Tuesday 3 December 2013

JFK

Considero que en estos días de libertad y derechos civiles para todos, sea difícil entender a fondo la importancia de ciertas personas que han aparecido en las páginas de nuestros libros de la historia. Podemos leer sobre estos personajes en la escuela o ver documentales sobre ellos en la tele pero es difícil realmente captar el sentido de lo que nos dieron sin vivir en su época, con todas sus dificultades y luchas, vivir sin las cosas que hoy en día, damos por sentado y así, minusvalorar su peso en nuestra historia. Personas como Martin Luther King y Emmeline Pankhurst, por ejemplo.

John F Kennedy también dejo una gran huella en la historia y la sociedad no solamente de los estados unidos sino también en el mundo entero. Hombre político que marcó una generación por su habilidad y humanidad como presidente del país más poderoso del mundo. Tenaz en su deseo de mostrar al mundo que América fuera el país más avanzado, eso se destaca en su rivalidad con Rusia en el concurso para conquistar el espacio que fue apodado el “Space Race”. Se mostró pacífico y capaz a la hora de hacer frente a las tensiones alrededor de la crisis de los misiles en Cuba y así evitar una guerra que sin duda habría sido la más devastadora hasta la fecha. El público podía ver su sinceridad y ternura en los momentos pasados con su familia frente a las cámaras cuando hacía el papel de un padre de familia muy atento con sus hijos. Imagino que fue una especie de estrella-presidente ya que, en aquella época de televisión y medios era fácil para el público seguir todos sus pasos y sentirse cerca de él.

Pero fue su lucha contra el racismo y por los derechos de todos, para que todos tuviesen igualdad en su visión para américa que ha demostrado ser la más polémica de su presidencia y generó respeto y odio en la misma medida. Su postura en aquel asunto causó que tuviera muchos detractores hacia su política de derechos civiles.

Todas las características mencionadas le convirtió en el presidente más amado pero por desgracia lo que le convirtieron en una leyenda fue su asesinato. Todo el mundo sabe dónde estaba en aquel momento cuando se enteró de su muerte. Aún hoy, cincuenta años después, mis padres se acuerdan con facilidad de lo que estaban haciendo al enterarse de la tragedia. Fue uno de aquellos momentos que puede cambiar el mundo, como fue el día 11 de septiembre para nuestra generación.

El debate sobre quien lo mató sigue hasta la fecha, es todavía un crimen no resuelto pero creo que la gente debe seguir hablando del hombre y no de los acontecimientos que nos quitaron a  uno de los grandes de todos los tiempos, uno que no se borrará nunca de las páginas de la historia.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Learning styles & vocab retention

Simply put; Everyone learns differently!
This means firstly that different people will have more difficulty in certain aspects of language learning while other parts of the process will come easier than for other learners. 
It also means that there will be different approaches to any given topic that will suit a student's learning style. Sometimes the standard textbooks and courses will suit you, but that's not always the case. Sometimes it's trial and error but I think you'll eventually find what works for you. 
There are good people to follow on twitter who can help with this, outlining different strategies with will help, whatever type of learner you are.

I was asked for tips on vocabulary learning and how best to retain it. Others will have their own way of doing this but the following steps are what (usually) works for me.
Good luck with whatever language you're learning and please leave me any feedback you can.

When it comes to building up a store of vocabulary it's all about soaking up as much as you can. Bombard yourself with the language, read newspapers/reports on the net, listen to news, podcasts, Internet radio. Even if you don't catch the sense of everything, you'll pick up some new words.

I find I learn visually so I write these new words down in notebooks, this helps me assimilate them and I find I recall it visually when I need it. If you have time, go through the new words again, arranging them by theme. Doing this you've written the new words twice, which helps retention and you've placed it in a virtual "file" in your mind where you'll recall grouped words in mid conversation. Back this up by having imaginary conversations in your head, it sounds crazy but it works. This helps you keep the flow and rhythm natural and it's practise for the thematically grouped words you've just learned. Imagine a conversation or presentation you have to give where you would need to throw in a lot of them. If you speak a 3rd language, you'll find translating between your other 2 will help the memorisation process too.
Download a good dictionary to your smartphone so you can pick up words on the go. Listen to radio
or podcasts and translate the words as you pick them out, you can even screenshot them and write them in your notebook later.
lastly, when you learn a new word, to get familiar with it, google it. It'll bring up various reports etc that it's used in, that way, you'll see how it's used grammatically and contextually. This will all just cement it in place in your mind.

Thursday 14 November 2013

La piratería

La piratería representa un gran cambio para la gente involucrada en ciertos sectores del entretenimiento y el espectáculo; los actores, directores, músicos etc. Pero este cambio se nota más entre los consumidores. Los hábitos de consumismo de este grupo han cambiado notablemente debido a las mejoras vinculadas con la tecnología en los últimos años. No sé exactamente desde cuando los avances en el mundo de la informática permiten que las personas puedan descargar películas y canciones en sus ordenadores pero esto cambió el mercado para todos y el hecho de que existe ahora la posibilidad de descargar dichos productos, ilegalmente y sin pagar, provoca grandes problemas para los trabajadores que mencioné antes. 
Pero puedo ver ambos lados de la situación. Mientras que no apruebo las actividades ilegales, tengo que reconocer que yo también lo he hecho por el simple hecho de que es fácil y gratis. Puedes descargar un disco en tu propia casa, sin ir a las tiendas de discos y pagar unos €20 como antes. Pero hay que mirar el otro lado, que es el hecho de que los artistas no cobran el dinero que merecen por su producto y todo el trabajo hecho "detrás de la escena", como escribir canciones o guiones, ensayar, producir, y todo el resto. Y para no olvidarnos de los trabajadores que realizan las tareas de que incluso no hacemos caso. Hablo de los que no son artistas, no son ricos , y que dependen del sueldo generado por las ventas de dichos productos. Esto puede llevar a una situación en la que estos sectores y estos trabajadores no sepan hacer frente a la escasez de dinero y pierdan sus trabajos y se quedan en bancarrota. Puede ser difícil tener compasión para los artistas en este sentido ya que, muchos de ellos son ya ricos, pero hay que tener en cuenta los trabajadores que están en medio de todo esto y el sector en general. 
No sé como solucionar el problema de la piratería pero creo que depende de la tecnología que tenemos en el presente y cambiará paulatinamente en cuanto la tecnología mejore. 
Lo que hay que destacar es que sería horrible si los artistas decidieran poner fin a sus actividades por esta situación. Nosotros seríamos los que perderíamos algo muy especial en la vida, algo que nos da mucha alegría, ya que son unos tipos de entretenimiento que nos permiten olvidar nuestros problemas durante unas horas.
Otra opinión personal es que este nuevo método de adquirir la música, descargando, legalmente o no, nos quita la posibilidad de compartir nuevos discos junto con amigos, todos reunidos, como fue para mi durante mi adolescencia. Para mi esto fue la mejor maniera para descubrir las nuevas canciones de mis grupos preferidos. 

Friday 1 November 2013

Brasil

Eu sempre sonhei em visitar o Brasil. Realmente conheço pouco sobre o país, mas gosto muito das coisas que conheço. A cultura, a música e, sobretudo, o futebol sempre foram as coisas que me atraíam. Também conheço muita gente brasileira que mora aqui em Dublin, e me parece a gente mais simpática e amável do mundo. Mas é o país que me atrai e quero falar mais sobre ele aqui. 
Não tenho dados sobre o Brasil para discutir ou revelar para vocês, mas simplesmente quero falar sobre o que mais gostaria de ver lá. 
Sendo o berço do futebol, pelo menos o futebol mais bonito do mundo e que a gente gosta, é imprescindível visitar o estádio Maracanã no Rio De Janeiro. Eu gostaria também de ver o estádio João Havelange, onde joga o time Botafogo, porque Mané Garrincha é o meu jogador brasileiro favorito de todos os tempos e jogou neste time durante 12 anos, apesar de que o estádio é novo e Garrincha nunca jogou lá. 
Também no Rio preciso conhecer a baía onde se pode ver a montanha "Pão de Açúcar" e o Corcovado com a estátua "Cristo Redentor". Há algumas praias maravilhosas que vão ao longo da baía e algumas são até famosas como, por exemplo, Copacabana e Ipanema. Uma visita ao Rio não seria completa sem ver o famoso carnaval, que acontece antes da quaresma todo ano. Há times dos clubes de samba que competem no carnaval e as preparações vão durante todo o ano para este acontecimento tão importante. 
Rio de Janeiro tem também seus problemas. O maior é seguramente o da pobreza que a população sofre. Há uma grande lacuna entre os ricos e os pobres da cidade e isso é destacado pelas condições de vidas diferentes dos dois grupos. 
São Paulo é a maior cidade do Brasil com pouco menos de 12 milhões de habitantes, mas não é a capital. A cidade capital do Brasil é Brasília, que é a sede do governo também. 
Os esportes mais destacados são o futebol e a Fórmula 1. O Brasil teve os seus campeões mundiais em ambos os esportes. O samba é a música mais famosa do Brasil e há cantores de samba que são muito famosos em sua arte. 
Não sei muito sobre a comida brasileira, mas o que quero fazer é beber uma caipirinha relaxando na praia e ver as pessoas jogando futebol de praia. 
Por todas estas razões quero ir ao Brasil, e por isso também que estudo o português. Além disso, eu acho que o português é a língua mais musical do mundo. Talvez seja por isso que a música brasileira é tão bonita.

Monday 5 August 2013

Het is totaal de moeite waard

Nederlands spreken is niet makkelijk maar ik wilde het leren na mijn eerste keer in Amsterdam. Ik was voor het eerst daarnaar gegaan voor een partij met vrienden tien jaar geleden en ik bleef verliefd op de stad. Toen kon ik de taal niet verstaan maar ik luisterde naar de mensen toen ze spraken om me heen en ik hield van het klinken van de taal. Na mijn eerste bezoek in Nederland heb ik besloten dat ik de taal wilde leren. Het is moeilijk de kans te vinden Nederlands te spreken aangezien de taalvaardigheid van de meeste van de Nederlanders. De gemiddelde Nederlander spreekt gewoonlijk het Engels op een vrij hoog niveau en het is heel moeilijk ze te overtuigen, Nederlands met je te spreken maar als ze zien dat je een poging hebt gemaakt, hun taal te leren, zijn ze gewoonlijk verwonderd en dankbaar, een buitenlander te horen hun taal spreken. De volgende keer dat ik in Amsterdam was, met mijn vrouw, was ik in staat het Nederlands vrij goed te spreken en ik genoot veel meer van mijn vakantie. Vorige jaar ging ik naar België voor mijn werk en ook daar kon ik met de mensen communiceren vanwege mijn studie. In het noorden van België spreken de mensen een taal die "Vlaams" heet. Het is dezelfde taal dat in Nederland wordt gesproken, met enkele verschillen. Bepaalde woorden en het accent zijn anders en in het begin is het moeilijk de Vlamingen te verstaan maar daarna, en met een beetje poging, gaat het goed en je kunt communiceren met de inwoners van twee verschillende landen.
Zover heb ik niet de kans gehad meer van Nederland, buiten Amsterdam te zien maar ik verheug me op mijn volgende bezoek.
Nederlands is niet makkelijk maar het is zeker de moeite waard. 

Thursday 18 July 2013

The rewards of language learning

Getting to know a different country while on vacation there can be a wonderful new experience. 
You can enrich this experience by equipping yourself with a few phrases of the local language, just to enable a bit of communication with the locals, it's usually worth it as they will warm to you very quickly and make it all the more pleasant for you.
Living in the country, however, is a different matter. The situation changes then into having to learn the language just in order to get by in everyday life doing everyday things. 
The following piece talks briefly about my experience of living in Italy, where I learnt my first foreign language, Italian.
I knew some people there who cut short their experience because they didn't get around to learning the language and so felt isolated. I wanted to make the most of it all so I made a special effort to learn Italian and it opened the door to an amazing time. 
Of course this can be relevant for any language/country/culture but Italy was my first experience of living abroad and the one I'll remember most fondly. 
But the message is; embrace language learning, this is what it can give you back;


When it comes to speaking or writing about Italy, I usually find myself using a lot of superlatives. The words "best" and "most beautiful" get used a lot. It might be hard to understand why someone from Ireland, who had only spent 2 years in Italy, can still regard it as his spiritual home and after 15 years still gets homesick for it, but let me at least try to explain the impact and significance the "most beautiful" country has had on my life.
I went to Italy 17 years ago as a 24 year-old seeking adventure. My plan was just to go and have a year of fun before coming home to make a career for myself, I figured I should get this travel bug out of my system before even thinking about getting serious about life. I'd never been to Italy before but I knew there were certain things I already loved about it; the weather, the food, the football and the pretty girls. I went alone because I wanted to challenge myself to a new country, new culture and new language and do it for myself and then at least I'd come home with a new skill, a new language. 
What I found there was anything but a challenge, it was a pleasure, "La dolce vita" indeed.
I organised a job in a bar in Crema, a city in Lombardy, not far from Milan and I flew into Milan on a Friday night in August 1996 ready to start work on the Monday.
Right away I knew it was a place I would enjoy, little did I realise then how much of an impact it would have on my life. Such an impact that as I sit at home and write this 17 years later, my heart still hurts to remember and realise how much I miss it. Trust me, Italy gets under your skin and into your heart. It's a good thing, embrace it. 
I indeed found all the things listed above that I already liked about the country and in terms of girls, I met one of the great loves of my life there. But it was the things I hadn't expected that made the biggest impact on me. The country is spectacularly beautiful, from fresh-aired alpine mountains in the north, to the sun-kissed beaches on the coasts, the rolling plains of Lombardy to the medieval towns dotted around the landscape. You don't need to be told about the beauty of Venice, but what about the breathtaking beauty of lake Garda? Medieval towns with cobblestone streets, ancient castles, lemon trees, olive groves and mountains overlooking the lake. Amazing! You need to see these places to believe.
But the best thing about Italy for me is it's people. As a young foreigner trying to find his feet, what I found was an endless supply of people only too eager to help and put a friendly arm around me. I was invited into many homes and treated like a member of the family, as if I was a cousin visiting from overseas. 
I'm still in touch with most of the people I got to know there and even the ones I'm not in regular contact with still make a big fuss of me whenever I go back. On my first return, 4 years after I'd left to go home, people were coming out of shop doorways to hug me. A wonderfully warm people, full of fun. They certainly know how to enjoy the good and simple things in life; a stroll through the town, enjoying a "Gelato" on a warm summer evening, or just greeting friends and neighbours as they enjoy a coffee while sitting in the piazza. 
The people of Italy speak the most romantic, sexy language in the world and if you can demonstrate an ability to do use their language (4 or 5 words will suffice), just enough to order a coffee, you will instantly be a hero to them and you will earn yourself many pats on the back.
Italy, like many of its European neighbours is experiencing some hard times economically right now but I would have faith that, more than most, it can get back on its feet quickly. A tourist industry that will always be booming due to the country's natural beauties and an upbeat, resilient people are just some of the things Italy has in it's corner. 
It's a country that everyone should experience at least once in their life. And it is an experience, not just a destination. 
You may just lose your heart there but at least it'll have mine for company. 

Friday 12 July 2013

Turismo en España

Turismo en España.
Esta vez toca escribir en Español y yo querría escribir sobre un tema muy importante en España, el turismo.
España vio una explosión en turismo en los años 70 y sobretodo en los años 80, debido a los precios más asequibles de transporte aéreo. De repente la gente normal podían permitirse un viaje hasta lugares exóticos previamente desconocidos, y para los Irlandeses y la gente de Gran Bretaña, el más visitado de aquel entonces era España.  España fue la obvia elección para irse de vacaciones si lo pienses bien ya que, siendo un país de Europa occidental, el vuelo no sería tan largo, lo que hace que el precio sería más abordable todavía. Fue también bastante barato pasar las vacaciones en España, los comestibles costaban menos y se podía comer en las restaurantes, lo que no era tan abordable en su país de origen. También costaba menos beber cerveza, que es un pasatiempo de los anglosajones. Pero lo más importante era el hecho de que España goza de mucho más sol que los países británicos y los turistas podían hacer baño de sol y nadar en el mar en las nuevas zonas turísticas que crecían todo lo largo de las costas. 
Durante las décadas 70, 80 y 90 el turismo se hizo muy importante para la economía de España y sigue siéndolo, el sector de turismo español es actualmente el segundo más grande del mundo y genera una cantidad increíble de dinero. El hecho de que en las últimas décadas España ha tenido que hacer frente a la expansión rápida de otros países que se han hecho abordables para la gente, habla positivamente de sus bellezas, su cultura y su gente amable para que sigue siendo uno de los países más visitados en el mundo. 
Previamente el turismo era limitado a las costas, por ejemplo La costa del sol, la costa blanca y la costa dorada y a las islas, por ejemplo Las Canarias y Las Baleares pero más gente están descubriendo las bellezas y las ciudades del interior. 
El clima de España, junto con los monumentos históricos, su cultura, su comida y su posición geográfica hacen que España sea una de las destinaciones turísticas más agradables del mundo, y una de mis favoritas. 

Os deseo unas vacaciones maravillosas en España. 

Friday 5 July 2013

Amore Italiano

A volte mi sento diviso in due.
Sono nel paese in cui sono nato e eppure mi sento straniero.
Vi spiego; tanto tempo fa ho perso il cuore in italia e sembra proprio che ne abbia lasciato un pezzo lì.
Penso che sia un sentimento a cui non mi abituerò mai.
Diciasette anni fa ho lasciato l’Irlanda per andare a vivere in Italia, tutto per provare una nuova esperienza. Ero giovane, single e senza figli. Insomma, non avevo nessuna responsabilità. Avevo un lavoro ma non una carriera. Ero libero di fare qualsiasi cosa che volevo. Allora, un bel giorno, ho deciso di lasciare il lavoro e partire per l’Italia per un anno.
Almeno, doveva essere per un anno ma, come succede spesso in questi casi, è arrivato l’amore e tutti i piani sono stati cambiati. Alla fine mi sono fermato lì due anni.
Erano due anni pieni di esperienze, sia splendide che brutte (la maggior parte splendide). Ho scoperto un altro paese (il paese più bello del mondo secondo me), ho scoperto una meravigliosa cultura, gente talmente brava che mi viene da piangere quando penso a tutti i bravi amici che ho lasciato nel momento in cui ho deciso di tornare a casa, amici che, ormai ho capito, sono amici per la vita.
Mi sono subito innamorato dell’Italia. C’ è tantissimo da vedere lì , è un paese piena  di bellezze naturali. Il sole rende tutti felici e la gente va in giro con un sorriso sulla bocca, sanno godere della vita.
Il cibo, il calcio, le belle ragazze, il profumo nell’aria durante l’estate e sopratutto il ritmo della vita sono delle cose che mi hanno fatto innamorare del mio paese adottivo  e mi mancano. Sedendomi in piazza, sotto il sole, mangiando un buon gelato mentre contemplavo la bellezza del duomo, cose che non si possono fare in Irlanda.
Al livello di luoghi, Venezia e la zona intorno al Lago di Garda per me sono splendidi e sono i miei luoghi preferiti ma devo far staccare  la città che mi ha dato così tanto – lavoro, amici, un posto in cui vivere e sentirmi bene , e certo l’amore. Quella città si chiama Crema, e  una città più bella per vivere in questo mondo, non esiste.
Ma dopo tutte le esperienze vissute lì e tutte le bellezze che ci sono da vedere, devo sottolineare che è la gente d’Italia che lo rende uno dei posti migliori per vivere, ci si sta veramente bene.
Ed è proprio per quello che mi sento straniero adesso in Irlanda. Vorrei talmente tornare in Italia che ogni giorno mi viene la nostalgia, forse ancora più forte della nostalgia che mi ha fatto tornare qui quindici anni fa.
Pensa!! Quindici anni e ancora soffro della nostalgia. Ho lasciato tanto in dietro, forse troppo. Un bel lavoro, amici, una bella casetta e un’amore speciale.
Sono tornato sotto una nuvola e da quel punto in poi ho sempre avuto dei rimpianti.
Forse l’ho lasciata troppo in fretta.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Tip #1 Think about fluency

Fluency in a language basically means you can converse at a normal pace with someone without those "um"s and "ah"s that accompany a basic speaker's level of conversation. When you get to the point where your words flow, like fluid, or fluently, you're there.
The best way to gain fluency in your target language is to learn to think in that language as soon as you can.
Let's take an example;
Let's say you're an English speaker and learning to speak French. If you are thinking in English while conversing in French then your speech will be peppered with those aforementioned interjections as you search for the French equivalent of the word or phrase in your head. If however, you are already thinking in French then you will already have a store of words and phrases just ready to trip off your tongue. Your speech will be fluid, it will have the proper rhythm to it, it will be more pleasing to the ear and more easily understood. 
So how do you get thinking in your target language?
Here are a few pointers I would use;
Firstly, at the early language acquisition stage, don't just learn "stand-alone vocabulary", that is, don't just learn a word in isolation. Learn it with it's relevant definite article so you can easily recall it's gender (not relevant to all languages). Learn it in phrases where it would commonly be used. This gives you other vocabulary to surround the word with and also gives you a smooth sounding, readily available, practised phrase. It'll sound fluid since it has been learned and rehearsed as a "block" of language instead of individual words being forced together like the wrong pieces of a jigsaw. 
Secondly, have internal conversations with yourself in your target language.
I don't mean go around having full blown arguments with yourself, nothing that will make people think you're crazy. Just turn the language over in your head and familiarise yourself with it, make it your own. Imagine situations at random where you'll need to express yourself and make yourself understood. Imagine any situation you could encounter in a foreign country; in a bank to change money, shopping, reporting a crime to police or just socialising. Think of the language you'd need to use, go over it and make up an imaginary conversation. See where it takes you and see if you can think of and build the phrases you need. When you can, you'll have some ready made phrases in your memory bank for whenever those situations might arise. 
Another thing I do from time to time is just listen to speech going on around me and see if I can translate it to another language. Just randomly picking phrases as I hear them. This gives you the challenge of trying to translate language you haven't prepared. If you need to look up words, you'll have a context to remember them with. So you'll probably be learning new words and also trying to translate quickly so you can keep up with what you're hearing around you. 
The more you turn the language over in your head, the quicker you'll get used to putting the blocks together, which in turn will make it sound fluid. You'll be familiar with how they go together and you'll be speaking them together rather than one piece at a time. 
Remember that all those "blocks" that you're putting together and all the phrases you're building up a store of, have to be brought out, so speak them, express yourself, develop your fluency and accent and above all...communicate! 
After all, that's the whole point of language. 

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Aventure Française

Cette fois-ci je vais vous écrire en Français parce qu'entre trois jours je vais partir pour la France en vacances avec ma famille. Ce sera ma quatrième fois dans l'hexagone, comme les français se réfèrent au leur pays et ma première fois au dehors de Paris. Nous passerons une semaine en Normandie et nous visiterons des petits villages de pêcheurs sur la côte. Nous y allons avec la voiture, ce qui nous permet de parcourir la campagne et voir tous les villages que nous voulons et pendant le voyage de retour, j'espère visiter le célèbre Mont-saint-Michel, ce qui représentera le point culminant pour moi personnellement. En plus, je vais prendre beaucoup de plaisir au moment de parler avec les gens du coin et de mettre en pratique mon Français. À part tout cela, j'apprécie beaucoup l'opportunité de faire que mes enfants fassent connaissance avec un pays que j'aime et avec une langue qui est très importante parmi les grandes langues du monde. 

Sunday 2 June 2013

Lesson #2 easy Italian verbs

Italian verbs in the present tense are reasonably easy, for the most part it's about memorising a pattern. Because the personal pronoun (I, you, he, etc) can usually be left out, the verb ending carries the information as to WHO is doing the action. Its important to get these endings right to get the right message across, so here is a little guide;

In the infinitive (the form found in dictionaries) Italian verbs end in one of 3 ways; -ARE, -ERE, -IRE.
The endings you use when conjugating the present tense will in some part depend on which of the 3 classes the verb belongs to. 
Here are 3 easy examples;

Verb Endings;

IoO

TuI

Lui/leiA or E

NoiIAMO

VoiATE, ETE or ITE 

LoroANO or ONO

 

Mangiare – to eat

 

Io mangio

Tu mangi

Lui/Lei mangia

Noi mangiamo

Voi mangiate

Loro mangiano

 

Bere – to drink

 

Io bevo

Tu bevi

Lui/Lei beve

Noi beviamo

Voi bevete

Loro bevono

 

 

Dormire – to sleep

 

Io dormo

Tu dormi

Lui/Lei dorme

Noi dormiamo

Voi dormite

Loro dormono

 

It’s always the same pattern, once you learn it you can use any verb and it's really pretty easy, you'll get used to it quite quickly.

Thursday 30 May 2013

Basic Lesson #1 - Holiday Vocabulary

Basic lesson #1

Hi everyone,
I’ve decided it’s time for a lesson, and I think we’ll start nice and easy with just a bit of vocabulary.
Since the summer is now in full swing, what better subject to focus on than
the holidays/vacation.

So let’s start with a bit of basic vocabulary with a vacation theme;

Italian

The Vacation – La Vacanza
The aeroplane – L’aereo
The flight – il volo
Money – soldi
The passport – il passaporto
The beach – La Spiaggia
The Sea – Il Mare
To swim – Fare il Bagno / Nuotare
The mountains – Le Montagne
Hire a car – noleggiare una macchina
Foreign country – paese straniero/Estero
Foreign language – Lingua straniera
Communicate with the locals – comunicare con la gente del posto
Food and drink – cibo e bevande
Order food – ordinare del cibo
Local customs – costumi locali
Sightseeing tour – visita guidata
Return trip – viaggio di ritorno
The hangover – la sbornia

French

The Vacation – Les vacances
The aeroplane – L'avion
the flight – le vol
the Money – l’argent
The passport – le passeport
The beach – La Plage
The Sea – La Mer
To swim - Nager
The mountains –Les Montagnes
Hire a car – louer une voiture
Foreign country – pays étranger
Foreign language – Langue étrangère
Communicate with the locals – Communiquer avec les gens du coin
Food and drink – Alimentation et boissons
Order food – Commander un repas
Local customs – Les coutumes locales
Sightseeing tour – visite guideé
Return trip – Voyage de retour
The hangover - La gueule de bois

Spanish

The Vacation – las vacaciones
The aeroplane – el avión
 the flight – el vuelo
the Money – el dinero
The passport – el pasaporte
The beach – La Playa
The Sea – El Mar
To swim - Nadar
The mountains –las Montañas
to Hire a car – alquilar un coche
Foreign country – país extranjero
Foreign language – lengua extranjera
Communicate with the locals – comunicarse con la gente del lugar
Food and drink – alimentos y bebidas
Order food – ordenar comidas
Local customs – costumbres locales
Sightseeing tour – recorrido guiado
Return trip – viaje de regreso
The hangover –la Resaca

German

The Vacation – Der Urlaub
The aeroplane – Das Flugzeug
the flight – Der Flug
the Money – Das Geld
The passport – Der Reisepass
The beach – Der Strand
the Sea – Das Meer
To swim - Schwimmen
The mountains –Die Berge
to Hire a car – ein auto mieten
Foreign country –  Ausland
Foreign language – Fremdsprachen
Communicate with the locals – Kommunizieren mit den Einheimischen
Food and drink – Essen und Trinken
Order food – Essen Bestellen
Local customs – Lokale Bräuche
Sightseeing tour – Besichtigungsreise
Return trip – Rückfahrt
The hangover – Der Kater

Portuguese

The Vacation – As férias
The aeroplane – O avião
the flight – O vôo -
the Money – O dinheiro
The passport – O passaporte
The beach – A Praia
the Sea – O Mar
To swim - Nadar
The mountains – Os Montanhas
to Hire a car – alugar um carro
Foreign country – País estrangeiro
Foreign language – Língua estrangeira
Communicate with the locals – Comunique-se com os moradores locais
Food and drink – Alimentos e bebidas
Order food – ordenar comida
Local customs – Os costumes locais
Sightseeing tour – A excursão turística
Return trip – O vôo de volta
The hangover - A ressaca


I’ll go a little more in-depth in certain lessons and themes and provide a narrative in whichever language is the focus of the particular lesson, I just wanted to keep it basic for now.
If you have any requests for a particular theme or language or any specific lesson type; vocab, grammar, prepositions etc, please contact me and i'll try to tailor-make a lesson for you.

Until next time,
Enjoy your holidays
Buone vacanze
Bonnes vacances
Felices fiestas
Frohe feiertage
Boas festas

Monday 27 May 2013

Croatian - Hrvatski

I wanted my first real post to be about the latest language I've just started on, rather than the ones I've been using for years, simply because it's current for me, is first and foremost in my mind right now and I must admit, I'm really enjoying it.
That language is Croatian and I decided I'd start studying it a few months back.
Croatian is going to be the next language to become an official EU language due to Croatia's accession to the European Union on 1 July this year. But that wasn't my only reason for wanting to learn it, it just gave me a bit more impetus.
I choose the languages I will study for a number of reasons; will I get the chance to use it? On holiday or at work? Are there many speakers of it in this city to practise with? Are there many sources for learning material on the Internet? And probably above all others; do I like it and enjoy studying it?
That last one is perhaps the most important one to me personally, in some cases it has justified me learning some more 'obscure' languages.
I've done some work alongside the EU Commission so the fact I could potentially use Croatian for work, added to the fact it's one I really like was the deciding factor for me.
It's a beautiful and rich language, beautifully expressive and more musical than some of it's other siblings and cousins within the Slavic family. It combines some aspects of Latin languages (predominantly Italian) with the grammar and lexicon of the Slavic languages.
It is very closely related to Serbian, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Slovene, all of them being the languages of the States of the former Yugoslavia. Due to their linguistic closeness, a knowledge of any one of them will give you a base from which to learn the others and by all accounts this is a beautiful part of the world (and this i intend to find out for myself) so well worth learning. It's also related to Polish, Czech and Slovak, though not as closely. Then a little further away on this branch of the family tree is Russian. Croatian is supposedly the easiest of the Slavic languages to learn, from an English speaker's point of view anyway so it is an easily accessible doorway towards learning any of the others I've mentioned, although I'm studying it for it's own merits.
I'm really enjoying learning it and I fully intend to reach fluency pretty quickly, liking it makes this goal somewhat easier to reach.
The chance to use it in an official capacity with the EU Commission is something I'd relish.
Let me sign off by saying I'd like to welcome Croatia into the European Union.
Želio bih pozdraviti Hrvatsku u Europskoj uniji.


Hello - Introduction

Hello to all.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. This blog is brand new and so this is the first installment.
Basically all i'm trying to achieve on this is convey my passion for languages and language-learning (mostly European languages) and our fair continent of Europe in general. If i can generate any interest for people in learning a new language then all the better.

I'm a Linguist/Polyglot/perpetual language learner. I'm pro EU and I love all things European. I like to share tips on Language-learning and European culture.
Any comments/questions/tips are relevant and welcome. I'm also on Twitter @theeurolinguist I tweet in English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Dutch and Swedish. Currently fascinated by Turkish. Always learning...