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Mutterings, musings and general brain flatulence. |
Here be mushrooms 
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| PROMPT: Write about language - What languages do you wish you could speak? What’s the most pleasant sounding accent? What’s the funniest word in the English language (or your native language)? I'll be honest. I only speak English. I learnt French at school, but it stuck like lathered soap. I've been trying to learn Spanish on Duolingo for a couple of years, and I'm pleased at how my reading/writing is getting along, but woe-bide any Spanish-speaker who thinks they can hold a conversation with me! I'm utterly tone-deaf and I'm sure that counts against me in language learning. I did try to learn a little Mandarin at uni since several of my friends were from Beijing, but (see above) Mandarin is a tonal language and my (albeit limited) ability to learn reading and writing was somewhat hampered by the fact Chinese characters baffle the hell out of me. Yeah, so that didn't work. I said xie xie (thank you) to someone in a Beijing supermarket once and they immediately launched into a full conversation that had my Chinese friend creased with laughter as she tried to explain I didn't speak Mandarin, and that Hello, Thank You, and Yes/No were pretty much my limit. Several of my friends are polyglots and I am extremely jealous, and those of my friends who are raising bilingual children just make me want to scream with envy. My step-mother and -brother are Polish (in fact Kasia speaks English as her third or fourth language) and it's infuriating (as in, enviable) the way they jump in and out of English/Polish, cracking jokes in both languages and explaining in rapid-fire Polish to the other if one doesn't understand something in English. Many schools in the UK teach only French and/or German, and that - unless you so aptitude - pretty badly. Spanish was offered at mine, only in year 10 (approx 14-15yrs) and above. Latin used to be widely taught (and yes, I know most people who learnt it hated it) and that is an amazing basis for the Romanic Languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian), as well as being very helpful for the sciences. I'd probably be lynched for saying this, but I do wish Latin was widely taught again. |
PROMPT - Write about your favorite outdoor activities to do in the summer. Are there any activities you haven’t done that you want to try? Way back last summer I signed up for a KickStarter called Origami Paddler; a folder-up hybrid kayak and stand-up paddle board. They are in production right now and I'm just waiting for shipping. And it's getting harder and harder to wait. I live along the coast and in a rural area, so walks/hikes are a big favourite. Two years ago I had an ankle operation that's only just starting to fully heal. Best Beloved and I have managed a couple of 8 mile walks over the last few months, but I really, really want to get out at least one double-figure hike in the next month or two, just to prove to myself that my ankle can take it. So far it's been way to cold to go sea swimming (I don't like wet-suits unless I'm diving), but hopefully that'll only be another month or two.The outdoor activity I'd really like to try is paragliding - but I can't see that happening any time soon. I'd also like to go rock-climbing, but because my ankle is still quite weak and can't handle twisting movements, I've lost my nerve to have a go. I'm always looking for new ideas; authors to try, places to go, and activities to try, so if anyone's got any suggestions, please lemme know! |
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