Since I've already missed the first few questions, I'm making no commitments to do the Long & Short Reviews link-ups this year...but this week's topic is so easy.
"What language(s) are you learning this year?"
1. I'm still learning English, although I've spoken English for fifty years.
2. I'm still learning Spanish, although my parents did all that they could, short of being able to speak Spanish themselves, to get me speaking Spanish for fifty years too. Doing today's butterfly post, I listened to a few video presentations in forms of Spanish that diverged slightly from standard Ciudad de Mexico and was reminded that I don't have real native fluency, and never will. I can talk to or translate for people who speak only Spanish, but I speak slowly, with an accent, and have to ask people whose accents are at all unfamiliar to say one word at a time.
3. And I'm still learning French, although the'rents wanted me to speak French, too, and started me on "Hear-Repeat-Speak" records in primary school. Je lis mais je ne parle pas. Asking me to talk to or translate for a traveller who spoke only French would be inhumane. Enjoying French literature is about all I can do in the way of international good will.
I have vocabulary lists and recognize words in a couple dozen other languages...which is a very different thing from speaking or even reading those languages. Being able to tell when people are speaking Hausa or Malay or Serbian in no way implies knowing what those people are saying.
Click here to see which languages other bloggers are learning:
At least you're still learning, Priscilla! Apparently, learning languages has all kinds of benefits for brain health and cognitive function.
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