I totally typed up a blog about my language choices ages ago, but it turned into a list of why I adore certain countries and that kinda wasn't my intention x3
Yesterday a bunch of us went to the University of Queensland to check out the campus and their courses. My decision? St. Lucia is a beautiful campus. It's huge and the buildings are magnificent. Their courses, on the other hand? Well, they're quite good as well, but, unfortunately for me, they don't offer quite what I'm looking for.
More research is needed, I guess, so I can find out what place offers the greatest course. I'm currently still aiming for Griffith university (Nathan campus, as it has the best courses for languages). At Griffith I can do a Bachelor of Arts in Language and Applied Linguistics, specialising in Japanese and Italian. That's enough to get me into translations for both languages. If I were to go to UQ I could do a BA in both Japanese and Italian, but I'd have to go a step further and do a Masters in Translation and Interpretation for one of the two. I'd much prefer not having to do a Masters degree, to be honest.
I love learning Japanese, and I adore the media from Japan (hence why I'd translate it, of course). That said, I absolutely adore Italy. I have more of a passion for Italy than I do for Japan. My love of Japan really does centre around their anime/manga/movie industries and the language, rather than the country, their history or the people. For that reason, even though I'm more set on translating Japanese, I'd prefer to go study abroad for a while in Italy.
At UQ one of the speakers mentioned that you really need a few languages to get into these fields, not just two. Especially if you're doing a European language, because a lot of Europeans have 2, 3 or even 4 languages under their belts. Fluently. I only know one, and it's the only language I've ever spoken my entire life. I've only ever been required to know one. Australia is mostly monolingual, so it's never been compulsory for me to learn another language. For a country that attempts to define itself as multicultural, we really aren't...
Aaanyway. I'm really looking forward to uni now. Really. One guy learnt Japanese and German, and actually studied in Germany for awhile. While there, he got to learn Old Norse and translate documents from Old Norse into German. Why? Why not, I guess... Rule of cool, or something. I think that's damn awesome. Studying overseas really does sound epic, and I'm looking forward to it. I'd love to go study in Italy. There's so much history to study and architecture to admire and gorgeous landscapes to gaze at and delicious food to try and a beautiful language to listen to and oh my God the entire place would give me a brain aneurysm.
Ahem. Moving on. I have a lot of languages I want to learn. My list is as follows:
1. Sicilian
2. Japanese
3. Standard Italian
4. German
5. Spanish
6. Macedonian
7. Russian
8. Latin
9. Greek
I cannot actually think of a tenth language that I actually care about enough. =(
Truly, only the first 5 or 6 are really ones I'd like to learn. The last 3 are also epic, but not to the same extent. You know, Romance languages are my favourite. They sound amazing. Funnily enough, only 4 made it onto the list (with Latin being a dead language and all). Also, I don't care if Sicilian is just an Italian dialect, it's freaking epic and is practically it's own language. I adore it. Sicily is very underrated. I love the south kthx.
I really hope I'm not disappointed by university life. I'm looking forward to it. A lot. And I'm really looking forward to just plain immersing myself in the languages. I'm just looking forward to the future, I suppose. It's nice to have ambition for once =P
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Jul 15, 2011
Jul 10, 2011
La Bella Lingua
A few days ago I started writing about the top languages that I wanted to learn (I will post that eventually, by the way). Most of you probably know that, at uni, I'll be studying Japanese and Italian, and after uni I might have a go at German (there's no way in hell I'll ever be fluent at all three of course, but it'd be nice to know some basic German on the side, right?) or Macedonian. Truthfully, Sicilian would probably be my ultimate favourite, but where the hell would I learn that?
Usually I fangirl over Japanese because it's different to English, it's very rounded and pretty sounding, their writing system is a lot more creative than the Roman alphabet could ever be and... well, anime and manga is originally written in Japanese, so it must be good. I adore Japan, and I really, really love the language. Unfortunately, it's just me. My family are... well, they're accepting of it, but they aren't fans of the country at all, and most of my friends are into other languages and cultures. Not that that's bad; it's always good to be an individual. It just makes it hard to truly fangirl when you don't have anyone to fangirl with. I can fangirl at them, but that's hardly the same.
Anyway. As I outlined in my language blog post that I have not posted yet (whoops), my great grandmother, who knew seven languages or something, loved Italian the most. I found out a few days ago that her daughter, my grandmother, loves traveling around Italy. I don't know where Italy is in comparison to all the other countries she seems to love, but it's definitely somewhere near the top of her favourites list.
I started to see a trend here, so I pestered my aunts on the other side of my family to see their opinions. As it turns out, they love Italy even more. One of them told me that Italy was her absolute favourite place, especially Sicily. Which is brilliant because it really seems that Sicily doesn't get the love it deserves (neither does the language, but that's a rant for another time).
I told her that I wanted to go to Italy and Spain at some point. She replied with "Spain is brilliant. It was this atmosphere that you have to love. But Italy will always be my favourite. It's beautiful. It has such amazing landscapes, and it has this really extensive history you just end up immersed in. The language is really pretty, too."
...well then.
I'm easily influenced, so I've started to look up more on the country and the language. I've always adored Italian. Pfft, they say France is the country of l'amour, but it's got nothing on how romantic Italian can sound. As I said earlier, I love Japan. My interest in Japanese culture will always top my interest in Italian culture. But when it comes to the languages, Italian may actually come up on top. It's more melodic and bright sounding, and the consonants are just so much sharper and more crisp.
Er, I'll stop fangirling over that now. I spent awhile looking at different places in Italy (Rome is gorgeous and Venice is so one-in-a-kind, but I still love the entirety of Sicily~) and then started looking up a heap of words. Why not add some Italian to my vocabulary, right? I like to think of it as getting a head start on my uni stuff. Yeah. That's my excuse.
Anyway, today I have decided that andiamo is one of my favourite words. It means let's go, basically, but to me it sounds a bit more urgent. It's a very pretty word. It just rolls off the tongue so easily. I dunno, I just like it a lot. Is it bad that I first heard the word through Hetalia?
I've also learnt that Italians use the term che cavolo as something similar to "what the hell". Thing is, it literally translates to what cabbage. So next time something weird and befuddling happens, make sure to exclaim what the cabbage?!?, alright? ^_^
Ti amo, hai capito? ♥ I absolutely adore how this sounds. Heh.
Italiano; la bella lingua indeed.
Usually I fangirl over Japanese because it's different to English, it's very rounded and pretty sounding, their writing system is a lot more creative than the Roman alphabet could ever be and... well, anime and manga is originally written in Japanese, so it must be good. I adore Japan, and I really, really love the language. Unfortunately, it's just me. My family are... well, they're accepting of it, but they aren't fans of the country at all, and most of my friends are into other languages and cultures. Not that that's bad; it's always good to be an individual. It just makes it hard to truly fangirl when you don't have anyone to fangirl with. I can fangirl at them, but that's hardly the same.
Anyway. As I outlined in my language blog post that I have not posted yet (whoops), my great grandmother, who knew seven languages or something, loved Italian the most. I found out a few days ago that her daughter, my grandmother, loves traveling around Italy. I don't know where Italy is in comparison to all the other countries she seems to love, but it's definitely somewhere near the top of her favourites list.
I started to see a trend here, so I pestered my aunts on the other side of my family to see their opinions. As it turns out, they love Italy even more. One of them told me that Italy was her absolute favourite place, especially Sicily. Which is brilliant because it really seems that Sicily doesn't get the love it deserves (neither does the language, but that's a rant for another time).
I told her that I wanted to go to Italy and Spain at some point. She replied with "Spain is brilliant. It was this atmosphere that you have to love. But Italy will always be my favourite. It's beautiful. It has such amazing landscapes, and it has this really extensive history you just end up immersed in. The language is really pretty, too."
...well then.
I'm easily influenced, so I've started to look up more on the country and the language. I've always adored Italian. Pfft, they say France is the country of l'amour, but it's got nothing on how romantic Italian can sound. As I said earlier, I love Japan. My interest in Japanese culture will always top my interest in Italian culture. But when it comes to the languages, Italian may actually come up on top. It's more melodic and bright sounding, and the consonants are just so much sharper and more crisp.
Er, I'll stop fangirling over that now. I spent awhile looking at different places in Italy (Rome is gorgeous and Venice is so one-in-a-kind, but I still love the entirety of Sicily~) and then started looking up a heap of words. Why not add some Italian to my vocabulary, right? I like to think of it as getting a head start on my uni stuff. Yeah. That's my excuse.
Anyway, today I have decided that andiamo is one of my favourite words. It means let's go, basically, but to me it sounds a bit more urgent. It's a very pretty word. It just rolls off the tongue so easily. I dunno, I just like it a lot. Is it bad that I first heard the word through Hetalia?
I've also learnt that Italians use the term che cavolo as something similar to "what the hell". Thing is, it literally translates to what cabbage. So next time something weird and befuddling happens, make sure to exclaim what the cabbage?!?, alright? ^_^
Ti amo, hai capito? ♥ I absolutely adore how this sounds. Heh.
Italiano; la bella lingua indeed.
Jun 15, 2011
Procrastibation.
I'm not going to explain the word 'procrastibation'. C'mon guys. It should be obvious.
Anyway, I'm procrastinating, like I usually do. Not procrastibating (I would hardly advertise that online, guys) but just normal procrastinating. I have an assignment due tomorrow that I've hardly started. That's okay. I'll do it in the morning. That's how I did the last assignment. Woke up at 3am, finished it by 6am. I'm damn good like that.
You can't blame me for procrastinating. It's a stupid assignment. The task sheet is badly written and the teacher annoys me. Yeah, that's totally reason enough to not do an assignment. Moving on.
Pretty sure I looked at the task sheet, looked at the teacher and thought "what". Just like this gif. Yeah.
Anyway, I'm procrastinating, like I usually do. Not procrastibating (I would hardly advertise that online, guys) but just normal procrastinating. I have an assignment due tomorrow that I've hardly started. That's okay. I'll do it in the morning. That's how I did the last assignment. Woke up at 3am, finished it by 6am. I'm damn good like that.
You can't blame me for procrastinating. It's a stupid assignment. The task sheet is badly written and the teacher annoys me. Yeah, that's totally reason enough to not do an assignment. Moving on.
Pretty sure I looked at the task sheet, looked at the teacher and thought "what". Just like this gif. Yeah.So how am I procrastinating this time? Unfortunately, I am not procrastibating. I don't think masturbation is a very productive way to pass the time. No, I'm listening to music, reading fanfiction and browsing Livejournal. Oh wait, that's what I normally do when something is due. Hm.
I'm a very predictable person, I suppose.
Then again, I'm not completely predictable. Guess what music I'm listening to. It's not indie, progressive rock or alternative for once. It's not in English or Japanese. Yeah, I've gone way out there. Sort of. I am listening to Italian rap.
Well, I'm listening to a bunch of songs in different languages about different countries. It just so happens that In Italia by Fabri Fibra (Ft. Gianna Nannini) is playing at this current point in time.
I figure I should listen to some more Italian if I want to learn the language... then again, there are a lot of languages I want to learn. Japanese, German, Macedonian, Greek, Spanish, Russian, Finnish, Portuguese, Latin and... Corsican, perhaps? Northern or Southern Corsican, I'm not picky.
I'd also like to learn Venetian, Sicilian and Neapolitan, but I may be going a bit over the top with the whole Italy thing. Corsican also counts, even if it's also spoken in France.
I'm too easily influenced. I started liking Finnish because of Tenuto Tuo, and it was Phantomess and Clearly Unfocused who got me into Spanish. But whatever.
L'italiano by Toto Cutugno is playing now. Which is quite a strange contrast when compared with the last song.
I should stop babbling on about languages now. Just for the record, I am studying Japanese and 'standard' Italian at uni. That will not change. However, I'd like to do German and maybe Sicilian one day in the future. Maybe. Depends on how difficult it is to learn Japanese and Italian... but hey, I'll keep those as my goals, anyway. It's nice to have goals, even if you probably won't reach them. It's free to dream big, right?
Right.
(The word 'procrastibation' was totally stolen from [title of show] which is absolutely hilarious and everyone should go watch it. Yes, right now. Yes, you. Go watch it. You won't regret it. Alright kiddies, go procrastibate and have fallacious arguments with your friends, mmkay?)
I'm a very predictable person, I suppose.
Then again, I'm not completely predictable. Guess what music I'm listening to. It's not indie, progressive rock or alternative for once. It's not in English or Japanese. Yeah, I've gone way out there. Sort of. I am listening to Italian rap.
Well, I'm listening to a bunch of songs in different languages about different countries. It just so happens that In Italia by Fabri Fibra (Ft. Gianna Nannini) is playing at this current point in time.
I figure I should listen to some more Italian if I want to learn the language... then again, there are a lot of languages I want to learn. Japanese, German, Macedonian, Greek, Spanish, Russian, Finnish, Portuguese, Latin and... Corsican, perhaps? Northern or Southern Corsican, I'm not picky.
I'd also like to learn Venetian, Sicilian and Neapolitan, but I may be going a bit over the top with the whole Italy thing. Corsican also counts, even if it's also spoken in France.
I'm too easily influenced. I started liking Finnish because of Tenuto Tuo, and it was Phantomess and Clearly Unfocused who got me into Spanish. But whatever.
L'italiano by Toto Cutugno is playing now. Which is quite a strange contrast when compared with the last song.
I should stop babbling on about languages now. Just for the record, I am studying Japanese and 'standard' Italian at uni. That will not change. However, I'd like to do German and maybe Sicilian one day in the future. Maybe. Depends on how difficult it is to learn Japanese and Italian... but hey, I'll keep those as my goals, anyway. It's nice to have goals, even if you probably won't reach them. It's free to dream big, right?
Right.
(The word 'procrastibation' was totally stolen from [title of show] which is absolutely hilarious and everyone should go watch it. Yes, right now. Yes, you. Go watch it. You won't regret it. Alright kiddies, go procrastibate and have fallacious arguments with your friends, mmkay?)
May 16, 2011
"But worry not, I emerged triumphant in the end. If by triumphant you mean shirtless"
The title is an awesome quote from an epic Hetalia fanfic. No, it's not as dirty as the quote makes it seem.
K, I've decided what course I'm doing for uni. I'm definite on it, now. Naturally, it involves Japanese. I'm also wanting to learn Italian. 'Cuz Italian is cool.
I wasn't into learning languages until last year. Oh, how things change. Don't get me wrong, I've loved Japanese culture for a few years now. I love their games. I love their television. I love their music. I just never felt the need to learn the language. Then, after watching Death Note, I discovered the band ナイトメア。Or Naitomea. Which is really just the Japanese approximation of the word nightmare. Gotta love all the ways of reading Japanese katakana.
Anyway, I was listening to them and absolutely adoring Yomi's vocals. He is very emotional with his singing. So I looked up a translation of the lyrics. But... it wasn't the same. I mean, the translations made sense and all, but it's not quite like hearing it for yourself. I realised then that I wanted to hear the song in its mothertongue. I didn't want a translation. I wanted to hear how it was written, the way it was supposed to be heard. I wanted to understand the vocalists intent rather than just read a translation that lacked the kind of emotion you could hear in the song itself.
That, my friends, is why I decided to learn Japanese. To listen to one band. Is this sad? Possibly. But it's kinda maybe changed my life (insert more corny phrases here). I mean, I ended up really loving the language. I soon came to appreciate the differences between English and Japanese; how rounded the language sounds in comparison, how simple it is grammatically, how complex the formalities are and just how different it is. And once you start really researching it, you can see how the culture is reflected in the language as well. It's interesting. It's fun. I've developed a love for the language, the history behind it, the country itself, the people, everything. Really, the language barrier is pretty bad. You miss out on so, so much by speaking only one language.
So I decided, hey, I may as well use this to my advantage. What can I do with Japanese? Well, I love video games and anime. Could I... I don't know... translate them?
Yes. Yes, I most certainly could.
It was only recently I decided I should do Italian. I watched the film The Bicycle Thief earlier this year and decided that this language sounded really, really cool. I ended up looking up plenty of languages, just to see how they all sound. I came back to Italian in the end though. Screw what everyone else says, French isn't the language of love. Italian is. It's beautiful, mmkay? I could talk for hours about what that language does to me. I adore it. Oh hay, you speak Italian? Excuse me while I take off my clothes.
I guess I'm also learning it so I can go to Italy and sample the pizza and pasta there. Viva Italia! :3
This has all lead to me looking up countries in general. I started watching Hetalia when I got an interest in countries, and that certainly jump-started things. I ended up learning some (slightly modified. Yeah, slightly...) world history through humour. Trust me, that's the best way to learn ^^. After watching each episode I'd look up the references. I started reading the webcomic as well. Eventually I started just outright looking up the countries online regardless of whether Hetalia had touched on said country and its history. I'm slowly but surely gaining knowledge on all sorts of world cultures, languages and history, for no reason other than my own interest.
Random fact: I've always hated flags, you know? They seem pointless and... I don't know why I dislike them. I just do. These days I do enjoy looking up the flags of each country and learning about what they represent, though.
And to think, all this random culture-immersion-stuff came from me listening to one band. xD
In conclusion, I am now going to study Japanese and Italian. And I have completely faith in myself with this. I'll get through, because I'm studying things that I enjoy. I will emerge triumphant in my language studies. Hopefully I will emerge with my shirt still firmly placed over my torso, though.
You know, watching Eurovision this year isn't really linked with all that. My good friend Tuo is very much in love with the show, and I am very glad I followed his lead. It also helps that the Hetalia fandom also appreciates this show. That said... I'm mostly watching now for the unintentional double entendre's that I kept hearing. Israel's entry for Eurovision this year was one of the more obvious ones. Honestly, the lyrics can be taken in a rather... awkward way.
♪Ding dong, say no more
I hear silent prayers
And it's making me high and fly
I know where to go and I'm coming now
See what I mean? I don't know how to take that. That last line... good lord, woman, keep it in your pants please. ^^
K, I've decided what course I'm doing for uni. I'm definite on it, now. Naturally, it involves Japanese. I'm also wanting to learn Italian. 'Cuz Italian is cool.
I wasn't into learning languages until last year. Oh, how things change. Don't get me wrong, I've loved Japanese culture for a few years now. I love their games. I love their television. I love their music. I just never felt the need to learn the language. Then, after watching Death Note, I discovered the band ナイトメア。Or Naitomea. Which is really just the Japanese approximation of the word nightmare. Gotta love all the ways of reading Japanese katakana.
Anyway, I was listening to them and absolutely adoring Yomi's vocals. He is very emotional with his singing. So I looked up a translation of the lyrics. But... it wasn't the same. I mean, the translations made sense and all, but it's not quite like hearing it for yourself. I realised then that I wanted to hear the song in its mothertongue. I didn't want a translation. I wanted to hear how it was written, the way it was supposed to be heard. I wanted to understand the vocalists intent rather than just read a translation that lacked the kind of emotion you could hear in the song itself.
That, my friends, is why I decided to learn Japanese. To listen to one band. Is this sad? Possibly. But it's kinda maybe changed my life (insert more corny phrases here). I mean, I ended up really loving the language. I soon came to appreciate the differences between English and Japanese; how rounded the language sounds in comparison, how simple it is grammatically, how complex the formalities are and just how different it is. And once you start really researching it, you can see how the culture is reflected in the language as well. It's interesting. It's fun. I've developed a love for the language, the history behind it, the country itself, the people, everything. Really, the language barrier is pretty bad. You miss out on so, so much by speaking only one language.
So I decided, hey, I may as well use this to my advantage. What can I do with Japanese? Well, I love video games and anime. Could I... I don't know... translate them?
Yes. Yes, I most certainly could.
It was only recently I decided I should do Italian. I watched the film The Bicycle Thief earlier this year and decided that this language sounded really, really cool. I ended up looking up plenty of languages, just to see how they all sound. I came back to Italian in the end though. Screw what everyone else says, French isn't the language of love. Italian is. It's beautiful, mmkay? I could talk for hours about what that language does to me. I adore it. Oh hay, you speak Italian? Excuse me while I take off my clothes.
I guess I'm also learning it so I can go to Italy and sample the pizza and pasta there. Viva Italia! :3
This has all lead to me looking up countries in general. I started watching Hetalia when I got an interest in countries, and that certainly jump-started things. I ended up learning some (slightly modified. Yeah, slightly...) world history through humour. Trust me, that's the best way to learn ^^. After watching each episode I'd look up the references. I started reading the webcomic as well. Eventually I started just outright looking up the countries online regardless of whether Hetalia had touched on said country and its history. I'm slowly but surely gaining knowledge on all sorts of world cultures, languages and history, for no reason other than my own interest.
Random fact: I've always hated flags, you know? They seem pointless and... I don't know why I dislike them. I just do. These days I do enjoy looking up the flags of each country and learning about what they represent, though.
And to think, all this random culture-immersion-stuff came from me listening to one band. xD
In conclusion, I am now going to study Japanese and Italian. And I have completely faith in myself with this. I'll get through, because I'm studying things that I enjoy. I will emerge triumphant in my language studies. Hopefully I will emerge with my shirt still firmly placed over my torso, though.
You know, watching Eurovision this year isn't really linked with all that. My good friend Tuo is very much in love with the show, and I am very glad I followed his lead. It also helps that the Hetalia fandom also appreciates this show. That said... I'm mostly watching now for the unintentional double entendre's that I kept hearing. Israel's entry for Eurovision this year was one of the more obvious ones. Honestly, the lyrics can be taken in a rather... awkward way.
♪Ding dong, say no more
I hear silent prayers
And it's making me high and fly
I know where to go and I'm coming now
See what I mean? I don't know how to take that. That last line... good lord, woman, keep it in your pants please. ^^
May 14, 2011
University
I have no idea what I'm going to do once high school is over.
Well, that's not true. I want to do languages. I want to learn Japanese. I want to be able to speak it fluently one day, and I'd like to do Italian at an intermediate level by the time I'm out of uni. I want to do a course that will help me get a job in translating and interpreting from Japanese into English. One day, I'll possibly translate from Italian into English as well. Maybe more languages. I also wouldn't mind doing linguistics.
No, a better way of phrasing that would be this; I have no idea what specific course I'm going to do once I'm finished with high school.
As you can see, I've listed a lot of stuff that I want to do, and there isn't one course that will cater to all of it. Therein lies the problem (lays the problem? Word tells me that it should be lays but I've always said lies because, well, that looks correct to me. Hm). I'm tentatively looking at one course currently. I've always questioned the validity of a BA degree but it's the only thing that truly fits what I'm wanting to do. So I'm currently aiming for a Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Applied Linguistics. I'll be specialising in Japanese, of course. Thing is, this isn't offered at my university of choice. It's offered at another good uni, but... well, I want to go to the same place as my friends.
Even if we grow apart (I really, really hope we don't), I still want to at least start at the same place with them. We'll have different classes, but I'll feel a little more confident just knowing they're at the same place as me.
Honestly, it was hard enough starting at high school on my own. I don't want to do that again.
Course and friend-placement issues aside, I am really looking forward to uni. I love learning Japanese, so I have a good feeling about studying it in a class. Perhaps I won't feel so bored during lessons. I might actually try for a change. I also think linguistics will be good because, with Japanese at least, one of my favourite things to study has been the grammar and syntax of the language. It's completely backwards in comparison to English. It's interesting. I also find conversations in Japanese to be a lot more efficient at getting the point across than in English. Well, excluding the pleasantries that you just can't get enough of when it comes to Japan, but I digress.
There's little I can do with language study here in Australia, but I figure that, if I'm not doing something I find interesting and fun, then there's no point in doing it. I refuse to do something I hate just because there may be plenty of career opportunities. I need to do something I enjoy. That something comes in the form of languages, for me.
I've heard the stories of university life. I assume college isn't that different, so I can throw those stories in there as well. But I'm trying to not go in with too many preconceptions. I don't want to end up disappointed, right? Even so, I'm holding onto the hope that the student body will be a lot happier and easier to get along with than those I've dealt with in high school. I'm also hoping that I'll get to socialise more. I'm hardly a social butterfly. If there's an event, I'll want to be in the centre of it... but I do get sick of it after awhile. I find myself wanting to leave parties early because I also need my alone time. So I doubt I'll be involved in huge gatherings every weekend. But I still want to go to some things. I want to go out to music concerts and see different performances. I want to actually have fun.
Yeah, I think I am getting my hopes too high still. But I can't help it. I'm looking forward to this all a little too much, I think. But you know, I like having something to look forward to. Even if that something is as nerdy as furthering your education.
Well, that's not true. I want to do languages. I want to learn Japanese. I want to be able to speak it fluently one day, and I'd like to do Italian at an intermediate level by the time I'm out of uni. I want to do a course that will help me get a job in translating and interpreting from Japanese into English. One day, I'll possibly translate from Italian into English as well. Maybe more languages. I also wouldn't mind doing linguistics.
No, a better way of phrasing that would be this; I have no idea what specific course I'm going to do once I'm finished with high school.
As you can see, I've listed a lot of stuff that I want to do, and there isn't one course that will cater to all of it. Therein lies the problem (lays the problem? Word tells me that it should be lays but I've always said lies because, well, that looks correct to me. Hm). I'm tentatively looking at one course currently. I've always questioned the validity of a BA degree but it's the only thing that truly fits what I'm wanting to do. So I'm currently aiming for a Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Applied Linguistics. I'll be specialising in Japanese, of course. Thing is, this isn't offered at my university of choice. It's offered at another good uni, but... well, I want to go to the same place as my friends.
Even if we grow apart (I really, really hope we don't), I still want to at least start at the same place with them. We'll have different classes, but I'll feel a little more confident just knowing they're at the same place as me.
Honestly, it was hard enough starting at high school on my own. I don't want to do that again.
Course and friend-placement issues aside, I am really looking forward to uni. I love learning Japanese, so I have a good feeling about studying it in a class. Perhaps I won't feel so bored during lessons. I might actually try for a change. I also think linguistics will be good because, with Japanese at least, one of my favourite things to study has been the grammar and syntax of the language. It's completely backwards in comparison to English. It's interesting. I also find conversations in Japanese to be a lot more efficient at getting the point across than in English. Well, excluding the pleasantries that you just can't get enough of when it comes to Japan, but I digress.
There's little I can do with language study here in Australia, but I figure that, if I'm not doing something I find interesting and fun, then there's no point in doing it. I refuse to do something I hate just because there may be plenty of career opportunities. I need to do something I enjoy. That something comes in the form of languages, for me.
I've heard the stories of university life. I assume college isn't that different, so I can throw those stories in there as well. But I'm trying to not go in with too many preconceptions. I don't want to end up disappointed, right? Even so, I'm holding onto the hope that the student body will be a lot happier and easier to get along with than those I've dealt with in high school. I'm also hoping that I'll get to socialise more. I'm hardly a social butterfly. If there's an event, I'll want to be in the centre of it... but I do get sick of it after awhile. I find myself wanting to leave parties early because I also need my alone time. So I doubt I'll be involved in huge gatherings every weekend. But I still want to go to some things. I want to go out to music concerts and see different performances. I want to actually have fun.
Yeah, I think I am getting my hopes too high still. But I can't help it. I'm looking forward to this all a little too much, I think. But you know, I like having something to look forward to. Even if that something is as nerdy as furthering your education.
Apr 29, 2011
God Doesn't Want Me To Study Languages
So I've just figured out why I struggle with the Japanese 'r' sound so much and why I cannot roll my r's. It also links to how I cannot lick the icecream bowl without managing to get icecream on my forehead and why I cannot, for the life of me, bend or roll my tongue in any way whatsoever. I appear to have 'Ankyloglossia'.
I've always had a short tongue. That's cool. At least I have a reason for it now. Ankyloglossia (often known as 'tongue tie', apparently) is where the skin under the tongue is unusually thick and/or short. So my tongue is attached to the bottom of my mouth. Well, everyone's is, but mine is stuck more than most. I don't know how this affects others, but for me it means I can't pronounce my R's properly. I didn't realise this until tonight, actually, when discussing pronunciations with my Dad. That was when he pointed out that I was weird. :3
I can't say an 'R' with my tongue. It comes out as an L sound. I try to compensate for this by using my throat to say anything with an 'r' instead.
So, for you normal-English speakers... say something, like 'rate'. Your tongue will probably be near the top of your mouth when you say the 'r' sound, right? Mine drops to the bottom of my mouth so that I can use my throat muscles to pronounce it. I have no way of explaining what I do, actually... Just that my tongue has very little to do with my 'r' sounds.
This also explains quite a lot. I did get tongue-tied more than anyone else as a kid...
Hm, yes, well, anyway. I pronounce my r's the same way that most German's do, it seems. Which is great, except... I'm not learning German.
And oh, the irony, it's also similar (though not quite to the same extent) to French 'r' sounds. I do not want to speak French...
I'm studying Japanese. In Japanese you pronounce the 'R' sound in between where you pronounce the English 'R' and 'L' sounds. But... that makes no sense to me because I can't make the English 'R' sound. So I kind of... make up a sound under my tongue. I'll explain that further down.
I also want to study Italian and possibly Spanish, which typically use the alveolar trill... or, you know, rolling the r's. Something I can't possibly do with my throat (Well, actually, I could learn, but at best it'll sound like a slight growl from what I can tell, and I don't really want to be growling at people). And I can't just learn to roll my r's the normal way, because my tongue won't work like that. It's kind of anchored to the bottom of my mouth, moreso than most... I've tried, but no matter how I position my tongue, it'll sound more like an 'l' than anything else.
The title of this post is wrong. It's not that I've been cursed to never study languages in general. It's more like... God has built me to learn languages I don't particularly like. Yeah. Thanks for that.
Not all is lost. I can make a slight rolling sound, in the same way I manage to make the Japanese 'r' sounds. I manage by moving my tongue in position to pronounce 'd' and then flicking between my 'r' and 'l' sounds underneath my tongue. I don't know how to explain that... I pronounce the 'r' with my throat, but flick air under my tongue to create an 'l' sound. It kind of rolls. It still sounds like more of an 'l' though. Actually, it mostly sounds Japanese and not at all Italian. That's not surprising though, since I figured this out while trying to pronounce the Japanese 'r' sound.
So much effort to make sounds that most people can do easily. O_O
I can get the annoying membrane under my tongue cut in surgery once I'm older, and I probably will do that. It's supposed to hurt a hell of a lot afterwards, but I think I can deal with it.
Curses. Of all the rotten luck...
I've always had a short tongue. That's cool. At least I have a reason for it now. Ankyloglossia (often known as 'tongue tie', apparently) is where the skin under the tongue is unusually thick and/or short. So my tongue is attached to the bottom of my mouth. Well, everyone's is, but mine is stuck more than most. I don't know how this affects others, but for me it means I can't pronounce my R's properly. I didn't realise this until tonight, actually, when discussing pronunciations with my Dad. That was when he pointed out that I was weird. :3
I can't say an 'R' with my tongue. It comes out as an L sound. I try to compensate for this by using my throat to say anything with an 'r' instead.
So, for you normal-English speakers... say something, like 'rate'. Your tongue will probably be near the top of your mouth when you say the 'r' sound, right? Mine drops to the bottom of my mouth so that I can use my throat muscles to pronounce it. I have no way of explaining what I do, actually... Just that my tongue has very little to do with my 'r' sounds.
This also explains quite a lot. I did get tongue-tied more than anyone else as a kid...
Hm, yes, well, anyway. I pronounce my r's the same way that most German's do, it seems. Which is great, except... I'm not learning German.
And oh, the irony, it's also similar (though not quite to the same extent) to French 'r' sounds. I do not want to speak French...
I'm studying Japanese. In Japanese you pronounce the 'R' sound in between where you pronounce the English 'R' and 'L' sounds. But... that makes no sense to me because I can't make the English 'R' sound. So I kind of... make up a sound under my tongue. I'll explain that further down.
I also want to study Italian and possibly Spanish, which typically use the alveolar trill... or, you know, rolling the r's. Something I can't possibly do with my throat (Well, actually, I could learn, but at best it'll sound like a slight growl from what I can tell, and I don't really want to be growling at people). And I can't just learn to roll my r's the normal way, because my tongue won't work like that. It's kind of anchored to the bottom of my mouth, moreso than most... I've tried, but no matter how I position my tongue, it'll sound more like an 'l' than anything else.
The title of this post is wrong. It's not that I've been cursed to never study languages in general. It's more like... God has built me to learn languages I don't particularly like. Yeah. Thanks for that.
Not all is lost. I can make a slight rolling sound, in the same way I manage to make the Japanese 'r' sounds. I manage by moving my tongue in position to pronounce 'd' and then flicking between my 'r' and 'l' sounds underneath my tongue. I don't know how to explain that... I pronounce the 'r' with my throat, but flick air under my tongue to create an 'l' sound. It kind of rolls. It still sounds like more of an 'l' though. Actually, it mostly sounds Japanese and not at all Italian. That's not surprising though, since I figured this out while trying to pronounce the Japanese 'r' sound.
So much effort to make sounds that most people can do easily. O_O
I can get the annoying membrane under my tongue cut in surgery once I'm older, and I probably will do that. It's supposed to hurt a hell of a lot afterwards, but I think I can deal with it.
Curses. Of all the rotten luck...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)