#(And to actually use a language that I'm fluent in ahaha)

[learnelle]

Pictures from a busy weekend in Paris: lots of hot drinks, studying a bit harder than usual, and being pleasantly surprised to see Lithuania mentioned in the metro

[misscrawfords]

I am so impressed - How have you learned so many languages? :)

Ahaha well, I don't know that many languages well. But I would say that I am primarily a linguist so it shouldn't be a surprise that I know some languages. As to how:

I learned Italian in Italy because I lived there for a year when I was 10, just young enough to still be able to absorb a language like a sponge. Had I lived there another year I'd have probably become bilingual. (Sad times.) I used to be pretty fluent, now it's very rusty but it comes back if I am speaking with Italians. I'd find having a deep philosophical or political conversation hard because I was 10 when I learned it so my high level vocabulary and sophisticated sentence structure is not great but I can definitely get around it and I can comfortably watch a TV programme without subtitles.

French I learned at school and continued to A Level. My French grammar is actually better than my Italian because I studied it more formally. I was also lucky enough to go to France at least once a year as a teenager so I had plenty of opportunities to practise it. My French is now less fluent than my Italian but I can read it better and I can still get around fine conversationally.

Latin and Ancient Greek I studied to degree level and I'm now a Latin and Ancient Greek teacher so I use those languages every day in some form. I would now say that Latin is my second language which is very weird.

I'd been wanting to learned Russian for years and had learned the alphabet and little bits in the past but I took up online lessons during lockdown and did it for two or so years. I also completed the Duolingo Russian course. Technically that should make me relatively proficient in the basics but I'm really not. Once lockdown was over, I found it really hard to keep up with the lessons. I was tired from a day at work and then two hours of online lessons was not enough to really get me speaking or embed much. I've forgotten most of it already, but I could still have a very basic conversation. I would genuinely love so much to study Russian formally and I sometimes fantasise about going back to uni and doing a Russian degree. It's a gorgeous language. Reminds me of Ancient Greek, which is probably my favourite language that I've ever studied.

Started doing Spanish on Duolingo and thanks Latin, French and Italian it's pretty easy. However, I've never actually spoken it in real life so I'm untested. I can read Spanish okay though thanks to my knowledge of other Romance languages. I find it hard to understand spoken Spanish though because it's so rapidly spoken.

Tried doing Korean on Duolingo and failed massively. However, I can read a little bit of Hangeul and thanks to watching Korean dramas I know a few words/phrases. Similarly but even less, Mandarin thanks to watching a few cdramas.

I did two terms of German at school and I sing in German quite regularly. My German is embarassingly bad and I really need to at least do the Duolingo course but I can pick out some words and I can ask for some bread and where the toilet is and say that I'm thirteen years old.

I love learning languages! (I'm also very good at bullshitting so I come across as more proficient than I am - thank you, elite education!) I'd like to learn Russian more formally so that it actually sticks. I'd also like to learn Arabic, I think that sounds really cool. Also Mandarin. Also Hebrew because of heritage reasons. But realistically I'm much more comfortable in European languages so I should probably bother to learn German properly after Spanish...

[somethingsgottasaveyou]

Thank you for the tag!

✨15 questions 15 people✨

1 - Are you named after anyone? Nope

2 - When was the last time you cried? Not sure actually, it's been a good while

3 - Do you have kids? Hahah hell no

4 - What sports do you play/have played? I used to play volleyball and table tennis when i was younger, we also used to play Lasertag regularily for the past couple years (gotta start doing that again)

5 - Do you use sarcasm? I'm fluent

6 - What's the first thing you notice about people? Not even sure, their aura maybe

7 - What's your eye colour? Brown

8 - Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings.

9 - Any talents? I usually stay persistent about things I really want to be able to do until I'm halfway decent at them (if that counts as a talent)

10 - Where were you born? In a very small town somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Germany

11 - What are your hobbies? I change hobbies like people change their underwear Consistently it's listening to music (a lot), going to concerts (quite a lot) and collecting stuff (CDs, Vinyls,...) recently I've really been into DIY kits of tiny houses and wooden things

12 - Do you have any pets? A cat

13 - How tall are you? 1,77m (5'10)

14 - Favourite subject at school? Foreign languages (my English teacher saw the potential in me ahaha) French tho? It was fun but what the fuck is this language where you have to calculate while counting

15 - Dream job? Something with less working hours and more money and maybe less people

Tagging: @random-jot, @tessabennet, @did-you-fall-for-a-shooting-star & @skunkjagkh0e (and of course everyone who wants to do this!)

🌿15 people, 15 questions

Tagged by @scarcrossdlvrs and @eriquin, thank you friends!! <3

1. Are you named after anyone?

My middle name is apparently a family friend's grandmother's name? It's extremely basic, but it was almost Maude, so.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Just a couple days ago.

3. Do you have kids?

No, and I will Not be having any myself. Could I be a step-parent? Maybe. Maybe, after, like, lots of talking and more therapy.

4. What sports do you play/have played?

I was in kickboxing in grade 9, and maybe my axe throwing counts? It's a whole league with points and stuff?? I think it counts.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes, but mostly just with people I'm really comfortable around or as a very poor attempt at flirting. I'm usually too worried about coming off as mean or it being taken the wrong way, though, so I tend not to.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Probably body language and tone of voice. It's the hypervigilance and people-pleasing, babeyyy ✌

7. What's your eye colour?

Green. And funny story, a few days ago a woman stopped to ask me a question and literally got distracted by my eye colour 😅😅😅 she even pulled her partner over to look at my eyes. It was very embarrassing and flattering xD

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Currently deep in a scary movie phase.

9. Any talents?

I'm very good at remembering where someone's parked their car, and I can fold a fitted sheet.

10. Where were you born?

In the very same city I live in now, on the west coast of so-called Canada.

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing, trying to get back into reading, singing in the shower, bass guitar badly, walking, making art of some kind, D&D, video games.

12. Do you have any pets?

Two! Jam, a black cat, and Toast, a leopard gecko.

13. How tall are you?

5'5" and some change.

14. Favourite subject in school?

Art, English, Biology.

15. Dream job?

Man, I dunno. I just wanna make shit.

The Tags (but no pressure, and apologies for some double-tags): @steves-strapcollection @t-boyeddie @hellion-child @kkpwnall @spectrum-spectre @moss-woods @alwaysanagelneveragod @starryeyedjanai @patriciavetinari @doublecherrypiediscosuperfly @cuoredimuschio @theheadlessphilosopher @vecnuthy @auryborealis @sentient-trash

[inktae]

Ooh! You could watch some shows to immerse yourself into English. I find shows work best cuz you get at least a 40 minute ep each week, more if you decide to watch more (or if they're longer). I find movies don't provide as much of a constant exposure. That's actually how my parents practiced their English until they got a job that required them to use it daily. And that's what I'm doing with my current target language! It's not as good as being in a country that uses it, but it helps a lot!

ohh I totally do that already! :) I follow way too many tv shows, actually ahaha. I also follow plenty of youtubers who speak english, so I basically listen to the language every day, just as much as spanish. it’s just my speaking what I need to work on ;;; my listening, reading and writing are already pretty fluent and I get to improve them constantly, but I rarely get a chance to speak in english. the words sound pretty smooth in my head, but on the occasional moment I get to speak out loud, it obviously doesn’t come out as natural :( I’m quite worried about this since I plan on going abroad next year and some of the programs I want to join require an extremely fluent speaking, almost native. I might just speak to myself in english, tbh.. I’m that desperate 😂

[taesthetes]

hi, cutie pie, vn army anon here~ oh wow my asks get so long, I'm so sorry:( and not at all! omg I'm such a bother to you, sorry again for such long asks! and I'm not talented, vietnamese is my mother language so ofc I'm fluent in it, then I moved to europe since a kid so the language of the country I live in is like my 2nd language. eng+german is taught at school and I've watched german channels since I was a kid so these languages are not that hard to me:) and that's great you know spanish!:o–

–I’ll probably never learn korean tho:)) I’m not in college yet, I’m a senior on business academy high school and I don’t really enjoy it so hopefully I could graduate and get on a college in the field I’d enjoy. oh wow you can do both, I’m impressed! and yes, make a choice you’ll be satisfied with, if you enjoy something else more don’t hesitate and go for it, who knows maybe you’ll like it more:) I read the tmi series till part 5 and to me it was good but I wouldn’t go back to it. and yes,–

–cassandra clare had various diff series (the infernal devices, the bane chronicles, etc.) & I see, I was into fantasy a lot back in earlier days so that’s why. oh, talking about cooking shows there’s a comedy sitcom called “young&hungry” with emily osment as female lead and it’s really funny! there’s maybe s5 already but ever since I was into kdramas&kpop I dropped all my amr shows. each ep lasted only smth over 20 mins tho so it was fast. oh, you were into exo? are you still into them?–

–I checked your bts police masterlist and it all sounds interesting, I’m excited to read other members! the police au is a good insp for gfx^^ also I wanted to tell you that jilt killed me&cerise was so fun to read, I really enjoyed it! I was also struggling the 1st time I used PS and still am tbh. I still have a long way ahead to learn:) and I’m not sure yet, like I do enjoy it but idk if I should study it, I’ll see. I enjoy reading your messages&talking to you too💕 ikr they were my otp so I–

–was happy hearing about them dating irl, pity their relationship didn’t last longer. it was actually that idea I had that I shared with you:) I’d like to write a series based on this form in future. have you watched “stuck in love” yet? and I recommend POBAW movie! I loved the friendship between emma watson, logan lerman&ezra miller in the movie. I hope I’ll gather my courage one day&come off anon but I’m still not feeling to it yet😅 have a wonderful day&I’m sorry for my long asks once again❤️

hi, raindrop!! ahhh, it’s totally okay, you don’t need to apologize for that! you are not a bother at all, and i like reading your asks and talking to you, so please don’t worry about it! 💕 and my answer got long again oops, so i’m putting it under the cut; i hope you don’t mind!

omg you were taught two languages in school though, like that’s so impressive!! :o and speaking german is amazing wow my friend tried teaching me a few words before, and i completely butchered the pronunciation 😅 and i would probably be too overwhelmed to be studying two languages at once akdjfalskjf and you’re already speaking two other languages at home- how do you not mix up your languages?? i sometimes slip back and forth between english and vietnamese haha and don’t give up on korean! since you’re so proficient in language and are interested in them, i’m sure you’ll be able to easily learn it :D

is your high school specialized for students studying business only? :o i didn’t know they have that- that would’ve made choosing majors much easier for me aha. but yes, i hope you’ll be able to study what you like next year in college!! 💗 and yes! i really love studio arts, but i know it’s hard to get a job in that field, hence the business major as well.

yeah, i saw she had a lot of series, and they all look super interesting, but the thing is, when i start a series, i binge read the entire thing, and i don’t have time for that ): i really enjoy the fantasy genre, too! i just loved the idea of magic and being able to control it. oooh, no i haven’t heard of that show; i’ll check it out!

and yes, i am an exo fan! i used to be really into them, but my biases kept leaving and i was the biggest exo m fan, so i kind of gave up on them.. i still do listen to them, and i watch exo showtime and their other guest variety shows when i’m feeling nostalgic, but i don’t actively follow up on them, like i do with blackpink or bts. are you an exo fan? :)

and thank you!!! i’m really excited to write the other members for the bts police au 💓 adjkfjalsk omg police!bts gfx– i need to brush up on my PS skills so i can attempt to make some. and thank you so much aksjdhfaksf 💘 i like jilt because it was fun to write a cliche scene from a different perspective, and omg cerise– i just really like writing embarrassing scenes lmao

ahaha i’m sure you’re much better than me at PS though because i haven’t touched it in a while 😅 and you should definitely try designing! maybe take a couple classes to see if you like it? but omg yeah, lily collins and sam claflin were really cute together 💗 and yes, i remember! i hope you do write it, and i’m really excited for your future series!! do you have any idea which member you’ll write it for? :)

and yes, i watched “stuck in love”! i really enjoyed it, and it really did seem like there should’ve been a book version of the movie too!! i thought it was really cool how each family member was like a parallel of each other, like how bill was sleeping with a married woman, while erica was a married woman who slept with another man and rusty likes a girl who isn’t the best with relationships and sam is a girl who avoids relationships and ends up with lou, who’s like one of those “hopeless romantics” she tells her brother about. i’m excited to watch “the perks of being a wallflower”! i really like all three actors/actress starring in that movie. and that’s completely okay! please keep staying on anon if that’s what you feel comfortable with :) and there’s no need to be sorry! i really like talking to you!! 💞 i hope you’re having a good day and night, too! how was your day? did you do anything fun and exciting? :D

[taesthetes]

vn army anon says hi~ no, i don't bake or cook (i think i'm terrible at both but if i don't forget to turn off the oven on time i think i'm able to get something together haha). i'm actually quadrilingual hihi^^ i speak 4 languages fluently (hopefully) & i used to learn spanish at school but only for 1 semester bc our teacher got sick & there was no one teaching it so it was cancelled. i haven't remembered any of it except for common words most ppl know lol. i wanna learn korean tho & i hate my–

–laziness☹️ anyways i wanna study languages in future as well so hopefully i’d graduate to get there. and what field are you studying at uni, if you don’t mind me asking? mine was shadowhunters🙂 i actually had a blog about american shows first, it was multifandom. some of mains were shadowhunters/tmi, teen wolf, flash, etc. that blog lasted the longest tho (over 1 year?) & the most creations so far were published on there. now it’s just as an archiver for my works. and that fic was soo good,–

you described yoongi so well, the character was so him omg. okay, you’re overrating me, i’m not that good in PS😂 i only have a basic knowledge. omg i actually enjoy playing around in PS & designing stuff sounds cool & fun so i like the idea of studying designing as well but i’m sure i won’t make it since i’m weak at other subjects besides languages. yes, i was also thinking of semi-hiatus. and i’m actually the one who’s honored to talk to you. i’m glad you didn’t ignore my asks & we’re even–

–talking more i thought you’d already be tired of my long a– posts😂 oh i’ll always be happy to share with you my thoughts, it’s an honor for me to share them with such a great writer as you💗 my all time fave book is “where rainbows end” by cecelia ahern. there’s a movie adaptation “love, rosie” with lily collins as female lead (my fave actress) & sam claflin~ and i loved it so much! charming, witty & sad; as the story grows though, it leaves you with a glimpse of hope & a warm fuzzy feeling–

–inside. definitely recommending! the book’s in a form of letters & messages which leaves an interesting impression on the reader, plus it’s easy to understand. there are reviews that the book didn’t have to be that long but i still liked it & hopefully you will too if you’ll consider reading it^^ also i saw a movie called “stuck in love” (with lily again :D & logan lerman) and i thought it was also adapted from a book because i felt like there could be so much more of the story behind–

–but it’s not, what a pity, i’d love to read the book. i’m recommending that movie as well but not sure if you’d welcome it. a similar one to the genre is “perks of being a wallflower” by stephen chbosky which i liked both book + movie version. and “one day” by david nicholls is worth a read, trust me! oh sorry, i went straight on recommending books & movies haha my asks are way too long again 😅 have a miraculous day, beautiful ✨🌹

hey, raindrop!! i’m gonna put my answer under the cut because it got really long, so i hope you don’t mind! 💕

ahaha you remind me of my sister with the oven thing; i always have to make sure she turns it off or else our house is probably gonna burn down. omg that’s amazing!! i wish i knew more languages! you’re so talented :o wow, i only know 2 ½ languages haha i’m decent enough in spanish because of high school classes, but i’m not entirely fluent yet. adjhfasaskdf i’m in awe- you’re gonna be quintilingual (?) when you learn korean too 😱 oooh omg, are you in college and majoring in languages if you don’t mind me asking?

i’m currently a computer science engineering and business finance double major! but actually, i think i’ll be switching to business finance and studio arts double major with an entrepreneurship minor. i figured that i might as well take one major that i actually enjoy (thus, studio arts) – i really do like engineering, so i’m still going to be a member of several engineering society/clubs, but i don’t love it enough, so i don’t think i’ll enjoy working in that field for the rest of my life.

oooh omg, i’ve been meaning to read that series, but i never had the time to yet. i hear there’s a bunch of series? like the mortal instruments is one of them, i think? i’ve never watched any of those shows 😅 i mostly only watch crime shows and a couple cooking ones and comedy ones. ah, well, that blog is like a good memory of your old fandoms then! i have an inactive blog from my exo days haha

adjkhfalskda thank you so much!!! i love writing yoongi’s character; i think police yoongi is probably one of my absolute favorites to write. asjkdhflaskjf nah, i’m sure you’re actually really great with PS!! the first time i tried using it, i had so much trouble trying to maneuver around with all the various options and controls they had, but it was still really fun playing around with it. and you should go for it! if PS and graphics is your passion, you should study designing! or maybe study both design and languages? the classes won’t be so bad if you enjoy it, right? wouldn’t classes be more focused around designing? like with engineering, i basically have no english classes and i only needed a couple science classes; the rest of the classes was specified for engineering, like mechanics, frugal innovations, programming, math, etc.

i would never ignore your asks!! i really like talking to you and reading all your messages 💞 asdjhfalsjkfd and thank you so much omg :’)  and i’ve seen “love, rosie”! lily collins is such an amazing actress and she’s so pretty, and sam claflin is very attractive wow he’s great, too. i haven’t read the book, but i’ll definitely try reading it! i’ll see if one of the local libraries have it, so i can request for it. oooh yes, that form of writing always intrigued me; i think it would be fun to tell a story entirely with letters from two correspondents or like a diary format from the perspective of one person. i’m excited to see you write a bts fic in this style if you do decide to write it!!

and i’ll definitely watch the movie “stuck in love” too! i just read the summary of it, and it sounds really interesting!! it does sound like it’d be a wonderful book as well. i think i’ll watch it tonight or tomorrow :D i have read the perks of being a wallflower and i enjoyed it, but i never actually seen the movie yet surprisingly. and i will add one day to my reading list, too! hopefully, they’ll also have it at the library. and that’s totally okay! i’d love to hear about any recs you have :D if you have any more, i’d love to know about them, too! and i hope you have an amazing day/night, too, raindrop!! 💗✨