Dear friends,
As you may have gathered, this is my first day with Always Learning Languages. I am writing my first post as we speak. In case you are wondering about the title, "first day" is written in different world languages in the chronological order in which I first began to learn or study each language.
For everyday life, I am focusing on my big five languages: native speaker in English, daily fluent in Spanish, pretending in Portuguese, everyday beginner in Turkish, and distant lover of Serbo-Croatian.
As a child, I studied biblical Hebrew for my bat mitzvah and again for one semester in college. Italian poetry was my favorite to read and to translate in comparative literature class. I loved the musical rhythms and vivid imagery, especially of Cesare Pavese. I don't speak Italian, but I would like to learn.
Today, I work in a multilingual public school with high school students from all over the world. My students and their families come to the United States for the first time or from other U.S. cities. Many students begin their classes as English language learners. Mostly, my new students and their families and guardians speak Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. Some students speak Arabic, Nepali, Urdu, Bengali, Tibetan, Chinese, Tigrinya, Amharic, Yoruba, other African and Central American indigenous languages, and more! Students may later enroll in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese classes.
For me, Turkish, Portuguese, and Serbian are my big three to continue learning as a true beginner. Turkish is to help me speak with my boyfriend and his friends from Turkey. Portuguese is to better communicate with my Brazilian students and their families. Serbian is in memory of a dear friend.
Which languages excite you and inspire you to study?
Are there languages in which you need more practice?
Which ones do you use in your everyday life?
What new languages do you want to learn?
I hope to hear from you soon. ¡Espero que estarémos en contacto!
Até mais. Yakinda görüşürüz! Thank you for reading :)
Sincerely / Atentamente,
Lena
As you may have gathered, this is my first day with Always Learning Languages. I am writing my first post as we speak. In case you are wondering about the title, "first day" is written in different world languages in the chronological order in which I first began to learn or study each language.
For everyday life, I am focusing on my big five languages: native speaker in English, daily fluent in Spanish, pretending in Portuguese, everyday beginner in Turkish, and distant lover of Serbo-Croatian.
As a child, I studied biblical Hebrew for my bat mitzvah and again for one semester in college. Italian poetry was my favorite to read and to translate in comparative literature class. I loved the musical rhythms and vivid imagery, especially of Cesare Pavese. I don't speak Italian, but I would like to learn.
Today, I work in a multilingual public school with high school students from all over the world. My students and their families come to the United States for the first time or from other U.S. cities. Many students begin their classes as English language learners. Mostly, my new students and their families and guardians speak Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. Some students speak Arabic, Nepali, Urdu, Bengali, Tibetan, Chinese, Tigrinya, Amharic, Yoruba, other African and Central American indigenous languages, and more! Students may later enroll in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese classes.
For me, Turkish, Portuguese, and Serbian are my big three to continue learning as a true beginner. Turkish is to help me speak with my boyfriend and his friends from Turkey. Portuguese is to better communicate with my Brazilian students and their families. Serbian is in memory of a dear friend.
Which languages excite you and inspire you to study?
Are there languages in which you need more practice?
Which ones do you use in your everyday life?
What new languages do you want to learn?
I hope to hear from you soon. ¡Espero que estarémos en contacto!
Até mais. Yakinda görüşürüz! Thank you for reading :)
Sincerely / Atentamente,
Lena
I'm glad to hear you're doing this, my friend. This must have been a lot of work on your part. I'm not very good with languages, but I can appreciate them all the same.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I would like a refresher in Spanish, and I would like to learn German. I'd probably like to learn a bit of Italian too. I heard about Cesare Pavese, and haven't read his work yet.
Thanks for reading, Joanna! I miss you, my dear friend. <3 The blog took one day. It's been my short lifetime of studying, listening, learning and new experiences.
DeleteHis writing is hard to find in English. There are only a few translations of his poems, and there are more translations of his novels, not only into English, but also into many languages.
You should buy his work of poems called Lavorare Stanca (Italian) = "Work's Tiring" or "Hard Labor" (English) in this translated collection:
Disaffections: Complete Poems 1930-1950 by Cesare Pavese, translated by Geoffrey Brock 370pp, Carcanet, £14.95
You can buy a second copy for me on my birthday, too. <3 I lost my copy a few years ago, but I used it for my junior year seminar with Lisa Williams at Centre.
"He kept adding poems to his first book Lavorare Stanca, ( Work's Tiring ) in the manner of Leaves of Grass or Les Fleurs du Mal, two works he particularly admired. The title itself is a provocation to the fascist regime that stressed the dignity of labour in its official art." -- Jamie McKendric, 2004, The Guardian online
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/oct/02/featuresreviews.guardianreview18