♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #253
What is one thing that you would like to learn?
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The one thing I have always wanted to learn was German fluency. Learning a language isn’t all that easy, especially with the lack of immersion. Back when I wanted to begin the journey, resources were much more limited. School wanted to decide for us between two language, of which I doubt the skills of the teachers hired to disseminate them to students.
Is an old writer able to learn new tricks?
Fluency in German is a lifelong goal of mine. Ask me to explain it, and I will flounder. I don’t have any German heritage of which to speak. Simply, I like the way it sounds. There are those who will hear the stereotype of the language in their head and wonder why. I suggest you YouTube German being spoken by native Germans. To me, it’s lovely–sexy even.
Being able to upgrade this old writer’s skills to fluent would be amazing, not just because I would be able to watch programming without subtitles or terrible voice-overs, I could move onto another language! That’s right. I want to learn still more languages.
So what’s on this old writer’s list, you ask? I’d like to brush up my French. I can still moderately read it. The education I had on it in high school was insufficient. But, I have faith in myself to eventually fix that. However, before I embark on brushing up La Française, Mandarin is going to happen. The reason I place it next is that it will be the most challenging. With Mandarin, I can’t rely on the alphabet I’ve known since ever. The characters in Chinese are going to be tough. I’ve already taken a short lesson and I’m quaking in my boots.
Once I either get a grip on Mandarin or give up, this old writer is going to learn Welsh. This is a matter of heritage. You can tell by my last name that there are ancestors tied to this. That’s why I’d like to learn it.
From stressing out over 3 hard languages, I’ll take it easy relearning French. If I find time enough, then I’d branch into similar languages (such as Italian and Portuguese). After that, I’m likely to go with another heritage language: Dutch. That’s if I have enough time to do so.
Learning a language takes time. I’ve been studying German for several years and it’s still hard going. Finding the time is the worst part. Before I had my daughter, I could take my lessons whenever. Negotiating time now is more tricky. You’ll notice, I used to have a segment of the blog dedicated to Learning German… After 19 installments, I abandoned the writing on this. There wasn’t much to contribute by this point or blog about. But! That did not mean I abandoned my lessons. I still try to read it daily (and it’s still frustrating). Taking my lessons isn’t every day, so I do need to get back to that!
Someday, this old writer will get there. Someday, I will be comfortable enough to speak it with others, as if I were speaking my native language. And, if German is the only language I get to in this life, then this old writer has accomplished a lifelong dream.
Let’s hop on over to see what the other authors want to learn. Click on their links below to continue…
