Okay so the District Rotary interviews were today. It was a really interesting experience. It involved a lot of sitting, some more comfortable than others. lol. Seriously though the actual interview wasn't nearly as extensive as the first interview, which I'm very grateful for. What happened first?
When we (My parents and I) first got there, I had my application checked over. I had to fix and fill in some things, that sort of cleanup. After that, it was time for the informational meeting. That informational meeting was just that, informational. Though we did learn the money time line and the dates for the overnighters I have to go to.
After the info session, it was interview time. I did have a break in between because the interviewers had to read through my application because they hadn't seen it before. I was interviewed first and actually the questions weren't nearly as tough as at the first interview. They asked me things like. "What is the biggest challenge you've faced in the past couple of years and how did you handle it?" and they asked me some questions that I'd been asked at the first interview. It was pretty straightforward. After they got done with me, they interviewed mom and dad seperately. Then they interviewed us together.
After the interview, we had to fill out more papers. That was irritating but I got over it. They were a neccesary evil. I had to have my top three country choices. I knew that number one was Russia, but I didn't really have two others. Mom said "Go with your gut" and so I randomly wrote down the Czech Republic second and Norway third. Don't ask me why I picked the Czech Republic because it was a pretty random choice. The ironic thing about it is that after we filled out the paperwork, we met some inbound rotary students, one of whom, Ondrej, was from the Czech Republic. He was kind enough to sit down with us and tell us all about his country. We talked for like an hour. That was fun.
The main thing I came away with, whether I get to go overseas or not, was how nice everyone was. Most of the people I met were extremely friendly and just great people in general. I get the impression that they will try to help me go to my first choice country if they can. Before the interviews or the information session, we met the man in charge of outbound training. He found out I wanted to go to Russia. While I was waiting to join mom and dad with the interviewers, he came by where I was sitting and told me that he had already spoken to someone and they were going to try to get ahold of contacts in Saint Petersbourg. That really impressed me. If nothing else I came away richer for having gotten to go through the experience. I'm hoping I'll get to go on. Rotary will tell the canidates the first week of December.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
The Six Russian Cases, Easy Chart
The moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived. I decided to get my rear in gear and do something productive. So here it is. Note that this is a chart to aide those who already know how the cases work. It is designed as a quick and easy reference for the case endings (Note that at this time I only have the noun endings. Adjectives will be coming soon.) ****NOTE***DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH BLOGGER AND TABLES, THIS POST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON!
| Masc. | Fem. | Neuter | Plural(M) | Plural(F) |
| -е | -е | -е | -ах | -ах |
| -и | -и | -и | -ях | -ях |
Thursday, November 02, 2006
An Odd Occurence
So the other day I was sitting in Spanish class. We were doing speaking activities, and were filling in sentence blanks with question words (Don't ask me why we were doing this in a spanish 3/4 class.) anyway I looked at one of the sentences and it said "_ esta la bicicleta" Or something like that. (It means _ is the bicycle) So I looked at it and the first word that popped into my head was где. Which is the Russian word for "Where" Right after I thought of that word I thought Ou which is the French word for where. Then I thought "so what's the Spanish word?" Anyway it was bizarre because I didn't think of it in english first, or even French, I thought Russian first and I don't know why. Okay, that's my weird story of the day, or week, or whatever.
I failed a Russian test wednesday. It was really depressing because I knew pretty much all of the answers and was hoping I could get my grade up, but I'm pretty sure I failed because I didn't correctly do the genative feminine endings. The endings I put on are actually the endings for adjectives in the genitive case, but on nouns they are the endings for the instrumental case, which means that I probably failed. I'll know for sure tomorrow. Expect a little case chart to pop up here soon because I really need to make one to keep it straight. I'll tell you one thing, I'll never forget what the ending of feminine singular nouns in the genitive case are!
I failed a Russian test wednesday. It was really depressing because I knew pretty much all of the answers and was hoping I could get my grade up, but I'm pretty sure I failed because I didn't correctly do the genative feminine endings. The endings I put on are actually the endings for adjectives in the genitive case, but on nouns they are the endings for the instrumental case, which means that I probably failed. I'll know for sure tomorrow. Expect a little case chart to pop up here soon because I really need to make one to keep it straight. I'll tell you one thing, I'll never forget what the ending of feminine singular nouns in the genitive case are!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Rotary Interview #1
Okay, so I would've posted this sooner but for some reason Blogger didn't like me the other night and wouldn't let me in. For those of you who care, or happened to read the entry where I talked about Applying for Rotary Youth Exchange, I have some updates on that.
I had gotten a call last Monday from the man in charge of our district's exchange program he had called to set up an appointment for my first Rotary interview. So Thursday, I arrived with my parents and went through one of the scariest things I've done in my entire life. Which is sit across the table from three older gentlemen while they drill me with really nasty questions. Especially at the beginning...
Examples:
What would you do if you go overseas and people start saying that amiericans just take and take and never give, how would you handle that?
What are three things you would take abroad to represent the American Culture?
And so on and so forth. It did get a little easier after a while. The questions ranged from really silly stuff such as "Have you ever flown in a plane before" Which actually I can see the reason they ask, to really hard stuff as mentioned above. Some other questions were:
-How strict are your parents?
-Do you realize that you won't be able to drive overseas?
-What if your host family pressures you to have your parents send more money so they can buy your host brother new jeans?
-Do you have a serous boyfriend?
-Do you smoke or drink?
-How would you handle the opportunity to go to a different type of church or religious service?
-What do you know about Rotary.
-What do you think is the scariest part of going overseas?
-What are you most excited about?
So as you can see it was a long tough interview. Hopefully if there's anyone out there going to a rotary interview, these questions will help get you ready. I really had no idea what to expect when I went in. After I got interviewed by myself, I had to get my parents who were waiting, and then they got interviewed as well (I was there too but that part of the interview was mostly them.) The upshot of all this is that I was the last interview and so yesterday I got a call that said I had passed the first interview with flying colors and so this means that I get to go on to the district interview where I basically get to do the same thing again! I'm a little nervous but at least I know what sort of questions they're going to ask, unless of course they ask me different ones. I hope not.
I had gotten a call last Monday from the man in charge of our district's exchange program he had called to set up an appointment for my first Rotary interview. So Thursday, I arrived with my parents and went through one of the scariest things I've done in my entire life. Which is sit across the table from three older gentlemen while they drill me with really nasty questions. Especially at the beginning...
Examples:
What would you do if you go overseas and people start saying that amiericans just take and take and never give, how would you handle that?
What are three things you would take abroad to represent the American Culture?
And so on and so forth. It did get a little easier after a while. The questions ranged from really silly stuff such as "Have you ever flown in a plane before" Which actually I can see the reason they ask, to really hard stuff as mentioned above. Some other questions were:
-How strict are your parents?
-Do you realize that you won't be able to drive overseas?
-What if your host family pressures you to have your parents send more money so they can buy your host brother new jeans?
-Do you have a serous boyfriend?
-Do you smoke or drink?
-How would you handle the opportunity to go to a different type of church or religious service?
-What do you know about Rotary.
-What do you think is the scariest part of going overseas?
-What are you most excited about?
So as you can see it was a long tough interview. Hopefully if there's anyone out there going to a rotary interview, these questions will help get you ready. I really had no idea what to expect when I went in. After I got interviewed by myself, I had to get my parents who were waiting, and then they got interviewed as well (I was there too but that part of the interview was mostly them.) The upshot of all this is that I was the last interview and so yesterday I got a call that said I had passed the first interview with flying colors and so this means that I get to go on to the district interview where I basically get to do the same thing again! I'm a little nervous but at least I know what sort of questions they're going to ask, unless of course they ask me different ones. I hope not.
Monday, October 02, 2006
A Sort of Language Week
So I've unofficially decided this is a language week. Here's why. Number one, we've started Russian movie night monday nights so I just got back from tha. It was an experience because we were watching a TV version of The Three Musketeers,in Russian. Not only that but it was a musical and the music was really...interesting. Tomorrow I've got more language stuff on my plate. There's a place nearby that's having a Something Russian Festival and so mom is going to go to it with me tomorrow after world politics. Then, tomorrow evening is Spanish club at a local tex-mex place. Yummy! As if that weren't enough, Friday we are having a French field trip. We are going to hear a guy sing and then get a wine tour. The reason I don't know who's singing is because I originally wasn't able to go to that part of it because of Russian Class, however, Marina cancelled Russian class on friday so now I can go! yay!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Rotary Application Part one
well, I just got done filling out the first part of an application to go with Rotary youth exchange. It's a neat program for those of you who don't know. They send you abroad for a year and you go to school and learn about the culture and language. I'm hoping they accept me. If they do I'm planning on going to Russia or Belarus. I'm going to turn it in tomorrow. Let's all hope I get an interview call...
Monday, September 25, 2006
J'étais Malade
That was my problem for the last week. (I was sick for those of you who don't know french) Anywho I'm back on my feet or at least more on them than I was all of last week. I still feel pretty crummy at points. Though I did lose ten pounds. Isn't the stomach flu diet amazing?
We're going to be watching La Belle et la Bête (Disney) in French class. We're going to start reading a version of it tomorrow. I'm excited though at the moment I'm just tired.
If you haven't noticed, I rearranged the layout of the links and whatnot. I decided that no one was able to see the cool links and stuff I had posted so I just tweaked the sidebar, moved the archives and stuff nobody wants to see to the bottom of the page.
Okay. That's all I've got for now, I'll try to keep you all updated but right now I have to shop for my textbook for Russian class and go appease my angry mother.
We're going to be watching La Belle et la Bête (Disney) in French class. We're going to start reading a version of it tomorrow. I'm excited though at the moment I'm just tired.
If you haven't noticed, I rearranged the layout of the links and whatnot. I decided that no one was able to see the cool links and stuff I had posted so I just tweaked the sidebar, moved the archives and stuff nobody wants to see to the bottom of the page.
Okay. That's all I've got for now, I'll try to keep you all updated but right now I have to shop for my textbook for Russian class and go appease my angry mother.
Friday, September 15, 2006
L'homme qui te ressemble English Translation
By: René Philombe
Translated by: Abigail Faust
I knocked at your door
I knocked at your heart
So that I may have a good bed,
So that I may have a warm fire
Why do you refuse me?
Let me in brother!
Why do you ask
If I am African
If I am American
If I am Asian
If I am European?
Let me in brother!
Why do you ask
The length of my nose
The thickness of my mouth
The color of my skin
And the name of my gods?
Let me in brother!
I am not black
I am not red
I am not white
But I am only a man
Let me in brother!
Let me in your door
Let me into your heart
Because I am a man
The man of all times
the man of all the heavens
the man who resembles you!
Translation Decision
okay, so a while back I installed this nifty counter onto this blog. No, it's not the sign language counter at the bottem of the page, this one is invisible. I got it from Stat Counter. It's a pretty cool thing. Anyway one thing I've noticed is that lots of people search this blog for L'homme qui te ressemble by Rene Philombe. I've also noticed that a lot of people are looking for an english translation of this poem. Some people have used google translator to do the job but to be perfectly honest it does a horrible job. So, I have made a decision. I have decided, for good practice, to translate the poem. It will be up ASAP because I have some time to myself tonight so I will sit down and do it. Hopefully it'll be a better job than google though by no means am I a professional tranlator. Anyway, look for it.
As an aside, I found out about this great thing called Tocyrillic. Anyone who has firefox should go and download this great extension for the browser. It makes me want to post more stuff in Russian because it makes transliterating it easier than taking six hours to plunk it out on my keyboard.
Get ToCyrillic from Mozilla
As an aside, I found out about this great thing called Tocyrillic. Anyone who has firefox should go and download this great extension for the browser. It makes me want to post more stuff in Russian because it makes transliterating it easier than taking six hours to plunk it out on my keyboard.
Get ToCyrillic from Mozilla
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Epiphany
(sarcasm) Alright so I just spent the last hour redoing Monday's Russian homework. Marina gave us the option of not turning it in until tomorrow if we had things to fix and since the first time I did it it was pretty pathetic I decided to redo it. What was the homework? Why write twenty sentences. Ten about the birthdays of your family and ten about holidays both American and Russian. During the past hour I had a sort of Epiphany and realized that I had missed the whole point of the homework in the first place. Not only was the point to practice talking about people's made up birthdays. Oh no! during the past hour my notebook and I got to be very close and I realized hidden in the depths of this assignment were a review of the genative case, a review of numbers, and a culture lesson wrapped into one, and so I came to discover yet again that(/sarcasm) I know absolutly nothing about Russia, its history, and its culture.
Actually in all seriousness I learned about several holidays. Women's day, Old New year, Defenders of the Motherland Day, and although I can't tell you anything about these holidays, I can tell you when they are. But I'm to lazy too right now because I just spent the last hour doing it.
On my quest to help myself complete this task I did find some really cool websites which I will be posting in a post and then on a side bar in the next couple of days (hopefully).
I just want you all to know that I love french class! I've gotten to be partners with the exchange student several times and It's both scary and exciting. Scary because I know I mess up. I hate messing up around native speakers or people who speak really well but I've decided I need to get over it because if I don't, I'll miss some cool opportunities. So I'm practicing not being self concious in French class.
I asked Madame for more books. She gave me several thing ones. One is about a man who planted trees, one is a really little version of Madame Bovary, one is called the hard winter and I don't remember what the last one is called. Hopefully they will provide some mild amusement in the otherwise dull world of the high school classroom (French and Spanish are pretty much boring.) I guess I could talk about English and how we're reading selections from Beowolf. Don't get me wrong, that's not the problem. I've kind of got this thing for epic poems. It's just...this year's teacher...*Sigh* oh well.
Alrighty, now that I've yakked a bunch I've got to get off and get to bed so I can get up and go to Russian tomorrow and...CRUD! I just realized that I didn't do any of my other Russian homework. Guess I'd better get up early tomorrow...
Actually in all seriousness I learned about several holidays. Women's day, Old New year, Defenders of the Motherland Day, and although I can't tell you anything about these holidays, I can tell you when they are. But I'm to lazy too right now because I just spent the last hour doing it.
On my quest to help myself complete this task I did find some really cool websites which I will be posting in a post and then on a side bar in the next couple of days (hopefully).
I just want you all to know that I love french class! I've gotten to be partners with the exchange student several times and It's both scary and exciting. Scary because I know I mess up. I hate messing up around native speakers or people who speak really well but I've decided I need to get over it because if I don't, I'll miss some cool opportunities. So I'm practicing not being self concious in French class.
I asked Madame for more books. She gave me several thing ones. One is about a man who planted trees, one is a really little version of Madame Bovary, one is called the hard winter and I don't remember what the last one is called. Hopefully they will provide some mild amusement in the otherwise dull world of the high school classroom (French and Spanish are pretty much boring.) I guess I could talk about English and how we're reading selections from Beowolf. Don't get me wrong, that's not the problem. I've kind of got this thing for epic poems. It's just...this year's teacher...*Sigh* oh well.
Alrighty, now that I've yakked a bunch I've got to get off and get to bed so I can get up and go to Russian tomorrow and...CRUD! I just realized that I didn't do any of my other Russian homework. Guess I'd better get up early tomorrow...
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Ready for it?
Okay, It's late and my Russian homework isn't done yet, but I just have to post this. Are you ready for it? it's about the coolest thing ever! I can update more on my other languages later and in more detail but for now I'm gonna give you this. We have a french exchange student in our french class!!!!
Monday, August 28, 2006
First Day of Intermediate
Okay, have to make it quick because I have things to do for fair. First day of Russian went really well. I had had a dream several weeks ago that it was otherwise but in reality it was fun. Got to catch up with the people from last semester who I hadn't seen in a while. During actual class, we just reviewed and I was happy to find that I remembered more than I thought I did. (It had just been locked away for the summer) No one had books and so I think Marina (The teacher) is going to be requesting an order for them. Hopefully they'll come in soon because I think we'll be reviewing until they do. Oh well.
Marina seems to be a good teacher. She's Russian so at least I know she knows what she's talking about. We played some rather entertaining review games. One of them was a game where she'd say a number in Russian and we'd have to quickly write it on the board. The first team to write it correctly got a point. Let me tell you, our team kicked butt! Thankfully we did because the other team has to recite the numbers one to one thousand for Marina during her office hours this week. Whether or not they actually will remains to be seen.
Okay, that's all I have time for now, You probably won't be hearing anything more until after labor day because I won't be at Russian the rest of this week due to fair showing. High School starts after labor day and so I'll have lots more language stuff to tell you then.
Marina seems to be a good teacher. She's Russian so at least I know she knows what she's talking about. We played some rather entertaining review games. One of them was a game where she'd say a number in Russian and we'd have to quickly write it on the board. The first team to write it correctly got a point. Let me tell you, our team kicked butt! Thankfully we did because the other team has to recite the numbers one to one thousand for Marina during her office hours this week. Whether or not they actually will remains to be seen.
Okay, that's all I have time for now, You probably won't be hearing anything more until after labor day because I won't be at Russian the rest of this week due to fair showing. High School starts after labor day and so I'll have lots more language stuff to tell you then.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Summer Slacker
Okay, it's not my fault that I don't do enough with language in the summer, usually, I"m too busy getting goats ready for the fair. Okay, now that that's said, down to business. I figured this would be a good time to post since Russian Class starts tomorrow. I'm nervous and I don't know why because I've done this before. Jon-Michael who is going Post-secondary full time at a different college told me it was a waste because I"m only taking two classes and Practically the only thing I've been taking is Russian. I would just like to say PPPPPPFFFFFFFTTTT to him. lol. Personally, I don't think it's a waste. I am preparing myself for my career and not paying a penny for it. Sounds like a good deal to me!
I got a call from Abeline Christian University the other day. I found out they had an international studies program. Which was something I didn't know. I did some searching, and some calling and got some interesting information. I know have a christian college on my list of places to apply, which makes me feel a little better. You see all of the people at our church this year who graduated are all at the same christian college, you don't know how many times I heard the phrase "And I (We) praise God because our young men and women have chosen to attend a christian college." So I have this ongoing joke that next year it's going to be "Let's all pray for Abigail because she is going to burn for all eternity for going to a state school." Okay, Maybe it's only funny if you're there. Whatever.
Okay, I'm gonna wrap it up now. I'll let all of you (non-existent) readers how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully I won't have forgotten everything...
I got a call from Abeline Christian University the other day. I found out they had an international studies program. Which was something I didn't know. I did some searching, and some calling and got some interesting information. I know have a christian college on my list of places to apply, which makes me feel a little better. You see all of the people at our church this year who graduated are all at the same christian college, you don't know how many times I heard the phrase "And I (We) praise God because our young men and women have chosen to attend a christian college." So I have this ongoing joke that next year it's going to be "Let's all pray for Abigail because she is going to burn for all eternity for going to a state school." Okay, Maybe it's only funny if you're there. Whatever.
Okay, I'm gonna wrap it up now. I'll let all of you (non-existent) readers how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully I won't have forgotten everything...
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Summer and AP
I got into postsecondary again, except I had a note from the PS lady in charge that told me in a nutshell that I had a bad GPA and colleges wouldn't accept it so I'd better get it up. The reason my GPA was bad though is the High School put my "C" for the first semester of Russian in 3 nine weeks instead of in the first two. This of course meant that my whole GPA was being pulled down. A call to the school and a chat with my guidance counselor quickly remedied the problem and my GPA is higher now. YAY.
Another thing I've done this summer other than sign up for my college classes is finalize my High School Schedule for SENIOR YEAR!!! I'm taking World Politics and Russian Int. I at College First semester. The schedule for that worked out kind of badly because I have to drive to Kent five days a week. My high school schedule was going to be weird because I still had to take a semester of gym and couldn't do summer gym but that problem too was solved with a chat with dear Aunty Sue who works at a local private Catholic School. She got my cousin Aleta and I into Catholic summer gym there and one letter later, I'm good on that. This means that my schedule at high school is as follows:
Period 8/9: French AP
Period 10: English Accel.
Period 11: Spanish (!st semest.) and Econ. 2nd.
I can't take AP english 12 because it's in the morning and I am at Kent all morning.I'm still planning on taking the test though because I read all the time and I think I'd do a good job. The spanish thing worked out weird because I needed more credit and I was taking Econ 2nd so when the guidance counselor said you another class there I said Spanish.
Speaking of AP tests, I got a four on my English 11 AP test. The best is a five. I'm hoping that whatever college I go to will accept it.
The work for French AP this summer is kind of obnoxious. We have to log fifteen hours of internet time. Ten of it is on the classzone website which has boring activities. But then That's life and you have to get over it.
In my internet exploration this summer I've found another interesting site. Many of you may have heard of Rosetta Stone which is a language learning software. It's pretty spiffy how it works. You can try a free demo of their product and have access to all the languages (Though not all of the lessons) here:
Rosetta Stone Full Online Demo
I've been playing with it on and off. It's a pretty cool thing. If I had the money I'd order the whole Russian version. Anyway, Hope you enjoy.
Another thing I've done this summer other than sign up for my college classes is finalize my High School Schedule for SENIOR YEAR!!! I'm taking World Politics and Russian Int. I at College First semester. The schedule for that worked out kind of badly because I have to drive to Kent five days a week. My high school schedule was going to be weird because I still had to take a semester of gym and couldn't do summer gym but that problem too was solved with a chat with dear Aunty Sue who works at a local private Catholic School. She got my cousin Aleta and I into Catholic summer gym there and one letter later, I'm good on that. This means that my schedule at high school is as follows:
Period 10: English Accel.
Period 11: Spanish (!st semest.) and Econ. 2nd.
I can't take AP english 12 because it's in the morning and I am at Kent all morning.I'm still planning on taking the test though because I read all the time and I think I'd do a good job. The spanish thing worked out weird because I needed more credit and I was taking Econ 2nd so when the guidance counselor said you another class there I said Spanish.
Speaking of AP tests, I got a four on my English 11 AP test. The best is a five. I'm hoping that whatever college I go to will accept it.
The work for French AP this summer is kind of obnoxious. We have to log fifteen hours of internet time. Ten of it is on the classzone website which has boring activities. But then That's life and you have to get over it.
In my internet exploration this summer I've found another interesting site. Many of you may have heard of Rosetta Stone which is a language learning software. It's pretty spiffy how it works. You can try a free demo of their product and have access to all the languages (Though not all of the lessons) here:
I've been playing with it on and off. It's a pretty cool thing. If I had the money I'd order the whole Russian version. Anyway, Hope you enjoy.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Winding Down
That's basically what's happening. Russian's over for the semester and I'm waiting to see if I get in post secondary again. I've actually been paying more attention in spanish. Don't exactly know why but maybe it has something to do with the day I told Sra I didn't like the class and had a slight misunderstanding. In French we're still reading that stupid novel, poursuit inattendue, and Madame loaded on the homework for the next three nights. I'm also writing a paper on Stephen Crane for English class. Two weeks and two days left. I can't wait until it's over! Oh yeah, I've also got a job mowing the lawn so I can get money to go on the french trip for two or three weeks next summer.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Working
That's pretty much what I've been doing lately. Working on Poursuite Inattendu for French class (which I still strongly dislike) Working on English although now that the Ap test is over, it isn't that bad. Not working in Spanish because the guy who sits next to me has a copy of The DaVinci Code which I haven't read and so I've been reading that during Spanish which probably isn't the smartest thing but oh well.
I've also been working on my Russian cases download. I've gotten like two cases done which leaves me with four. However I can only do so much before the ol' brain starts sizzling. At least it's coming though right? I've also been trying to find time to type up a dictionary thingy of Russian Classroom Phrases. Back at the beginning of the semester, we got a packet with a bunch of useful phrases. It takes me forever to type in Russian however and I haven't really had the time. This week is our last week of Russian which I'm kind of happy about but at the same time, I'm gonna miss it just a tad. Hopefully, if I'm re-accepted to Postsecondary, I'll be able to continue my studies. That's the other thing I'm supposed to be working on. Getting an application together for Rotary so I can go to Russia after Senior year. Ack! So much to do and so little time!
I've also been working on my Russian cases download. I've gotten like two cases done which leaves me with four. However I can only do so much before the ol' brain starts sizzling. At least it's coming though right? I've also been trying to find time to type up a dictionary thingy of Russian Classroom Phrases. Back at the beginning of the semester, we got a packet with a bunch of useful phrases. It takes me forever to type in Russian however and I haven't really had the time. This week is our last week of Russian which I'm kind of happy about but at the same time, I'm gonna miss it just a tad. Hopefully, if I'm re-accepted to Postsecondary, I'll be able to continue my studies. That's the other thing I'm supposed to be working on. Getting an application together for Rotary so I can go to Russia after Senior year. Ack! So much to do and so little time!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Major American Literary Movements
This is basically from a paper we got in english class. Thought it might be helpful to some other people out there.
The Beats Led by William S. Burroughts, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, the beats of the 1950s attempted to convey pure emotion to break through what they saw as the sterility of the times.
The Confessional Poets Led by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Robert Lowell, the confessional poets of the 1950s and 1960s dealt with deeply personal, emotional, and psychological matters. They used the anguish of their own lives to explore America's hidden despair.
Modernism This 20th-century literary movement, spearheaded by exra pound and T.S. Eliot, used fragmentation, aluusions, symbols, irony, and shifting points of view to respond to the social breakdown of the early 20th century.
Harlem Renaissance Led by Langston hughes, Countée Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, and Claude McKay, the Harlem Renaissance was an outpouring of African-American literature centered in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s.
Imagism Led by Ezra Pound, and Amy Lowell from 1913-17, the imagist poets wrote short poems that used everyday language and free verse to create precise and concentrated word pictures.
Local Color The local color writers of the 1800s preserved the customs and culture of their region. Notable writers included Bret Harte, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, and Willa Cather.
Naturalism A literary movement that flourished among the novelists and short story writers from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The naturalists viewed people as helpless victims of heredity and environment, adrift in an indifferent universe. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, and Theodore Dreiser were the primary naturalists.
Oral Tradition The passage of songs, stories, and poems from generation to generation by word of mouth. The oral tradition in America has preserved many Native-American and African-American myths, folktales, and spirituals.
Realism A literary movement that advocated the presentation of the details of actual life in art. Realists such as Mark Twain and Henry James wrote objectively and truthfully about American life.
Romance A romance deals with plots and people that are exotic, remote in time or place from the reader, and abviously imaginary. The romance grants the author a certain leeway for melodrama and emotionality. Romances flourished in the 1800s, notably in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Romanticism A 19th-century literary movement that supported individual worth, the goodness of humanity, the glory of communion with nature and individual freedom of expression. Cooper, Dickinson, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Poe, and Melville used elements of romanticism in their writing.
Puritanism A 17th-century religious, social, political, and literary movement that stressed original sin, the doctrine of election, predestination, limited atonement, and irresistible grace. Bradford, Bradstreet, Taylor, and Mather were the major Puritan writers.
Symbolism A 19th-century literary movement that used symbols to suggest meaning. The poems of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound show the influence of symbolism.
Transcendentalism An early 19th-century philosophical movement that stressed individualism, intuition, nature, and self-reliance. By contemplating objects in nature, people can transcend the world and discover union with the "over-soul" that unites us all. Emerson and Thoreau were the major transcendentalists.
**Again, I did not write this. It came from some teachers thing somewhere and if I knew where it came from, I'd give them credit. I hope this will be helpful to people.**
The Beats Led by William S. Burroughts, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, the beats of the 1950s attempted to convey pure emotion to break through what they saw as the sterility of the times.
The Confessional Poets Led by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Robert Lowell, the confessional poets of the 1950s and 1960s dealt with deeply personal, emotional, and psychological matters. They used the anguish of their own lives to explore America's hidden despair.
Modernism This 20th-century literary movement, spearheaded by exra pound and T.S. Eliot, used fragmentation, aluusions, symbols, irony, and shifting points of view to respond to the social breakdown of the early 20th century.
Harlem Renaissance Led by Langston hughes, Countée Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, and Claude McKay, the Harlem Renaissance was an outpouring of African-American literature centered in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s.
Imagism Led by Ezra Pound, and Amy Lowell from 1913-17, the imagist poets wrote short poems that used everyday language and free verse to create precise and concentrated word pictures.
Local Color The local color writers of the 1800s preserved the customs and culture of their region. Notable writers included Bret Harte, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, and Willa Cather.
Naturalism A literary movement that flourished among the novelists and short story writers from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The naturalists viewed people as helpless victims of heredity and environment, adrift in an indifferent universe. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, and Theodore Dreiser were the primary naturalists.
Oral Tradition The passage of songs, stories, and poems from generation to generation by word of mouth. The oral tradition in America has preserved many Native-American and African-American myths, folktales, and spirituals.
Realism A literary movement that advocated the presentation of the details of actual life in art. Realists such as Mark Twain and Henry James wrote objectively and truthfully about American life.
Romance A romance deals with plots and people that are exotic, remote in time or place from the reader, and abviously imaginary. The romance grants the author a certain leeway for melodrama and emotionality. Romances flourished in the 1800s, notably in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Romanticism A 19th-century literary movement that supported individual worth, the goodness of humanity, the glory of communion with nature and individual freedom of expression. Cooper, Dickinson, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Poe, and Melville used elements of romanticism in their writing.
Puritanism A 17th-century religious, social, political, and literary movement that stressed original sin, the doctrine of election, predestination, limited atonement, and irresistible grace. Bradford, Bradstreet, Taylor, and Mather were the major Puritan writers.
Symbolism A 19th-century literary movement that used symbols to suggest meaning. The poems of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound show the influence of symbolism.
Transcendentalism An early 19th-century philosophical movement that stressed individualism, intuition, nature, and self-reliance. By contemplating objects in nature, people can transcend the world and discover union with the "over-soul" that unites us all. Emerson and Thoreau were the major transcendentalists.
**Again, I did not write this. It came from some teachers thing somewhere and if I knew where it came from, I'd give them credit. I hope this will be helpful to people.**
Monday, April 24, 2006
Les Miserables
So I went with the various french classes to see Les Mis up in Cleveland. It was pretty awesome! I think in a lot of ways I liked it better than Phantom of the Opera. Phantom relies a lot on special effects while in my opinion Les Mis was a lot more symbolic looking and interpretive. My favorite character was Eponine. I also liked Javert though I didn't like how he randomly cracked and killed himself, maybe he was a little unstable to begin with. Anyway, when I got home, I downloaded a few songs for my ipod. Since then, I've been singing what I know of "Do You Hear the People Sing" Rather loudly. Mom was trying to talk to me earlier today and she's like "Do you know what you have to do for me?" I started in with. "Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men" I thought it was funny but I don't think she got it. Actually, she's pretty smart so she probably did and was just choosing to ignore it. After the play, I asked Madame if she had Les Miserables in it's book form in French. She said she had the three volume abridged version. I let the subject drop.
Speaking of books, we started our 'novel' in French class. The quotes are because it's not really much of a novel it's actually a script. WHICH ABSOLUTELY DRIVES ME INSANE! GRRRR! Okay, I'm done. I'm not going to complain either because there's not much I can do about it and besides, it could be worse...we could be doing evil grammar!
Speaking of books, we started our 'novel' in French class. The quotes are because it's not really much of a novel it's actually a script. WHICH ABSOLUTELY DRIVES ME INSANE! GRRRR! Okay, I'm done. I'm not going to complain either because there's not much I can do about it and besides, it could be worse...we could be doing evil grammar!
Sunday, April 16, 2006
The Coolest Job Ever!
Okay, so one more for the night. Have I ever told you what the coolest job ever would be? Check it out!
NCS Language Officer
NCS Language Officer
So I Lied
Alright, My Language Exchange is not the site I thought it was. There is actually a site I like better, you get more responses and it's absolutely free! Your posting stays up for sixty days and your e-mail address isn't given out randomly.
Pen Friends
I'll be posting this link along with the other two this evening. I'm still trying to work on the Russian Cases PDF but unfortunetely I've been rather swamped with a physics catapult project and tech rehersals for a play I'm helping with. Like I've said, I'll get to it ASAP. We start chapter ten in Russian tomorrow. Last chapter of the book! Yay! I've got to figure out my college schedule for next semester.
Pen Friends
I'll be posting this link along with the other two this evening. I'm still trying to work on the Russian Cases PDF but unfortunetely I've been rather swamped with a physics catapult project and tech rehersals for a play I'm helping with. Like I've said, I'll get to it ASAP. We start chapter ten in Russian tomorrow. Last chapter of the book! Yay! I've got to figure out my college schedule for next semester.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
The Irony
I think it's interesting that everytime I think I'm losing my languge thing, or even everytime I get spazzy or discouraged when I'm learning a language Something happens that makes everything all right again. So remember that lovely little quiz that I'd thought I'd missed like three on? Well, we got it back yesterday. Before Madame passed it out, she said that anyone who got a hundred percent on it would get bonus points. When I got mine back I was confused at first, it just said "bon" on it. It took me a second to realize that I HAD GOTTEN THEM ALL RIGHT! I was very happy because I kind of like bonus points. There is also the satisfaction that I can indeed do french grammar and do it correctly. Not to say I do it correctly all the time... so there you have it, my good news for the day!
We watched a movie in Spanish class today. We've been learning about Spain. You know something interesting? I've never been into Spanish much. Even the when we study the different countries and I LIKE culture. But when we've been talking about Spain, it's been really interesting for some reason. I'm not sure exactly why, but I've got this kind of thing for Spain and I've put it on my list of places to visit. Nifty eh?
I've got a few new links for you all. One is a Russian site (since I don't have that many links to Russian sites) and the other is pretty cool. Have you ever wanted to correspond with someone from another country but had no idea where to start? My Language Exchange can help. You can put your name up in a number of different languages and people can e-mail you and you can begin an e-mail exchange. Have fun with both of these. I'll be putting them up in the left hand column ASAP.
Master Russian
My Language Exchange
Also, I'm working on a sort of download thingy for Russian. it's going to hopefully have stuff about the six Russian cases.
We watched a movie in Spanish class today. We've been learning about Spain. You know something interesting? I've never been into Spanish much. Even the when we study the different countries and I LIKE culture. But when we've been talking about Spain, it's been really interesting for some reason. I'm not sure exactly why, but I've got this kind of thing for Spain and I've put it on my list of places to visit. Nifty eh?
I've got a few new links for you all. One is a Russian site (since I don't have that many links to Russian sites) and the other is pretty cool. Have you ever wanted to correspond with someone from another country but had no idea where to start? My Language Exchange can help. You can put your name up in a number of different languages and people can e-mail you and you can begin an e-mail exchange. Have fun with both of these. I'll be putting them up in the left hand column ASAP.
Master Russian
My Language Exchange
Also, I'm working on a sort of download thingy for Russian. it's going to hopefully have stuff about the six Russian cases.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Stupid Grammer...
So I'm definitely thinking I'm better at learning a language by immersion rather than in a classroom because honestly, I HATE GRAMMER! in French class we're all of a sudden learning all kinds of random tenses plus que parfait, conditionel passé, and one other one that has to do with the futur. Anyways, we had a quiz today where we had to match the French with the english translation and that's all good with me except that I have to actually sit and think about it which in a language, is not like me at all. So Madame gave us about five minutes to do this matching quiz. I had like three left and she's like "Okay you need to pass you papers in in ten seconds." Frantically I just mark some random stuff and I'm pretty positive that I got all three wrong.
As if French isn't bad enough, I've got a beef with Russian too. This just isn't a good time In my language learning life. Anyway, we're learning this lovely thing in Russian call Perfective and Imperfective. It's absolutely crazy! It's like if the sentence is imperfective, you use your verb and everything is happy, but if it's perfective, you have to use an entirely different verb! My problem is of course telling which sentences are perfective and which are imperfective. I can't even do it when we use english sentences as examples! Svetlana said that this is the point in our Russian careers where we can start hating her/the language/whatever.
We're going to have a Russian week. You can go to different workshop thingys. Which sounds interesting but I'm not sure how many I can go to because I'm helping with a play at community theater and next week is tech week. Anyway, there's going to be some interesting things and an essay contest which should be interesting and I'll probably do. I want to do it and go to some of Russian week because when you go, you get points towards your final exam. Anyways, that's about all I've got from here, oh wait. Svetlana said that an air force person was going to come to our Russian class and talk I think tomorrow. OOh the irony!
As if French isn't bad enough, I've got a beef with Russian too. This just isn't a good time In my language learning life. Anyway, we're learning this lovely thing in Russian call Perfective and Imperfective. It's absolutely crazy! It's like if the sentence is imperfective, you use your verb and everything is happy, but if it's perfective, you have to use an entirely different verb! My problem is of course telling which sentences are perfective and which are imperfective. I can't even do it when we use english sentences as examples! Svetlana said that this is the point in our Russian careers where we can start hating her/the language/whatever.
We're going to have a Russian week. You can go to different workshop thingys. Which sounds interesting but I'm not sure how many I can go to because I'm helping with a play at community theater and next week is tech week. Anyway, there's going to be some interesting things and an essay contest which should be interesting and I'll probably do. I want to do it and go to some of Russian week because when you go, you get points towards your final exam. Anyways, that's about all I've got from here, oh wait. Svetlana said that an air force person was going to come to our Russian class and talk I think tomorrow. OOh the irony!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Air Force Linguist
So I sat in the library for an hour and listened to a linguist from the airforce talk about her job. It was interesting and made me kind of want to join the air force but at the same time, I don't want to. Hmm, I think I'll keep my options open. See what develops. The cool thing was that she knows Russian and Chechnian. Anyway, that's about it. I've just been thinking...
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Casser
Okay, the moment you've been waiting for. My French poem. This poem is of course copywrited to me myself and moi.
Casser
By: Brigitte Faust
Mon coeur casse
Un mille morceaux sur le sol
Qu’est-ce que je vais faire
Sans coeur?
Je vive
Je ris
J’obéis
Mais quand je me cache
Parmi des ombres
Je pleure des larmes
Plein de peine.
At first, I didn't really like it 'cause it's all angsty, but it's kind of grown on me. Mom and dad both thought it had a nice rhythm, but they don't know french so I don't know how it actually holds up and what not. Feel free to let me know what you think.
Casser
By: Brigitte Faust
Mon coeur casse
Un mille morceaux sur le sol
Qu’est-ce que je vais faire
Sans coeur?
Je vive
Je ris
J’obéis
Mais quand je me cache
Parmi des ombres
Je pleure des larmes
Plein de peine.
At first, I didn't really like it 'cause it's all angsty, but it's kind of grown on me. Mom and dad both thought it had a nice rhythm, but they don't know french so I don't know how it actually holds up and what not. Feel free to let me know what you think.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Russian Test, Chapter 7 AND French Things
So I thought I did alright on my Russian test. But then after I turned it in, I looked at some stuff and realized that I messed a whole bunch up. We're going to be getting them back tomorrow, which always makes me nervous. By the way, I got an A on my professions quiz. Yay!
We have a French Project due Thrusday. This project consists of writing a poem or song in French. The good news is that we can write it however we want. Total creativity! YAY! I've been waiting for this forever! The only problem is I haven't had much time to sit down and write. I'm so busy all the time.
Yesterday, Mom and I went to a friend's house. Mom's friend is fluent in French and she's doing a doctral thingy on Medival French Romance stories. Mom helped me make arrangements to go and see her so she could tell me about it. It was very interesting. She also gave me some stuff to read and a couple of books to borrow. I'm looking forward to reading them when I have the chance.(Which is going to be a while)
Had to write an English paper, it's a process analysis essay. SO I wrote about the process of shopping at Wal-Mart quickly. Basically I talked about how it's impossible.
That's about it from here. Thought I'd let you all know that I'm going to be rearranging the side panel on the left so it's more organized and I'll probably move my nifty language links to there. Look for it.
We have a French Project due Thrusday. This project consists of writing a poem or song in French. The good news is that we can write it however we want. Total creativity! YAY! I've been waiting for this forever! The only problem is I haven't had much time to sit down and write. I'm so busy all the time.
Yesterday, Mom and I went to a friend's house. Mom's friend is fluent in French and she's doing a doctral thingy on Medival French Romance stories. Mom helped me make arrangements to go and see her so she could tell me about it. It was very interesting. She also gave me some stuff to read and a couple of books to borrow. I'm looking forward to reading them when I have the chance.(Which is going to be a while)
Had to write an English paper, it's a process analysis essay. SO I wrote about the process of shopping at Wal-Mart quickly. Basically I talked about how it's impossible.
That's about it from here. Thought I'd let you all know that I'm going to be rearranging the side panel on the left so it's more organized and I'll probably move my nifty language links to there. Look for it.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Behind...
Yeah, Yeah. I know I'm behind. I can't help it though. Sorry to anyone who actually reads this blog (No one)
In all honesty, you're not missing much. Spanish is still the most boring class in the world, sorry but it's the truth. It's too bad because Spanish could be a language that could come in handy.
I've decided to bust mes fesses (See Guide to french Phrases) In Russian class this semester, so far my efforts have been paying off. I've gotten a B and two A's on my last three graded assignments, we've had three total. We took a quiz on Friday about Professions and workplaces I think I did okay but I'm a tad bit nervous about it. It's cool because as we're learning more, we can converse more. This semester the people in my class often have little mini Russian conversations.
In French class, We've been learning about Music and Poetry. My favorite part is of course, the poetry. We wrote a few poems in french but I didn't really care for them so I'm probably going to be trying my hand at free verse whenever I next have time. The cool thing about this unit is we got packets with a bunch of poems by Jacques Prevet. I'm probably going to be posting some so you can all read them.
English has been going downhill since Christmas Break. Mrs. Haynam has turned into a sort of Nazi. Not really sure why, but the whole AP class will tell you it's true. Speaking of English class, I just read A Clockwork Orange (Even though I did kind of have to twist her arm) for it. It's an amazing book. One of the main reasons I read it was actually for the slang, but the story itself was absolutely wonderful! I could hardly put it down. It's definitely a must read for everyone!
In all honesty, you're not missing much. Spanish is still the most boring class in the world, sorry but it's the truth. It's too bad because Spanish could be a language that could come in handy.
I've decided to bust mes fesses (See Guide to french Phrases) In Russian class this semester, so far my efforts have been paying off. I've gotten a B and two A's on my last three graded assignments, we've had three total. We took a quiz on Friday about Professions and workplaces I think I did okay but I'm a tad bit nervous about it. It's cool because as we're learning more, we can converse more. This semester the people in my class often have little mini Russian conversations.
In French class, We've been learning about Music and Poetry. My favorite part is of course, the poetry. We wrote a few poems in french but I didn't really care for them so I'm probably going to be trying my hand at free verse whenever I next have time. The cool thing about this unit is we got packets with a bunch of poems by Jacques Prevet. I'm probably going to be posting some so you can all read them.
English has been going downhill since Christmas Break. Mrs. Haynam has turned into a sort of Nazi. Not really sure why, but the whole AP class will tell you it's true. Speaking of English class, I just read A Clockwork Orange (Even though I did kind of have to twist her arm) for it. It's an amazing book. One of the main reasons I read it was actually for the slang, but the story itself was absolutely wonderful! I could hardly put it down. It's definitely a must read for everyone!
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