Julie asks: Do you have any foreign language books and if so can you (still) read them?
My husband has three original Japanese language manga. Does that count? I might be able to make out the story from the artwork.
I may have a Spanish text book hiding somewhere. I took Spanish in high school and college, however, I never mastered the language. I was too afraid to practice orally outside of the class, which I think was my ultimate doom. When it came to the written assignments and conjugating verbs, no problem. I have since tried my hand at tapes and books, but ultimately gave up. Learning another language is not something that comes easily to me.
I often wish that language studies were more important in the United States, and that children would be encouraged to learn at a younger age. I would love to learn another language or two to the point of fluency and I admire those who have these skills.
Hey Wendy, I have 3 Japanese mangas too! LOL. And I agree the artwork enables us to understand...hmm...parts of the plot, hehe.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to learn French and Japanese, but just don't have the time right now. Perhaps I will pursue these once my daughter is big enough. Happy BTT!
I'm working hard to learn Italian. But it's a little easier for me to practice living in Italy and all ;)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about language studies, it's the same attitude in the UK. It's a shame as it can come across that we think everyone else should learn our language and expect them to be able to understand us.
ReplyDeleteI have some Portuguese books somewhere...and I can definitely still read them, but with the fact that I left Portugal in the fourth grade, I find myself stuck on some of the more literary words...but that's when I call mom and ask her what they mean! haha...
ReplyDeleteThe next language I want to learn is sign language...mom and I have decided we want to take a class...
Oh. There's a hot-button discussion for me there Literary Feline and rhinoa! I can't stand the fact that we are not required to learn past our back yards! It's a crime really.
ReplyDeleteI love reading everyone answers to these questions! I would love to go back to school and take more language course. Lit courses too!
ReplyDeleteI often wish I'd grown up in Europe where it's common to speak several languages.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I'm in a bookstore here I eye all those manga and wish I could read them.
Melody - What a coincidence that we both have 3 Japanese manga!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many languages I would love to learn. I hope you do get to study French and Japanese later in your life. That would be wonderful.
Nikki - It probably does help that you are living in Italy, but I imagine it would still be difficult. Good luck! :-)
Rhinoa - It really is a shame that our countries do not put more importance on learning other languages.
Karina - That's great that you can still read Portuguese. That's such a pretty lanugage. I used to know a bit of sign language, having learned it in school, but lack of practice doesn't do well for the memory, I'm afraid.
Cee Cee - I'm glad I'm not alone in my thoughts on the subject. :-)
Stephanie - Oh yes! It would be fun to do that--both the foreign languages and the lit classes. Sometimes I think about it, but I'm not ready to get back into writing research papers and taking tests. LOL
Tanabata - I've thought that too--or at least had family members who spoke different languages so they could teach me.
Mrs. Rogers, my high school French teacher, would be proud that I still remember anything from those three years. I am surprised that I remember anything. I have been reading a series of mysteries by Cara Black and am now on her most recent (and I hope not final). They all take place in the various arrondisements of Paris and the writing is interspersed with some French (often slang). Lots of fun to read. My daughter and I were in Paris last year and it was so much fun to try out our old high school French.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is technically a foreign language for me, but since I grew up with it, I don't think it really counts hehe. I've got tons of manga too, some even in Chinese instead of Japanese. I can read a few of the characters but in the end, I'll just look at the pictures hehe.
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