Hello? Is anyone there? Do you remember when, a month and a half ago, I said I was back and would be doing all sorts of focussed language learning activities? Yeah, that didn't happen...
As I don't really have any excuses (nor do I really need to have any, given that posting on this forum is optional, of course), I'm just going to get right into what I've been up to and pretend it hasn't been more than a month since I last wrote anything here.
So, that trip to the north of Spain isn't happening. When it came down to planning everything, I really didn't think I was in the right place (emotionally) to be essentially backpacking around in a foreign environment for a week or so on my own, so I decided not to. Instead, my cousin and I are going on a short trip to London and then Bristol to see a couple of musical theatre productions (Wicked and Blood Brothers). I absolutely adore going to the theatre, but I haven't been for a while, so I thought this was a great opportunity to do something I love and get away for a bit. It will also leave me with a few more days off work afterwards, which I wouldn't have had if I had gone to Spain.
Other than that, there really isn't an awful lot going on in my life. It was my birthday on Thursday, which I enjoyed although I really didn't do anything special, and work is going as well as it can under the circumstances.
But now it's time to get to the nitty-gritty, the languagey stuff you're all interested in (I hope)
Within the little language contact I have had this month,
Spanish has definitely been the protagonist. I finished reading the translation of
1984 after some time, which was just as spectacular as I remember it being in English, so I'm glad I picked that up so long ago on my year abroad. I have also been speaking a fair bit of Spanish just lately, at the language café and with a friend of mine who was
so enthusiastic about everything Spanish that he has moved to Spain and abandoned me
However, he has left behind a now mutual friend of ours who is from Colombia. She's a wonderful woman who actually does private Spanish tutoring. I am going to have to talk to her about organising a few sessions methinks
Meanwhile, I have started reading a new book in
Italian -
Sgrammaticando: Salviamo l'italiano dalla rete. Yes, it's the recent foray into the world of books by Fiorella Atzori, the creator of the youtube channel Sgrammaticando, and so far so good. Now, this is not a traditional grammar book, nor (in my opinion) is it a book aimed at students of Italian, really (not that I expected it to be, but I think some of those who follow her youtube channel may have done). This is the sort of book you have on your coffee table so that, when you have 5 minutes to spare, you can pick it up and read a chapter or two and have a giggle. It's a compilation of common mistakes that Italians make when speaking/writing, corrected and explained in a light-hearted manner, sprinkled with Italian culture. As I say, I'm enjoying it.
I also started the German Language Transfer course at some point, so the 'Deutsch?' part of my log title is still pretty accurate