travel around until i achieve proficiency in a few languages. i really want to learn norwegian and arabic but have recently decided that i can't pursue any new languages until i improve at the ones i have a foundation in. so my dabbling is on hold. <br /> if you're interested you can follow my travel endeavors on my site: <a href="http://www.sheenasays.com--- " target="_blank">www.sheenasays.com--- </a> this made me feel so much better about my tendency to pick up and throw away languages. also nice to see you are getting a lot of comments!

the first language i ever tried to learn was russian. in sixth grade i had russian once or twice a week, but i only managed to learn the alphabet and basic travel phrases. both long forgotten. two years later my eighth grade teacher had a french-canadian neighbor and would try to teach the class french as she learned it herself. again, i didn't learn much.

in ninth grade i started spanish which i took for two years. then i decided to study abroad for a year in germany. i got a good handle on german and came back to the states to finish up high school.

in college i continued with german and started hebrew. i took hebrew for two quarters (mind you, today all i can say is i want to drink beer with friends) and studied yiddish in my free-time. i also started practicing reading dutch. then i decided to go to switzerland to improve my german and give french another try. i quickly discovered that i would rather have construction workers outside of my window at night than engage in conversations with french speakers. i really just don't like french.

then i decided to teach english in japan, and now i am studying japanese with a teacher.

after all of this i would sum up my language skills so:

english: mother tongue

german: proficient

spanish: basic level only

hebrew: idiot's level only

dutch: basic reading level

japanese: basic but improving daily

russian: when i hear it on the street i think it is polish

french: i have a rough time ordering a cafe o'lait

my goal is to travel around until i achieve proficiency in a few languages. i really want to learn norwegian and arabic but have recently decided that i can't pursue any new languages until i improve at the ones i have a foundation in. so my dabbling is on hold.

if you're interested you can follow my travel endeavors on my site: http://www.sheenasays.com—

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]]> By: Grace http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/comment-page-1/#comment-74547 Grace Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:19:48 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=682#comment-74547 You and Michael Phelps have convinced me. ;) I'll give it a shot! Thank you for the suggestion! You and Michael Phelps have convinced me. ;) I'll give it a shot! Thank you for the suggestion!

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