Instead of giving more excuses, I think it’d be better to talk about the past six months, ja? It would suffice to say that a lot has changed. First of all, I’ve started my undergraduate studies in Spanish, with a minor in computer sciences (my specific concentration is yet to be determined). I also intend to get a certificate of translation for both Russian and German.

And speaking of German, I’ve got a goal regarding it. My fiance (yes…fiance…a lot happens in six months, да?) has a grandfather in Florida who speaks German (he was a British soldier in post-war WWII stationed in Germany to help with the recovery). I intend to be able to converse with him in German when we visit either for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

También, mi español ha mejorado. Ahora puedo escribirlo bien. También puedo conversar en español. Lo descubrí este en la oficina de la veterinaria. Nuestros gatito se dolió su pata. Fue una lástima, pero agradecidamente, no fue grave. El gatito está bien ahora y realicé que puedo conversar in español. Estuve muy feliz ^_^

Yes, that was all in Spanish. No, I didn’t need a translator (well, for a couple of words I’d never used before). You’d better get used to that, because I’ll be doing that a lot. Once I get skilled enough, I’m actually going to start typing entire entries in different languages.

The last thing I’m going to mention is something I’ve noticed in this country that’s a bit of a problem. Statistically, we’re one of the least bilingual countries in the world, and it seems that people don’t care to fix that. In fact, one of our own congresspeople called bilingual education “ghetto”. Now, let me say something about that. Several of our founding fathers were polyglots. They would be ashamed to see what the United States is doing now. Any time someone says bilingual education is “ghetto” or unnecessary, or anything of the sort, they turn in their graves. I’ll go into this more in a future entry.

And on that note, I’ll wrap this entry up. Adjö, mina vänner.

The first thing I’d like to address is the future. The way I’ve been posting is more along the lines of me rambling, with an occasional lesson. What I would like to do (and what I need to do) is start doing actual research for my posts, and making them more convincing. And that’s what I intend to do, starting next week. So expect more researched posts in the future. And of course, I’ll still leave room for the “normal” stuff you’ve gotten so used to.

Point number 2: National Foreign Language Week. I don’t know if any of you have heard of NFLW, but it’s a week-long appreciation of foreign languages started by Alpha Mu Gamma in the 1950′s. It’s from March 1-7 this year (they hold it during the first full week of March), and I for one am looking forward to it. I intend to write more blog entries than normal, and practice as many languages as I can especially Swedish and Italian. Speaking of Italian *moves into point three*, my psychology professor is a native Italian. I’m hoping to get some pointers and a chance to speak with a real native speaker…that and show off, but don’t I always?

And lastly, I have a new list. I added Czech, added a section of ancient/fictional languages, and renamed the “May/may not learn” section, since I intend to learn at least a few basic phrases of every language I possibly can. Without further ado:

«Native languages»
English
My un-named language

«High desire of fluency»
German
Swedish
Spanish
Italian
Dutch

«Moderate desire of fluency»
Scottish Gaelic
Irish Gaelic
American Sign Language
Hungarian
Romanian
Bulgarian

«Desire to be passable»
French
Portuguese
Latin
Arabic
Icelandic
Belorussian/Belarusian (two different spellings)
Faroese
Russian
Basque
Czech

«Ancient/Fictional languages»
Coptic (Ancient Egyptian)
Old Norse
Na’Vi (yes, the language from Avatar…no spoilers, per favore)
Anglo-Saxon (a.k.a. Old English…as in, before 1066 English)
Any other ancient language I can get my hands on

«Will most likely add to list»
Japanese
Assamese
Norwegian
Afrikaans
Finnish
Danish
Hindi
Mandarin Chinese

And there you have it. That’s all for this time, so adjö mina vänner.

Oh, and here’s a really obnoxious one. There’s a group on FaceBook called “Why the HELL should I have to press one for English?” Seriously? I’m sorry, but if any of my friends join that group, they ain’t gonna be my friends anymore. I even posted a status to answer the question…”Because English isn’t the only language that exists, dumbass. Now, shut the **** up and press 1″ (the original post was uncensored, to give you an idea how pissed I was). Seriously, I want to smack every single member of that group with a fire-glove. I would drop a “friend” like a hot potato if they had the nerve to betray me and join that group (yes, I call it betrayal. My friends know I’m a linguist, so they should know it’ll offend me. I don’t want to associate with assholes who are too lazy to press a button and complain because people care enough to respect other languages).

Oh, and here’s a good one. People are throwing a fit because Obama at one point said something about students learning Spanish? What…the…*&@#?! People act like it’s a BAD thing to be bilingual? WHY?! Seriously, this is one reason I hate America. People are too damn lazy to become bilingual, and complain when anyone tries to change that. Seriously, a lot of people have no respect for America. This is part of the reason. America is one of the few developed countries that doesn’t require people to be at LEAST bilingual. Almost every country in the EU requires at least one other language. Look how well they’re doing. Any particular reason America isn’t following suit? Oh wait…TOO LAZY >__> I’m ashamed to call myself an American. I’m associated with a nation of rednecks who think their ways are supreme, that their language is the absolute best, insist that everyone learn it, and refuse to learn any others. Thankfully, there are SOME good people. Granted, a lot of the ones I know personally are just as antsy as I am to get the hell out of this country.

And another thing. A lot of forums and forum providers even have specific rules against speaking anything other than English. Hell, I’ve had people specifically tell me I’m not allowed to speak Swedish. I’m gonna start leaving forums that try that. I mean, seriously, I have a right to speak whatever language I want. If a person wants to know what I said, then there’s a magical little device called a TRANSLATOR. Hell, if they ask for a translation, I give it to them. As long as a staff member doesn’t come on and say “Please only speak English”, I don’t care. I consider it a learning opportunity for my “victim”. Seriously, I fail to grasp the reasoning behind this anti-foreign-language/English-is-supreme attitude. It’s complete bull. It really is.

Gah…you can tell people piss me off. Seriously, I can’t stand how people can be. Some people have the worst attitudes toward learning new languages. They’re idiots. They are enemies of intelligence that can’t take the time to learn even a little of a new language. People refuse to admit that English isn’t the best or only language, and it pisses me off to no end.

And I also managed to type an introductory post in three languages: Swedish, Spanish, and English, in that order. It’s not much, but it’s an indication that I’m getting better.

Rambling aside, my list has shifted a bit (quite a lot from the original in my info). I bumped up Romanian and Bulgarian to my “Moderate Desire of Fluency” list. So, the new list is:

«Native languages»
English
My un-named language

«High desire of fluency»
German
Swedish
Spanish
Italian
Dutch

«Moderate desire of fluency»
Scottish Gaelic
Irish Gaelic
American Sign Language
Hungarian
Romanian
Bulgarian

«Desire to be passable»
French
Portuguese
Latin
Arabic
Icelandic
Belorussian/Belarusian (two different spellings)
Faroese
Russian
Basque

«May/may not learn»
Japanese
Assamese
Norwegian
Afrikaans
Finnish
Danish
Hindi
Mandarin Chinese

And one last thing: Mandarin hurts my soul. I looked through a friend’s Mandarin dictionary…it hurt my soul. It’s quite a challenge, but if you can learn it, it’s quite useful. Also, counting in Finnish is torture. It’s logical, but any given number could have 20+ letters.

Anyway, that’s all I can drum up for this week. Be sure to subscribe, in case I update sooner than next Monday, because I might. You never know with me. And with that, adjö, mina vänner.

This book is being a real help with my German and Spanish. I picked up a German book, as well as some pocket dictionaries and phrasebooks, from Barnes and Noble. Using the methods outlined in the book, my German has improved, and my Spanish vocabulary is growing. Perhaps I can someday use one of the two for a blog entry? Hell, come to think of it, I could set a goal to one day do entries in a different language each day. I’m thinking Italian Sundays, English Mondays, so on and so forth. That’d be pretty interesting, no?

The last thing I want to mention is that the language book inspired me to start a “club” of sorts. You see, the writer of the book started a club in New York. I figured “well, if he started one in New York with no access to today’s technology, why can’t I stir something up with the power of modern technology?” And thus, I created a FaceBook group for language-learners in Virginia. Granted, if someone from outside the state decides to come to meetings (if I’m even able to hold any), I won’t stop them. Point is, I’ve got a club that I hope will get enough support and membership to start holding meetings. The main reason for this is that talking with people trying to learn your language, and finding someone on a higher level, and talking to them about it in person is one of the best ways to learn. People with proficiency in a language can practice by conversing. People in the learning stages can find people to help teach them. Everyone wins. If you’d like more information about the club, leave me a message. I’ll post the link in the thingy on the side at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

Until next time, adjö, mina vänner.

Anyway, I don’t have much for this entry (surprise). I’d like to start by mentioning that my Swedish is continuing to improve.  In the process of my studies, I found a site that those of you studying Swedish might find useful. http://www.ielanguages.com/swedish.html

Also, I was having a discussion with someone on a forum about him wanting to learn Spanish. This site came up in said discussion: http://learnspanish.com/ If you intend to learn Spanish, this is a great site for it.

I’ve also added Bulgarian to my list, as a language I want to be passable in. I found a program for it at Barnes and Noble, and got curious. I’m apparently getting a crash course in the Cyrillic alphabet. It’s not overly difficult, to be honest. Most of the letters are similar to their Latin equivalent, and the ones that aren’t are easy to remember (the hardest part is the letters that look like one letter but are pronounced like another…example: the Cyrillic letter “P” is pronounced like the Latin “R”).

I also picked up a German program at Barnes and Noble, so expect my German to improve. I might decide to do a blog entry in German soon, after I get enough Swedish down to do something next week. And as for the punishment, I doubt I’ll actually do it. Mainly because I don’t think anyone here really cares if I get “attacked” by Kermit, and it would be a hassle to make a video no one would care about. Still, I intend to learn enough Swedish to give a blog entry come next week. Also, since the Swedish one won’t be much, I’ll do an English one shortly after.

At any rate, I think that’s all I’ve got for this week. So until next time, adjö, mina vänner.

At any rate, I’d also like to bring your attention to two language groups. One I started with a friend of mine (more like we both made one and I liked his idea better), and the other my girlfriend started.

My group

My girlfriend’s group

Those of you who are language nerds and want to talk to others of your kind should check these groups out. Mine isn’t much yet, but once you join, you’ll see that you have access to a private forum for the group to have discussions without the prying eyes or disruptances of other members. Also, if these two groups get enough activity, I plan to start an entire forum for language nerds (that and I might do a few videos just for you guys…we’ll see *hints at the aforementioned Kermit joke*)

Anyway, that’s all I can think of for tonight. With that said, adjö, mina vänner.

Second point, my fictional language. Now that I know the core pieces to language (courtesy of that article above), I have a slightly better idea about what I want to do. However, that’s not my primary concern to mention. I have a better idea of how I’m going to implement it into my writing. Now, I won’t go into detail, but once-upon-a-time, I wrote a fanfic (a non-sexual one, mind you). It wasn’t exactly stellar writing, and had little depth. Now that the site I posted it on has vanished into thin air, I’m thinking of redoing it. This time, however, I’m going to add a character of an isolated, ancient race. The language I’m constructing will be the language of this group.

Sorry for the short entry. I just realized that I hadn’t done anything in a while. I guess I’ve just been so wrapped up in finishing exams and studying my Swedish (because you know I’m gonna win this bet…you can count on it). I have yet to decide on a punishment, so if you’ve got any bright ideas (within reason), post ‘em in a comment here or on my previous entry.

Until next time, adjö, mina vänner.

Anyway, I also wanted to talk a little bit about the language itself. I’ve been listening to Swedish music, and I must say, it’s a beautiful language. Then again, to a language nerd like me, all language is beautiful xD

At any rate, to show the beauty of the Swedish language, I’ve got a few videos:

I’m not sure why, but I feel like I’ve heard that song before, but in English.

One of my favorite Swedish songs, period.

Also, if you’d like to see a little bit of Swedish culture and music, I found a really good channel (actually, her “Swedish Music in Swedish” videos were how I found the above two songs). Click this link to visit it: http://www.youtube.com/user/mieroth

And finally, I’d like to set a goal or myself. This coming week is exam week, so I’ll be done with school unti January. This gives me the entire break to do whatever I want. So, I’m going to study Swedish. Now, my goal: be good enough with Swedish to type a blog entry in Swedish, with little to no help from a translator (by little, I mean a word or two). I won’t promise an amazing, long-winded entry, but it will be something, and it will be entirely in Swedish. Now, to give myself motivation, I plan to “punish” myself somehow if I fail. I’m not sure how to do so yet, so feel free to leave suggestions in comments. But be warned, I won’t do just anything. I have guidelines.

1) I will not do anything in public that is overly embarrassing.

2) I will not do anything that could leave me sick, injured, or dead.

3) I will not involve or hurt other people.

4) If a pet is involved, it will not be in a way that harms it.

Whatever I decide to do, it will end up on YouTube. But bear in mind that this is only if I fail to learn enough Swedish by January 11th (when I start classes). I’m actually thinking of putting a ferret in my shirt…not fun…not fun at all. That or eating something that’s either spicy or bad-tasting (but not toxic, of course). But anyway, leave suggestions, and I’ll consider them.

And that’s it for today. Until next time, adjö, mina vänner.

Second of all, I have proven how random I am with Swedish. I recently decided to play Animal Crossing again after a year. I started a new town, and got to the point where I had to write a letter advertising the game’s local shop. I wrote the letter in Swedish. I just had to xD

Anyway, a more important note on Swedish: I have come to realize that there are differences among Swedes in several words. Two such words are “jag” and “är” (Jag är=I am). According to a video my girlfriend and I found, “jag” is pronouned “yawg”, and “är” is pronounced “are” (trill on the r). From most of the music we’ve heard, however, “jag” is pronounced “yaw” (silent g) and “är” is pronounced “err” (like the “err” in error, still a trill on the r). According to the girl that did the video, the latter pronunciations are “lazy Swedish”. I’m not sure if that’s true or if the girl just has something against people that speak with the dialect (or both). Either way, you’re bound to hear it both ways if you ever converse with people from/in Sweden, so be on the lookout and know both.

Oh, and about that language I’m working on; once I start posting lessons, I plan to also create pages for it. That way, all of the lessons are completely organized, and don’t have any other content. Also, a quick hint: I’m considering taking an element from Basque that’s not as common today (though a similar idea shows up in Japanese).

That’s all I’ve got for today. Until next time, adjö, mina vänner.