Language Class?

In my last status update, I mentioned that I have started studying Greek as my 4th foreign language this month.  But, that is not entirely true. You see, I have been studying languages for a long time, long before the Alternative Graduate program. It’s my biggest hobby, actually. I have dabbled in many languages over the years, but only once I reach at least an A1 level, can I consider it among my repertoire of languages.

A brief history of my language learning endeavors…..

• Spanish class after school in the first grade
  • I can still say “Me llamo…” and count to 39 (which is perfect since that is my shoe size, I was able to buy shoes in Spain! )
• Japanese lessons in class once a week in 4th and 5th grade
  • Counting from 1-10 was surprisingly helpful when I had a ship full of 1400 Japanese people!
• French formal classes all through middle school, high school and university, and again in 2020
  • This is my strongest language, I would put it at a B1 level. I can carry on conversations in French (with some errors, but hey….)
• ASL (American Sign Language) classes in the tenth grade. I was top of my class!
  • I have forgotten most sign language, but I can still sign the lyrics to “A Whole New World” and “Silent Night”!
• Italian class my last semester of university (after I got fed up with French), and I started studying it again in 2020. I was better then than I am now 😦
  • “Vabbe. Vabbe. Io bisogno un pisolino.” I still remember my two favorite words!
• Arabic is pretty. I spent about a year after university learning it. I had a friend studying it for the military, and I thought it would be fun. I got pretty far too, I even knew the alphabet!
  • I forgot almost everything except “Shukran” and “Kayfa haluk?”
• Bible class Hebrew when I attended a Jewish church (yes that’s a thing!) for a couple years.
  • Everyone knows “Shabbat Shalom” and “L’Chaim”, but I also remember the letter ‘bet’ because as my video lessons explained, it looks like a bunk bed – which starts with ‘b’.
• Dutch became important when I started working for a semi-Dutch company (and ergo had many Dutch friends and a Dutch boyfriend). 
  • I can still understand quite a bit of Dutch, though I have a bad habit of responding in English, so my production skills are not the best. But I’m working on them!
• I have many Indonesian coworkers, so I decided to learn some Bahasa Indonesia.
  • I know everything “goreng” (fried) – pisang goreng, nasi goreng, bami goreng – as well as “makan dulu” or “koppie dulu”. I apparently like Indonesian food. I also remember “singa laut” (sea lion) and “hijau” (green, for “push the green button”). Not sure what this says about my job.
  • If nothing else, this page will make you want to learn Indonesian too!
• Hungarian is apparently one of the most difficult languages to learn. I became interested after spending 10 days in Budapest, and then again a couple years later via a Hungarian colleague.
  • After my 10 days, I knew exactly 3 (albeit important) phrases: “Szia” (hi/bye), “köszönöm” (thank you) and “Egészségedre!” (Cheers!). Since then, I’ve added only one more: “Hogy vagy?” (How are you?).
• I decided to learn Greek after spending last summer sailing in Greece.
  • Upon starting my lessons this month, I realised that I picked up quite a bit more words and nuances than I thought while I was there!
  • “Freddo espresso, parakaló.”

You might wonder: how do you learn all these?! Well, like I said, it’s my passion!

That’s the first thing, you must have a connection to the language. Why do you want to learn it? (A boyfriend/girlfriend who speaks the language is usually a high motivation!)

The quickest way to learn is to become immersed in the language. If moving to a place where it is spoken is not an option, you can mock this by immersing yourself in movies, TV, and news in the language.

Check out this page for all my favorite language learning resources!

P.S. After I get a handle on Greek, I think I’d like to revisit Arabic and Hungarian, you know, for a bit of a challenge!