A few days ago, I subscribed to the Language Log, a collaborative blog about linguistics.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I visited the site to find an entry about the Yarn Harlot! (She'd been harassed by an angry American about her "wrong" Canadian spelling.)
I've seen lots of prescriptivist crap in the knitting community ("It's spelled gauge, not gage!"), but I had not come across linguists talking about knitting before. Well, they didn't talk about her knitting, per se, but it's close enough for me. Combine two of my greatest passions, and I'm happy.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I visited the site to find an entry about the Yarn Harlot! (She'd been harassed by an angry American about her "wrong" Canadian spelling.)
I've seen lots of prescriptivist crap in the knitting community ("It's spelled gauge, not gage!"), but I had not come across linguists talking about knitting before. Well, they didn't talk about her knitting, per se, but it's close enough for me. Combine two of my greatest passions, and I'm happy.
I've been trying to write a little every day recently, just to practice it. There are stories I want to tell, but I don't have the right skills for them (yet). I found that when I'm tipsy (like, right now), it's easier for me to write in English. Maybe because I haven't been doing much but reading fanfiction and watching US & UK TV series lately? It's frustrating sometimes, I feel as if I'm neither fluent in German nor in English. Hmm, maybe I should take on a third language, do you think that would help?
Speaking of TV series, I'm always looking for recommendations. Here's a list of the series I'm following right now,. If you know of any others I should watch, please tell me!
- Gilmore Girls
- Heroes
- Battlestar Galactica
- House, M.D.
- Standoff
- Dr. Who
- Bones
I've joined my very first knit along: Branching Out KAL. I used my German blogspot account because it was easier, but my posts to the KAL are in English, of course. I'm 20 repeats into the pattern now, and it's still fun to knit! Coming from me, who usually loses interest in a project after the first few inches, that means a lot.
To confuse my poor little brain even more, I've started to brush up on my French, using this Online Course offered by the BBC. I was going to improve my French the same way i did my English, that is by reading French books and watching movies in French with French subtitles1. But with most of the DVDs I have (or rent), I find that the French subtitles differ significantly from the French dubbing. Which isn't all that surprising, considering that they are not done by the same company.
So I decided to watch French movies, expecting the subtitles to match the original language. But most of them don't even have subtitles! "Vidocq" with Gerard Depardieu and "A La Folie ... Pas Du Tout" with Audrey Tautou for example. I was going to buy " Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain", but discovered that not only did it not come with subtitles, but it did not even have a French sound track! I've always hated dubbed movies, but when DVDs became widely available, I didn't mind all that much because I could watch most films in their original language. Stupid DVD companies and their regional marketing!
1I find that mostly, when watching films in other languages, it's not that I don't understand what the words mean, but that I can't make out what the actors are saying in the first place. So watching the film with the subtitles in the same language, I know what is said and understand most of it. That way, I improved my school English a lot.
But if the subtitles use different expressions than the actors, this method does not work any more, and I have to resort to German subtitles. At least I'm exposed to the language that way, but it's certainly not as effective.
To confuse my poor little brain even more, I've started to brush up on my French, using this Online Course offered by the BBC. I was going to improve my French the same way i did my English, that is by reading French books and watching movies in French with French subtitles1. But with most of the DVDs I have (or rent), I find that the French subtitles differ significantly from the French dubbing. Which isn't all that surprising, considering that they are not done by the same company.
So I decided to watch French movies, expecting the subtitles to match the original language. But most of them don't even have subtitles! "Vidocq" with Gerard Depardieu and "A La Folie ... Pas Du Tout" with Audrey Tautou for example. I was going to buy " Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain", but discovered that not only did it not come with subtitles, but it did not even have a French sound track! I've always hated dubbed movies, but when DVDs became widely available, I didn't mind all that much because I could watch most films in their original language. Stupid DVD companies and their regional marketing!
1I find that mostly, when watching films in other languages, it's not that I don't understand what the words mean, but that I can't make out what the actors are saying in the first place. So watching the film with the subtitles in the same language, I know what is said and understand most of it. That way, I improved my school English a lot.
But if the subtitles use different expressions than the actors, this method does not work any more, and I have to resort to German subtitles. At least I'm exposed to the language that way, but it's certainly not as effective.
- Mood:
disappointed
I've been watching so much American TV lately (mostly "Gilmore Girls", "Sex and The City" and "Charmed"), that I've actually started dreaming in English. I also find myself thinking in English a lot. During my English exam, I had a moment when I had to stop and think for a minute to discern what language we'd been using for the past several minutes. And there are more and more instances where I have trouble finding the German expression for a certain thought. Reading tons of English blogs and communities doesn't help, either.
I'm unlearning my mother tongue!
I'm unlearning my mother tongue!
- Mood:
worried
Today at the LYS two women came in, and one of them was speaking English. When I went over to help her, I automatically switched to English, too. She ended up buying an expensive woolen scarf, and then asked me "So where did you leave your German accent?" That made my day!
I've been working hard on my English for the past 10 years (since I left school) -- it's a great compliment if a native speaker (and a stranger at that) tells you that they can't hear an accent! *happylittledance*
I've been working hard on my English for the past 10 years (since I left school) -- it's a great compliment if a native speaker (and a stranger at that) tells you that they can't hear an accent! *happylittledance*
- Mood:
cheerful
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