This evening was nuts. I decided to get some sushi from one of my favorite spots in the city. I know the owners pretty well, and everything time I go there, I always get to practice my Mandarin and Cantonese with them.
Today was no different.
I was waiting for my girlfriend's and my sushi to be done, and I was making small talk Feng in Mandarin. As I was going to sit down, this dude and girl start giving me a look, and the guy asks me, "What language were you just speaking?" Of course I told him Mandarin, and if course I knew where this conversation was going to go.
He was like, "How do you know Mandarin??" I told him I'm teaching myself, and Mandarin is one of 32 languages I'm working on.
You know I got the "Holy shit" look; something I still am not used to, lol. Then his lady friend chimes in and is like, "So do you know Russian?" I answered her in Russian, and she looked at me with these crazy-ass eyes! Like, how in the world is this guy not only speaking Mandarin, but Russian too? At the drop of a dime.
That look was priceless!
So she and I start talking in Russian, and I asked her how she learned, and sure enough, she was born and raised in Russia. I should have known when she said her name was Oksana. Her guy friend kept calling me insane and the two and I talked for a bit.
Shortly after, the food came, and all I hear is Mandarin being spoken to me, so I had to jump back into that mode to respond, thank them, and say my goodbyes, then revert to English to tell Brandon (Oksana's friend) goodbye, ans THEN I get bombarded with Russian, and it all was fantastic.
This is why I'm a polyglot. I walked out of there with a grin, some hot sushi, and more drive to keep learning.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Armenian II
Let me put this out there. This entry will not be about what new phrases I learned. This one.. well.. Let's just say that Armenian has one of the most peculiar alphabets I have ever seen.
Here's what I need: something or someone to explain what each sound means so that I can TRY to figure out how to use the letters to spell out what I'm saying. The toughest part of the alphabet is that a small line can make two similar looking letters sound different, like ա and պ.
The words aren't hard to remember, but you can't just depend on speaking. If you go to a foreign country, you can't expect to not have to read anything, especially a menu or traffic sign.
I need to lock myself in a room with an explanation of the sounds these Armenian letters make, and bust my ass to become proficient at it.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
P.S. I do like Armenian! Don't get it twisted.
Here's what I need: something or someone to explain what each sound means so that I can TRY to figure out how to use the letters to spell out what I'm saying. The toughest part of the alphabet is that a small line can make two similar looking letters sound different, like ա and պ.
The words aren't hard to remember, but you can't just depend on speaking. If you go to a foreign country, you can't expect to not have to read anything, especially a menu or traffic sign.
I need to lock myself in a room with an explanation of the sounds these Armenian letters make, and bust my ass to become proficient at it.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
P.S. I do like Armenian! Don't get it twisted.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Polski II
Dzień dobry!
I hope everyone is doing well. I can't brag too much, because I have experience in other languages, but I just want to say that I think Polish isnot only an awesome language, but it's really easy.
Disclaimer: I say it's easy because I'm studying other languages from that area in Europe also, like Croatian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. That being said, there are a ton of similarities. It's almost like how if you understand Haitian Creole, then you can probably understand French as well.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I've mentioned this in prior entries, but certain words open up whole new world when it comes to languages. Today I learned how to say:
Pan/Pani mówi: You speak
Mówię: I speak
I: Another form of "and"
Gdzie jest: Where is
To tutaj: It's here
To tam: It's there
Pretty simple words, right? Yup, but think about how many times you use simple words in a conversation . You definitely use more simple ones than complex. This isn't to say that I can carry on an intelligent conversation just yet, but it definitely makes me look a lot less stupid by adding these words to my repertoire.
Polish can get a bad rap because of how complex it sounds and how many letters can be in one word, but when you really sit down and work on it, it truly isn't that bad at all.
As far as resources that I used, I used GT to make sure I was spelling words correctly, and also I took full advantage of my MultiLing Keyboard on my S3. It has dictionaries for all of the languages I've installed, which as you know, is everyone they offered, lol. But it helps a ton. I never had to crack my Polish to English/English to Polish dictionary once.
This keyboard also makes it easy to tweet in a language such as Polish that has markings over many letters. Instead of having to guess, I'm able to visualize the spelling of the word that I've written down in my notebook, so that way, I automatically know how to spell it, and then just find the selection with the proper symbols. So yes, there is memorization involved, but in all honesty, you're learning a language. You don't have a choice but to memorize things.
Polish, I love you.
Subscribe, comment, advise, help me out.
Do widzenia,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
I hope everyone is doing well. I can't brag too much, because I have experience in other languages, but I just want to say that I think Polish isnot only an awesome language, but it's really easy.
Disclaimer: I say it's easy because I'm studying other languages from that area in Europe also, like Croatian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. That being said, there are a ton of similarities. It's almost like how if you understand Haitian Creole, then you can probably understand French as well.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I've mentioned this in prior entries, but certain words open up whole new world when it comes to languages. Today I learned how to say:
Pan/Pani mówi: You speak
Mówię: I speak
I: Another form of "and"
Gdzie jest: Where is
To tutaj: It's here
To tam: It's there
Pretty simple words, right? Yup, but think about how many times you use simple words in a conversation . You definitely use more simple ones than complex. This isn't to say that I can carry on an intelligent conversation just yet, but it definitely makes me look a lot less stupid by adding these words to my repertoire.
Polish can get a bad rap because of how complex it sounds and how many letters can be in one word, but when you really sit down and work on it, it truly isn't that bad at all.
As far as resources that I used, I used GT to make sure I was spelling words correctly, and also I took full advantage of my MultiLing Keyboard on my S3. It has dictionaries for all of the languages I've installed, which as you know, is everyone they offered, lol. But it helps a ton. I never had to crack my Polish to English/English to Polish dictionary once.
This keyboard also makes it easy to tweet in a language such as Polish that has markings over many letters. Instead of having to guess, I'm able to visualize the spelling of the word that I've written down in my notebook, so that way, I automatically know how to spell it, and then just find the selection with the proper symbols. So yes, there is memorization involved, but in all honesty, you're learning a language. You don't have a choice but to memorize things.
Polish, I love you.
Subscribe, comment, advise, help me out.
Do widzenia,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
What I Need. Desperately.
I need practice partners so badly, it's ridiculous. So I'm calling you out. Yes, you. If you speak a foreign language, I want to practice with you. I don't care what the language is, how much I know (or don't know), I need people to help keep me sharp.
If you can help me out, leave a comment, and we can go from there. I think email might be the best avenue since I'm busy a lot. Skype is also an option.
I would appreciate it beyond words.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: mistercapoeira
If you can help me out, leave a comment, and we can go from there. I think email might be the best avenue since I'm busy a lot. Skype is also an option.
I would appreciate it beyond words.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: mistercapoeira
Tagalog II
Magandang tanghalian! Kumusta? Mabuti?
Let me tell y'all. Tagalog might be turning into my second favorite language. Seriously. I did a Pimsleur lesson, and everything was just so smooth and easy to learn, it's ridiculous.
The part about Tagalog that made today so easy was simply the fact that some parts of the language sound like Spanish. For instance, asking someone how they are in Tagalog is "kumusta" whereas in Spanish, it's "como estas". See the correlation?
I think the main reason I say that this might be my second favorite language is the fact that Pimsleur works. I've heard Filipino people speaking in Tagalog on YouTube, and I've heard the accent. When I was studying today, I HAD THAT ACCENT. I sounded just like the speakers who were guiding me, and it was fantastic.
There were parts that got me tongue-tied, such as learning how to correctly say, "Ang galing mong mag Tagalog." There are a ton of g, k, ng, and mg sounds that can be in VERY close proximity to each other. This isn't something we see too often in English, so it will take some work to get it down, but I promise you that it's worth it.
I love, love, love this language, and how easy Pimsleur made it to learn. I might do another lesson sooner rather than later!
As always, resources, advice, tips, and constructive criticism are more than welcome.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
Let me tell y'all. Tagalog might be turning into my second favorite language. Seriously. I did a Pimsleur lesson, and everything was just so smooth and easy to learn, it's ridiculous.
The part about Tagalog that made today so easy was simply the fact that some parts of the language sound like Spanish. For instance, asking someone how they are in Tagalog is "kumusta" whereas in Spanish, it's "como estas". See the correlation?
I think the main reason I say that this might be my second favorite language is the fact that Pimsleur works. I've heard Filipino people speaking in Tagalog on YouTube, and I've heard the accent. When I was studying today, I HAD THAT ACCENT. I sounded just like the speakers who were guiding me, and it was fantastic.
There were parts that got me tongue-tied, such as learning how to correctly say, "Ang galing mong mag Tagalog." There are a ton of g, k, ng, and mg sounds that can be in VERY close proximity to each other. This isn't something we see too often in English, so it will take some work to get it down, but I promise you that it's worth it.
I love, love, love this language, and how easy Pimsleur made it to learn. I might do another lesson sooner rather than later!
As always, resources, advice, tips, and constructive criticism are more than welcome.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Polyglot
Twitter: @mistercapoeira
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