So this coming week is the yearly Russian Week at college. Basically what happens is the Russian department organizes a series of seminars every night of the week. This culminates in a food preparation workshop on Friday followed by a Russian party Friday night. There are all kinds of seminars (Tomorrow's is Youth Slang) and an Essay competition (Which Marina is making us compete in) and just cool stuff in general. Hopefully I'll be updating every night this week with all the cool stuff I'll be doing.
In other news, last week I was so proud of myself again! I was sitting in class working on something when Nastya asked a question. Now when Marina speaks to us, she speaks slowly. Nastya is Ukrainian and so she is, of course, amazing at Russian. She basically is fluent. Anyway, I wasn't really paying attention to what Nastya asked, but then Marina started answering her question in very fast Russian and I realized I understood a good portion of what she was saying. She said something about all verbs ending in a soft sign, and stuff that I don't remember now, but understood at the time. I was so excited! I guess it just keeps surprising me how much Russian I actually understand. Okay, that's all I've got for now, like I said there will hopefully be lots of updates this week and stuff. For now, I have to write a Russian essay about my health and re-write and edit a French essay. It feels so good to be able to write essays in foreign languages!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Class
I have come to look forward to Russian class every other day. I can't say the same about Phonetics and Diction, but I love actual Russian class. Maybe it's the people in it, maybe it's the teacher, most likely it's a little of both. It's so much fun and I feel like I've just been inhaling the language in a way. I'll probably be frustrated with it again in a few days, but for now, I love it, and I realize how much I understand and how much I'm able to say.
The other day we did a partner activity and talked and I realized the words that my friend was saying were Russian. I mean duh, it's Russian class, but it was like I was understanding what she was saying, but at the same time hearing it as if I wasn't able too. It was an odd feeling, but I was so proud of myself. "Hey, we're speaking Russian, and I'm understanding it." It's a good feeling.
The other day we did a partner activity and talked and I realized the words that my friend was saying were Russian. I mean duh, it's Russian class, but it was like I was understanding what she was saying, but at the same time hearing it as if I wasn't able too. It was an odd feeling, but I was so proud of myself. "Hey, we're speaking Russian, and I'm understanding it." It's a good feeling.
Monday, March 05, 2007
BYKI and Spoo
Today in French class I said the word "ecrire" but fake rolled the first "r" Kind of like I do with Russian. (I can't really roll my r sounds but if it's in the middle of a Russian word I can usually fake it.) As soon as I did it I thought. "Gee, I just fake rolled an r sound. That's interesting." The next time I said the word I was very conscious of making myself not do it. THE RUSSIAN IS TAKING OVER! Good. Okay and now onto the real reason I decided to write this post.
I'm really behind on links. When I get a chance I need to update my template and include all of the lovely new links I've found. I might even start a specific section for just links in and about Russia because lately I've amassed a huge collection of them. Today though I just want to put in a plug for a great website called Before You Know It. It's a nifty site where you can build vocabulary in just about any language you could ever want. And it's absolutely free. I encourage all of you to check it out!
I'm really behind on links. When I get a chance I need to update my template and include all of the lovely new links I've found. I might even start a specific section for just links in and about Russia because lately I've amassed a huge collection of them. Today though I just want to put in a plug for a great website called Before You Know It. It's a nifty site where you can build vocabulary in just about any language you could ever want. And it's absolutely free. I encourage all of you to check it out!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Chita
So I just got back from another amazing Overnighter. Since I've described in a lovely essay in a previous post what is great about Rotary Youth Exchange Overnighters (see 16 Hours) I'm not going to talk about that. Instead, I'd just like to say one thing.
Siberia
Yup, you guessed it. That's where I'm heading. And you know what? I'M STINKIN' EXCITED! I mean think about it. How many tourists to Russia actually go to Sibera? It's awesome! The city that my District people are hoping to send me to is called Chita (Чита). From what I've read so far, it sounds like a neat city. I'm hoping I'll end up there.
I also believe that the district I'll be in in Russia, is the only Rotary district that covers three countries. It covers Russia east of the Ural mountains, Canada's Yukon, and Alaska. Pretty sweet eh? I think I need to change that little clock up there in the left hand corner. While I'm at it, I think that I will also change the language of the blog so it displays the date and stuff in Russian. I cannot wait to go!
EDIT: For now I'm just going to leave the clock as it is. I did change the dates for the posts, but I have to work on the clock thing later.
Siberia
Yup, you guessed it. That's where I'm heading. And you know what? I'M STINKIN' EXCITED! I mean think about it. How many tourists to Russia actually go to Sibera? It's awesome! The city that my District people are hoping to send me to is called Chita (Чита). From what I've read so far, it sounds like a neat city. I'm hoping I'll end up there.
I also believe that the district I'll be in in Russia, is the only Rotary district that covers three countries. It covers Russia east of the Ural mountains, Canada's Yukon, and Alaska. Pretty sweet eh? I think I need to change that little clock up there in the left hand corner. While I'm at it, I think that I will also change the language of the blog so it displays the date and stuff in Russian. I cannot wait to go!
EDIT: For now I'm just going to leave the clock as it is. I did change the dates for the posts, but I have to work on the clock thing later.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Transliteration
The other day, Dad and I went to Borders after a lovely little college thingy I had to go to. Naturally, I ended up in the section I usually live in when I go to Borders--The Language Reference, the Russian section in particular. It was there that I discovered something really interesting.
It was in a copy of (and I'm not joking) Russian for Dummies. I thought I'd take a look and so I opened up the book and to my dismay, I realized after about five seconds that the book did not teach cyrillic, rather, it used transliteration to teach words.
Now, normally, I'd have nothing against transliteration, but I've come to realize since beginning my study of Russian that in short, transliteration stinks. It's much easier to pronounce Russian when you actually see the cyrillic letters and furthur more, the alphabet, in all honesty isn't all that hard to learn. But I digress.
It was about ten seconds after I realized that the words in the book had been transliterated, that I had the most shocking of revelations. I couldn't read it! And I'm only slightly exaggerating. I was looking at the English letters. I even knew what the English letters were supposed to sound like. But for the life of me I had the worst time trying to figure out what the words were supposed to be in Russian. It was actually more effort to sit there in Borders and squint at the words, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be, than to sit there with the cyrillic and figure that out. It was a real interesting, eye opening experience. One that I personally, found rather funny. My parents did as well.
It was in a copy of (and I'm not joking) Russian for Dummies. I thought I'd take a look and so I opened up the book and to my dismay, I realized after about five seconds that the book did not teach cyrillic, rather, it used transliteration to teach words.
Now, normally, I'd have nothing against transliteration, but I've come to realize since beginning my study of Russian that in short, transliteration stinks. It's much easier to pronounce Russian when you actually see the cyrillic letters and furthur more, the alphabet, in all honesty isn't all that hard to learn. But I digress.
It was about ten seconds after I realized that the words in the book had been transliterated, that I had the most shocking of revelations. I couldn't read it! And I'm only slightly exaggerating. I was looking at the English letters. I even knew what the English letters were supposed to sound like. But for the life of me I had the worst time trying to figure out what the words were supposed to be in Russian. It was actually more effort to sit there in Borders and squint at the words, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be, than to sit there with the cyrillic and figure that out. It was a real interesting, eye opening experience. One that I personally, found rather funny. My parents did as well.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A Slight Change
For those of you who may or may not be observant, you will notice that I changed the little subtag under the title of the blog. I kept the title becaues in all honesty, I've spent a good amount of time building up the name of the blog and so on and so forth, and I'd have to start all over if I changed the name. Anyway the point of this post is not to talk about blog titles, but to explain why I've changed the sub tag from "A record of my Experiences with Language" to "The Russian Odyssey..."
The main reason, well if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm going to be spending ten months with Rotary Youth Exchange in Russia, beginning in August. When that happens, This blog will switch to mostly talking about the experiences I'm having there. The reason I've changed it now, in February is because I've noticed that a lot of my posts lately have more to do with Russian, than with French, or any other language. Why? Probably because Russian has become my dominant language
No, this does not mean that I'm fluent in it, or that I speak it more than English. Let me explain. See, when I first started taking French, it became my "dominant" second language. This means that when I was thinking of phrases in foreign languages, and I couldn't think of a word in that language, my mind would automatically substitue a french word. And example of this might be "The dog runs in the park." If I were saying it in spanish "el perro corre en..." And I couldn't remember the word for park in spanish, then my mind would want me to say the word "le parque" in French instead.
For some reason though, the past few weeks Russian has steadily become more and more persistant. It's even begun to invade my french lately. I'll be driving to High school and trying to gear myself up for French by thinking of lovely french phrases. I'll be driving along and be thinking "the Weather is very cold" Only in french so it's "Le temps est..." And then out of the blue I'll mentally finish the sentance in Russian "очень холодная" and then I'm thinking "wait that's not right." It happens with more and more frequency in French class too. It's really frustrating when I know a French word, but all I can remember is the Russian word for it. I try not to encourage myself to make these half and half sentences because I'm worried if I do, I'll start speaking that way and the last thing I need is to be sitting there speaking 'fruchian.'
The main reason, well if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm going to be spending ten months with Rotary Youth Exchange in Russia, beginning in August. When that happens, This blog will switch to mostly talking about the experiences I'm having there. The reason I've changed it now, in February is because I've noticed that a lot of my posts lately have more to do with Russian, than with French, or any other language. Why? Probably because Russian has become my dominant language
No, this does not mean that I'm fluent in it, or that I speak it more than English. Let me explain. See, when I first started taking French, it became my "dominant" second language. This means that when I was thinking of phrases in foreign languages, and I couldn't think of a word in that language, my mind would automatically substitue a french word. And example of this might be "The dog runs in the park." If I were saying it in spanish "el perro corre en..." And I couldn't remember the word for park in spanish, then my mind would want me to say the word "le parque" in French instead.
For some reason though, the past few weeks Russian has steadily become more and more persistant. It's even begun to invade my french lately. I'll be driving to High school and trying to gear myself up for French by thinking of lovely french phrases. I'll be driving along and be thinking "the Weather is very cold" Only in french so it's "Le temps est..." And then out of the blue I'll mentally finish the sentance in Russian "очень холодная" and then I'm thinking "wait that's not right." It happens with more and more frequency in French class too. It's really frustrating when I know a French word, but all I can remember is the Russian word for it. I try not to encourage myself to make these half and half sentences because I'm worried if I do, I'll start speaking that way and the last thing I need is to be sitting there speaking 'fruchian.'
Sunday, February 04, 2007
16 Hours Or: Why I Love Rotary Youth Exchange
Volleyball involves more soccor moves than volleyball moves, You learn how to say the most interesting things in Foreign Languages (i.e. That is your Mom, in Chineese) You spend two hours trying to remember what it was you were supposed to remember, and for 16 hours you are thrown into a chaotic smorgasbord of language, culture, late night chats, passing around community bottles of mountain dew, and being starkly reminded by water cascading over your head that you've made a pact to stay awake. What is it? Why the latest Rotary overnighter of course! I've decided that Overnighters are one of the best things in the world, and I am amazed at the fact that I waited so long to experience one. Having chalked two of them up to my building character talley, I have found myself a different person.
They say going with Rotary on a year long youth exchange changes you. What they don't tell you is that the changing starts before you even set foot on foreign soil. When I went to our first mandatory overnighter, I didn't really know what to expect. It didn't take me long to figure out the way things work and by the end of that evening I was a changed person. I didn't realize it until I got home. All I knew was that when I woke up from my eight hour nap after being up all night, I felt different. It was difficult to describe but the Abigail who came home from that meeting was not the same Abigail who left. It took me a while but I finally realized why. In 16 hours, 16 short hours that considering the amount of time we live, isn't really that long, I had experienced more of the world than some people do in their entire lives. I learned what hand sympols not to show in the Czech Republic, I heard the Indian national anthem, and I learned a smattering of foreign phrases you wouldn't be able to learn anywhere else. It was a shocking revelation, but after I understood why I felt the way I did, it was a revelation that I came to terms with. I realized that I was ready to make this change, come what may.
Flash forward a month. Overnighter number two. It was even better than the first. Why? Because the ice had been broken. So what if it had been X amount of weeks since you'd last seen these people. There is a common bond between us that allowed us to just pick right up where we'd left off. Strengthening friendships made. Amazing what 16 hours can do for you. This month, what did learn? Well for starters I learned that if you're going to Russia, don't tell the guy from the Czech Republic, but the guy from Slovakia has some really good information. I practiced the Rotary "Smile and Nod", I learned about the similarities between Slavic languages, and discovered the differences in relationships in several countries. I was reminded that laughter is the same in any language.
I came home tired, but happy. Pumped up for the next time I'll get to see my friends. Friends who I spend 16 short hours with once a month, but who, in some ways, I am closer to than friends I've known for a lifetime. God Bless the Youth Exchange Bond!
They say going with Rotary on a year long youth exchange changes you. What they don't tell you is that the changing starts before you even set foot on foreign soil. When I went to our first mandatory overnighter, I didn't really know what to expect. It didn't take me long to figure out the way things work and by the end of that evening I was a changed person. I didn't realize it until I got home. All I knew was that when I woke up from my eight hour nap after being up all night, I felt different. It was difficult to describe but the Abigail who came home from that meeting was not the same Abigail who left. It took me a while but I finally realized why. In 16 hours, 16 short hours that considering the amount of time we live, isn't really that long, I had experienced more of the world than some people do in their entire lives. I learned what hand sympols not to show in the Czech Republic, I heard the Indian national anthem, and I learned a smattering of foreign phrases you wouldn't be able to learn anywhere else. It was a shocking revelation, but after I understood why I felt the way I did, it was a revelation that I came to terms with. I realized that I was ready to make this change, come what may.
Flash forward a month. Overnighter number two. It was even better than the first. Why? Because the ice had been broken. So what if it had been X amount of weeks since you'd last seen these people. There is a common bond between us that allowed us to just pick right up where we'd left off. Strengthening friendships made. Amazing what 16 hours can do for you. This month, what did learn? Well for starters I learned that if you're going to Russia, don't tell the guy from the Czech Republic, but the guy from Slovakia has some really good information. I practiced the Rotary "Smile and Nod", I learned about the similarities between Slavic languages, and discovered the differences in relationships in several countries. I was reminded that laughter is the same in any language.
I came home tired, but happy. Pumped up for the next time I'll get to see my friends. Friends who I spend 16 short hours with once a month, but who, in some ways, I am closer to than friends I've known for a lifetime. God Bless the Youth Exchange Bond!
Friday, February 02, 2007
Russian Poetry
So in Russian class we're doing a unit on books and Authors. Wednesday we were sitting in class talking about various authors and poets and Marina goes "Your home assignment is to pick a Russian poet and look up one of their poems" I'm sitting there thinking that it'll be neat because we're going to read a russian poem. " And memorize it." Suddenly my little dream world comes crashing down around me. Memorize a Russian poem? Are you kidding me? Then she says something like "It's okay, it can be short poem' A sigh of relief can be heard throughout the room "But it must be 10-12 lines long." What? Oh come on Marina! We have until Wednesday to memorize it. AHHHH! I picked a poem by Sergei Esenin. It's sixteen lines long, but the lines are short so hopefull it won't be too bad. I'll probably be posting it on here because It'll help me memorize it as well as help me practice my Russian typing.
We have a Rotary Overnighter tomorrow. I should really due my Rotary homework. We have to memorize phrases in other languages and I'd do mine in Russian except none of the Current inbounds are from Russia so I'll probably just do it in French and have my friend check it. I'll let you know how it goes probably Monday because I'm going to be fried all day sunday.
We have a Rotary Overnighter tomorrow. I should really due my Rotary homework. We have to memorize phrases in other languages and I'd do mine in Russian except none of the Current inbounds are from Russia so I'll probably just do it in French and have my friend check it. I'll let you know how it goes probably Monday because I'm going to be fried all day sunday.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Reviews: Movies: The Devil's Backbone
Okay so The Devil's Backbone is a Spanish movie that I saw on the Independant film channel today. It's one I never would've watched except dad had it marked. It was pretty good too. The plot is pretty basic and rather predictable, especially as you realize what is going on. But for the most part it was excellent and is definitely worth watching. It has some really neat effects and it's not really like those slasher movies that they make here in the good old US of A. Definitely recommend seeing it.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
It's Official!
I got an e-mail last night from the rotary district who is sending me overseas. The e-mail told me which country I'll be spending ten months in and the country is *Drumroll* RUSSIA!! I was so excited because I didn't know if I'd actually get to go there are not and I'm going to get to! I was soooooo soooo excited! Hooray!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Adopting from Russia and Ukraine
So I found this article on the New York Times' website. I Usally scan for anything about Russia and/or the former Soviet Bloc countries and I happened upon this article, which actually wasn't in the international section. Anyway, it's really interesting and has good multimedia with it. I would recommend that anyone who is thinking about adopting from Russia or the Ukraine, check out this article.
A Taste of U.S. Family Life, but Adoption in Limbo
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Мельница
Okay so I know this is my second post today but I have to tell you about this. It's a Russian music group called Мельница.(Melnitsa) They're a sort of medieval/folk style that sort of reminds me of Loreena Mckennitt. Dad had downloaded an album of theirs and put it in my itunes. I really like their sound and the album is really good. Incidentally, the album is called зов крови. I would definitely recommend checking it out. I actually found their website today which has lyrics to all their songs. Needless to say the hours following this discovery have been very interesting. I'll put their website in this post and in the sidebar as well.
Actually, speaking of the sidebar, you may have noticed that I've added and changed some features. While the basic color scheme is the same, I've added a picture, a list of foreign film with appropriate star ratings, alphabetization of links lists, and I've updated my profile. I'm actually thinking about changing around the colors i.e. Getting a new template but I haven't decided yet.
One more thing and then I'm done, I promise. Our first rotary overnighter is Saturday night. Hopefully everything goes well. I'm also hoping we get to find out our countries, or at least a good idea of where we're going. I guess I'll find out Saturday.
группа мелница
Actually, speaking of the sidebar, you may have noticed that I've added and changed some features. While the basic color scheme is the same, I've added a picture, a list of foreign film with appropriate star ratings, alphabetization of links lists, and I've updated my profile. I'm actually thinking about changing around the colors i.e. Getting a new template but I haven't decided yet.
One more thing and then I'm done, I promise. Our first rotary overnighter is Saturday night. Hopefully everything goes well. I'm also hoping we get to find out our countries, or at least a good idea of where we're going. I guess I'll find out Saturday.
группа мелница
Can I get A Whoop Whoop?
So you may or may not remember that I was irritated in AP english last year because of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. You may also remember that to ease my frustration I wrote a guide to writing a literary novel and making money doing it. I was checking my stats today and realized that I get the most hits on this blog from people looking up the term "Literary Novel." Being the Curious person I am, I went and googled that term both with and without quotes. Guess what I found out? When you google the term literary novel, without the quotes that page on my blog is fourth on the list. When you google it with quotes, it's third. Needless to say I was very excited. YAY!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Cyrillic Keyboard Cheat Sheet
Thought I'd go ahead and post this for all of you who have trouble remembering where the keys are when your trying to type in cyrillic. What I did is copy, paste it on MacJournal and I pull it up for reference when I'm typing. The rows follow the qwerty keyboard system.
йцукенгшщзхъё
фывапролджэ
ячсмитьбю/
Feel free to copy and paste, hope it helps.
йцукенгшщзхъё
фывапролджэ
ячсмитьбю/
Feel free to copy and paste, hope it helps.
Dates and Times
I decided I have way too much time on my hands. Why? Because I went to google and found this nifty little website that will display the date and time for just about anywhere in the world. Naturally, being the geek I am. I typed in St. Petersburg, Russia and saw that they'd give me a spiffy little clock to put on my website. Not only that, but I could have them put it in Russian. I couldn't help myself and now the date and time for St. Petersburg will be on the right hand side along with all the other usless stuff I've collected. Why did I pick St. Petersburg? Because the rotary people said they were going to talk to their contact there. If I end up going somewhere else in Russia, I'll change the clock because I'm cool like that.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Like Amazon, But Different
So actually, this news is pretty old, but I hadn't had a chance to update what with the holidays and all sorts of senior year junk getting in the way. I was very proud of myself because I knew that there was a Russian website that was similar to Amazon but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. All of a sudden I realized that I could search Google, only it didn't work very well when I tried it in English. Naturally. I realized then that I had the means to search it in Russian. I pulled up my Cyrillic cheat sheet, pressed command spacebar on my little key board and twenty minutes later I had managed to type интернет магазин into the happy little google bar. I clicked search and like magic the first hit was Ozon.ru. I then proceeded to look up what they had to say about my father (I wanted to read reviews of what the Russians had thought of his books.) I was so proud of myself! But anyway, the upshot is that Ozon.ru is a pretty spiffy site. It's so spiffy that I'll even give you the link for it.
Ozon.ru, Like Amazon only in Russian
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Rotary Interview #2 (District)
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.
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.
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!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noel
Feliz Navidad
and all that good stuff.
I ended up getting a C+ in Russian class. Too bad I don't take the tests well because I can't spell. Yeah, so other than that nothing has really been going on in the language front. Honestly. We had French club today, we went caroling in French last Sunday night. That was pretty fun. I've got a packet with all the words in it. I've been singing them all week long. Spanish is pretty much boring as usual. Had a test today. I did kind of bad on it. I'm worried I'll forget all of my Russian over the month long break so I've been trying to speak it so I'll remember.
Feliz Navidad
and all that good stuff.
I ended up getting a C+ in Russian class. Too bad I don't take the tests well because I can't spell. Yeah, so other than that nothing has really been going on in the language front. Honestly. We had French club today, we went caroling in French last Sunday night. That was pretty fun. I've got a packet with all the words in it. I've been singing them all week long. Spanish is pretty much boring as usual. Had a test today. I did kind of bad on it. I'm worried I'll forget all of my Russian over the month long break so I've been trying to speak it so I'll remember.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
AP and the "Personal" Narrative
So since I didn't have Russian today, I hung out at school. This activity is becoming quite interesting because I realized that the people at school don't actually care what I do just so long as I'm not causing trouble. Take today for example. Period 8/9 I stood in the door of Madame's room and I said.
Me: Madame, Can I sit in on your AP class today?
Madame: Why haven't you done it all year?
Me: Because I would sit in the Library all day and I just now realized that they don't care what I do just so long as I'm not causing trouble.
Madame: Alright.
So I sat in on the AP class. Let me tell you, it's a lot more fun than french three. At the beginning of the class, they did this translation activity and then we spent the rest of the time reading this story about this haunted painting. It was really fun. In all honesty, if I don't have a car on friday (No college then this week) I'm going to be going to the AP class again. It was rather amusing and much better than sitting in the library.
I'm going to have to get off in a minute and go finish my english homework. In english, we're writing a rough draft of a personal narrative. My problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to write about. Then an opening line hit me. "As in all things, it began with water" In my opinion, that's a really good opening line. My problem was that's all I had. Now I had a choice. I could think up something else or I could start with that line and see where it takes me. So I went up to Mrs. Haynam's Desk and asked her.
Me: Mrs. Haynam, I have a problem. I don't have an idea and I don't have a purpose in telling a story. All I have is an opening line and I could start with that but I don't know where the rest of the story will take me.
Haynam: What's your opening line?
Me: As in all things, it began with water (Pause, I realize she's giving me a funny look and so I try to fix what I've said) I know we're supposed to be modeling these other essays so that's why I asked because I really have no idea where the story will take me...
Haynam: I'm interested to see where this takes you. Some people have talent and some need more structure. Go with it. (Or something to that effect)
Mrs. Haynam likes to give me funny looks. Anyway, I started and I'm not sure I like where the story has taken me. Especially when I realized it's not really a narrative. It's about a girl who gets caught in the ocean in a freak storm and I leave it that she may or may not be drowned. I was having a spaz because it almost turned out as more of a fictious story rather than a personal narrative. Then as I was writing, it hit me. It is personal. When I write random short stories or poems I've noticed that sometimes they reflect how I've been feeling lately. Only I don't realize it until after I've finished writing. Well I did that with this essay, but I realized it in the middle of creating it. I realized that the story is a personal narrative. In fact it's really personal because it symbolizes how I feel sometimes. So I'm going to write up a page that explains this and staple it to the front of the essay.
There is one other odd thing I did with this essay. I didn't write it from the first person point of view. Part of it is because I wanted to be different because I knew that everyone would be writing in the first person (it is after all a personal narrative) There was another reason too. Back when I thought the story was going to be something about me, I decided that I was going to write it in third person because I would write better. In third person, I could pretend that I wasn't the one who was doing whatever I was writing about and it would be easier to write description.
Okay, so now that I've yakked on forever, I've got to go finish the essay. Hopefully, when I get it done, I'll type it up on here. Maybe not though I'm not sure yet.
Me: Madame, Can I sit in on your AP class today?
Madame: Why haven't you done it all year?
Me: Because I would sit in the Library all day and I just now realized that they don't care what I do just so long as I'm not causing trouble.
Madame: Alright.
So I sat in on the AP class. Let me tell you, it's a lot more fun than french three. At the beginning of the class, they did this translation activity and then we spent the rest of the time reading this story about this haunted painting. It was really fun. In all honesty, if I don't have a car on friday (No college then this week) I'm going to be going to the AP class again. It was rather amusing and much better than sitting in the library.
I'm going to have to get off in a minute and go finish my english homework. In english, we're writing a rough draft of a personal narrative. My problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to write about. Then an opening line hit me. "As in all things, it began with water" In my opinion, that's a really good opening line. My problem was that's all I had. Now I had a choice. I could think up something else or I could start with that line and see where it takes me. So I went up to Mrs. Haynam's Desk and asked her.
Me: Mrs. Haynam, I have a problem. I don't have an idea and I don't have a purpose in telling a story. All I have is an opening line and I could start with that but I don't know where the rest of the story will take me.
Haynam: What's your opening line?
Me: As in all things, it began with water (Pause, I realize she's giving me a funny look and so I try to fix what I've said) I know we're supposed to be modeling these other essays so that's why I asked because I really have no idea where the story will take me...
Haynam: I'm interested to see where this takes you. Some people have talent and some need more structure. Go with it. (Or something to that effect)
Mrs. Haynam likes to give me funny looks. Anyway, I started and I'm not sure I like where the story has taken me. Especially when I realized it's not really a narrative. It's about a girl who gets caught in the ocean in a freak storm and I leave it that she may or may not be drowned. I was having a spaz because it almost turned out as more of a fictious story rather than a personal narrative. Then as I was writing, it hit me. It is personal. When I write random short stories or poems I've noticed that sometimes they reflect how I've been feeling lately. Only I don't realize it until after I've finished writing. Well I did that with this essay, but I realized it in the middle of creating it. I realized that the story is a personal narrative. In fact it's really personal because it symbolizes how I feel sometimes. So I'm going to write up a page that explains this and staple it to the front of the essay.
There is one other odd thing I did with this essay. I didn't write it from the first person point of view. Part of it is because I wanted to be different because I knew that everyone would be writing in the first person (it is after all a personal narrative) There was another reason too. Back when I thought the story was going to be something about me, I decided that I was going to write it in third person because I would write better. In third person, I could pretend that I wasn't the one who was doing whatever I was writing about and it would be easier to write description.
Okay, so now that I've yakked on forever, I've got to go finish the essay. Hopefully, when I get it done, I'll type it up on here. Maybe not though I'm not sure yet.
Friday, November 04, 2005
урок 4
Compared to the last chapter, Chapter four in Russian class is a piece of cake. We're probably going to have a test over it next week sometime. Basically, it's a bunch of vocab and the Accusative case which is uber easy comparted to the locative cases of adjectives. We've already been warned however, that the next unit, урок 5, is going to be really difficult. The good news is that all of a sudden, I'm picking the language up better. It kind of happened randomly, I'm not exactly sure when, but it's like my brain is finally figuring out the rhythm and sound of the language. I'm reading and pronouncing much better! Hooray!
Today in class we learned about conjunctions
где-Where
что-that
как-what, how
какой-what kind
потому что-because
почему-why
Each one of these has a ","(comma) in front of it (Sorry, I don't remember the Russian word for it.) I had examples of when to use the conjunctions but in all honesty I'm too tired to think of them right now.
The Spanish Test went all right. I didn't do that great, but I did do extra credit so that should boost my grade a few points.
Today at the end of French, Madame asked me and two other people who had done the National French Test practice after school last year, if we wanted to do it again. This surprised me because all of the Third and Fourth year French students take the national French test. Of course, we all said yes because it was really fun last year, it was like having French club every week. So I think I'm going to refer to it at "The National French Test Club" or NFTC for short. Madame said that she was going to invite some sophomores too. So that'll be interesting. I'm hoping that Aleta will be one of them, but I guess I'll have to wait and see...
Today in class we learned about conjunctions
где-Where
что-that
как-what, how
какой-what kind
потому что-because
почему-why
Each one of these has a ","(comma) in front of it (Sorry, I don't remember the Russian word for it.) I had examples of when to use the conjunctions but in all honesty I'm too tired to think of them right now.
The Spanish Test went all right. I didn't do that great, but I did do extra credit so that should boost my grade a few points.
Today at the end of French, Madame asked me and two other people who had done the National French Test practice after school last year, if we wanted to do it again. This surprised me because all of the Third and Fourth year French students take the national French test. Of course, we all said yes because it was really fun last year, it was like having French club every week. So I think I'm going to refer to it at "The National French Test Club" or NFTC for short. Madame said that she was going to invite some sophomores too. So that'll be interesting. I'm hoping that Aleta will be one of them, but I guess I'll have to wait and see...
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Game Day
The Game day in Russian was pretty entertaining. It was better than sitting in class doing the usual torture. We played tic-tac-toe and every time we put an X or O on the board we had to do an assignment and then the team who won the game got extra points at the end. It was fun even though the team I was on lost and we only get three extra credit points. I think this is due to the fact that all the people who are really good in the class were all on the same team.
Other than that nothing new. We're still learning subjunctive in French. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. In Spanish we're having a test on Friday. I"m excited because in that class we're going to the computer lab tomorrow. I love days when we go to the lab in Spanish because even though we have to go to Spanish websites, it's more entertaining then sitting in class. This means I get to sit and yak at my friend Patricia for forty minutes (In spanish and english of course) Yay!
Other than that nothing new. We're still learning subjunctive in French. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. In Spanish we're having a test on Friday. I"m excited because in that class we're going to the computer lab tomorrow. I love days when we go to the lab in Spanish because even though we have to go to Spanish websites, it's more entertaining then sitting in class. This means I get to sit and yak at my friend Patricia for forty minutes (In spanish and english of course) Yay!
Friday, October 28, 2005
Aujourd hui, c'est vendredi!
Natasha's Dance: A cultural History of Russia
By: Orlando Figes
Today's Friday! Hooray for the end of the week! *dances a jig of happiness*
French club was fun except for one girl I sat next to who was being obnoxious. (That's another story though) We all ate "éclairs" (creamstick doughnuts) until we were ill. We also drank cider and ate those pirouette cookie stick thingies. Mmmm...Madame read a story and we all were sound effects in it. I got to be feet on the stairs. After the story, we all got more food, and then we watched slides from when Madam was in France over the Summer. France is so pretty, but eh-Icy cold Russia is calling me first.
I felt pretty good about the Russian test today. I think I did pretty well. I guess I'll find out on Monday... I'm glad that she didn't give us anymore homework for this weekend, other than reviewing what we already know for wednesday.
I'm not sure what we did in spanish. I know we took a quiz. I tend to drift off in that class because 1. it's so big it's easy to get overlooked and 2. because we are always going over the same things and it doesn't feel like we ever learn or do anything new. It's like forty minutes of torment.
Well that's about all from here. I probably won't be updating again until Monday because I'm planning on enjoying my Halloween weekend!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
*sigh*
I'm not feeling real well. J'ai le rhume. I think is how you say it in french, but I can't remember. Test in русский tomorrow. I was really nervous about it because of the locative cases of adjectives (see earlier post with that title) anywhoo, when we went over it again in class today, I realized that it makes perfect sense, in an odd kind of Russian way. So I'll do some studying today and then hopefully I'll do pretty well tomorrow.
While I'm on the subject of Russian, I'm looking forward to Wednesday's class. We're doing a mass review of everything we've learned so far and so weds. is a Review game day. I know it sounds kind of insane to be doing that in a college class but hopefully it'll be better than the usual torture of knowing Svetlana is going to call on you the one time you don't know the answer! (or maybe it'll be worse than usual)
I'm also excited because in French class tomorrow, we're having Le cercle Français which is French club. This means that we get to sit around for a whole period eating, drinking, and playing silly games. Wheee!
Nothing new with Spanish. Wait, I take that back. We always go over something but we go over it again...and again...and again...I think you get the picture.
Ah! one last thing about russian. The department of Modern and Classical Language Studies (MCLS) Put out a русски газета (russian newspaper) it's a little newspaper mostly in russian and everyone in russian class got a copy. I can't understand most of it but it's fun to pick out a few words that I do know. I'm hoping when the next issue comes out, I'll get a copy!
While I'm on the subject of Russian, I'm looking forward to Wednesday's class. We're doing a mass review of everything we've learned so far and so weds. is a Review game day. I know it sounds kind of insane to be doing that in a college class but hopefully it'll be better than the usual torture of knowing Svetlana is going to call on you the one time you don't know the answer! (or maybe it'll be worse than usual)
I'm also excited because in French class tomorrow, we're having Le cercle Français which is French club. This means that we get to sit around for a whole period eating, drinking, and playing silly games. Wheee!
Nothing new with Spanish. Wait, I take that back. We always go over something but we go over it again...and again...and again...I think you get the picture.
Ah! one last thing about russian. The department of Modern and Classical Language Studies (MCLS) Put out a русски газета (russian newspaper) it's a little newspaper mostly in russian and everyone in russian class got a copy. I can't understand most of it but it's fun to pick out a few words that I do know. I'm hoping when the next issue comes out, I'll get a copy!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Bored
No Russian today. In French we played a couple of games where we acted out the housework words that we've been learning. It was kind of stupid but it was better than just sitting there all period.
In Spanish we did partner activities all period. I sat there and said random stuff in Spanish. That's one good thing about languages, if you happen to be bored, then you can just chatter in another language. Okay, so maybe I'm a little...odd... but ah well aren't we all.
In Spanish we did partner activities all period. I sat there and said random stuff in Spanish. That's one good thing about languages, if you happen to be bored, then you can just chatter in another language. Okay, so maybe I'm a little...odd... but ah well aren't we all.
Monday, October 24, 2005
How to and Russian history
So while I'm bloggin today...
I'm seriously thinking about creating a help page but the only thing I could think to put on it would be how to get your mac to write in Cyrillic. So maybe I'll save it.
Anyway. The other day I realized I have a problem. I want to spend a year in a country I know like nothing about. Okay. I do know a little about Russia but mostly it's from what I've read outside of the classroom (which isn't much) so I've decided that I need to find a good, easy to understand (no textbooks) book that goes through Russian History. I'm going to start compiling a list of winter reading. At the moment, though I've got zero books on the list. Hmmm...I think I'll make it movies too. Just because I'm worried the only books I'll find would be boring and dry.
In all honesty, One of the main reasons I've done so much with Russian lately is because absolutly nothing is happening in my other language classes. I have a love/hate relationship with the speed of college classes. Anyway, in English we're builiding our vocabulary so that we'll be able to describe tone and diction (gag me with a pencil) In French, we're learning things like "run the sweeper", "mow the lawn", and "prune the shrubs" all of which are of course incredibly long because that's how the French do things (though the Russians aren't much better sometimes) In Spanish, we've just started a new unit I think part of it is on food but I'm not sure because I was half asleep in class today.
I'm seriously thinking about creating a help page but the only thing I could think to put on it would be how to get your mac to write in Cyrillic. So maybe I'll save it.
Anyway. The other day I realized I have a problem. I want to spend a year in a country I know like nothing about. Okay. I do know a little about Russia but mostly it's from what I've read outside of the classroom (which isn't much) so I've decided that I need to find a good, easy to understand (no textbooks) book that goes through Russian History. I'm going to start compiling a list of winter reading. At the moment, though I've got zero books on the list. Hmmm...I think I'll make it movies too. Just because I'm worried the only books I'll find would be boring and dry.
In all honesty, One of the main reasons I've done so much with Russian lately is because absolutly nothing is happening in my other language classes. I have a love/hate relationship with the speed of college classes. Anyway, in English we're builiding our vocabulary so that we'll be able to describe tone and diction (gag me with a pencil) In French, we're learning things like "run the sweeper", "mow the lawn", and "prune the shrubs" all of which are of course incredibly long because that's how the French do things (though the Russians aren't much better sometimes) In Spanish, we've just started a new unit I think part of it is on food but I'm not sure because I was half asleep in class today.
Locative Cases of Adjectives
In a way it's almost pointless to sit here and title my posts. I mean I title them but a lot of the time I end up talking about other stuff. Anyway. Russian is really hard right now. We have a test on Friday and I'm like not ready for it at all...
We are learning the Locative cases of adjectives. Now this may not sound like a big deal, but let me give you an example...
В чемодане
This means in the suitcase Easy enough right? Not really. Because Let's say that you want to talk about the big suitcase or the dark blue suitcase or the American suitcase. If you want to do any of these things, you have to figure out which ending you need to use. Here's another example.
новыи
This word is the masculine singular form of the word new. Okay, now that we've got our noun and our adjective, it's time to put them together. First you have to make sure that your noun and adj. are in agreement. In this case they are, they are both masculine and singular. Now, you add your preposition which is в then you figure out if the word новыи has any spelling rules. In this case, it doesn't. After that you have to drop two letters. This leaves you with.
нов
Then you have to figure out if the last letter is hard or soft. The в is hard and so you add the ending
-ом
Then you put it in the sentence (it goes before the noun)
В новом чемодане.
There you have it ladies and gentlemen. The way you put Russian adjectives in the locative case. Okay so maybe it doesn't look that hard but that's because I gave an easy example. You're brain would hurt as much as mine if you were sitting in class and had words that had spelling rules, were femanine, neuter, or plural, or if you were given like four adjectives with a noun and you had to put all of them in the locative case.
Russian can be a screwy language sometimes. Yet I'm enjoying it. I don't know why-I must be crazy. Mrs. Barber told us about a class I believe it was called Pronunciation and diction or something like that. It's a third year class but with permission it can be taken earlier. Anyway it basically teaches you to pronounce russian words. Mrs. Barber said that it's an easy class but by the end of it you can read anything in Russian even if you don't know what you're reading. I'd like to take it but don't know if I'm able because I already had to turn in the information for PSEO classes I'm taking next semester. Maybe I should go beg and plead with the PSEO people...Hmm...there's an idea...
We are learning the Locative cases of adjectives. Now this may not sound like a big deal, but let me give you an example...
В чемодане
This means in the suitcase Easy enough right? Not really. Because Let's say that you want to talk about the big suitcase or the dark blue suitcase or the American suitcase. If you want to do any of these things, you have to figure out which ending you need to use. Here's another example.
новыи
This word is the masculine singular form of the word new. Okay, now that we've got our noun and our adjective, it's time to put them together. First you have to make sure that your noun and adj. are in agreement. In this case they are, they are both masculine and singular. Now, you add your preposition which is в then you figure out if the word новыи has any spelling rules. In this case, it doesn't. After that you have to drop two letters. This leaves you with.
нов
Then you have to figure out if the last letter is hard or soft. The в is hard and so you add the ending
-ом
Then you put it in the sentence (it goes before the noun)
В новом чемодане.
There you have it ladies and gentlemen. The way you put Russian adjectives in the locative case. Okay so maybe it doesn't look that hard but that's because I gave an easy example. You're brain would hurt as much as mine if you were sitting in class and had words that had spelling rules, were femanine, neuter, or plural, or if you were given like four adjectives with a noun and you had to put all of them in the locative case.
Russian can be a screwy language sometimes. Yet I'm enjoying it. I don't know why-I must be crazy. Mrs. Barber told us about a class I believe it was called Pronunciation and diction or something like that. It's a third year class but with permission it can be taken earlier. Anyway it basically teaches you to pronounce russian words. Mrs. Barber said that it's an easy class but by the end of it you can read anything in Russian even if you don't know what you're reading. I'd like to take it but don't know if I'm able because I already had to turn in the information for PSEO classes I'm taking next semester. Maybe I should go beg and plead with the PSEO people...Hmm...there's an idea...
Sunday, October 23, 2005
I'm so Excited!
Okay so as my last post showed, I'm very proud of myself because I figured out how to make the computer keyboard type in Cyrillic. I had one of my friends on a PC come to the site and tell me if he could see the characters. He said he could and so I'm very excited. Not only because I figured out how to do it all by myself, but because now I can actually show you the words in Russian instead of just telling you about them! Never mind the fact that it takes me like twenty minutes to type a sentance because I have to figure out where all the letters are, I will learn where they are and then be able to type both in Russian and English. *glances around and then Whispers* Since I know how to do it now, I may fix the laptop I use in physics so that whenever I do blog entries from there, I can type in russian!!!
*dances around* Excited! Excited! Excited!
*dances around* Excited! Excited! Excited!
Русски!
actually, this post is a test to see if the way I set up the computer to write Russian characters works. I'm hoping that it does. If anyone who sees this would be so kind to let me know if they can see what's centered below in the cyrillic alphabet. Just leave a comment. Thanks.
Я говорю по-русски!
That says I speak russian. I just hope that other computers can see it.
That says I speak russian. I just hope that other computers can see it.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Nifty Language Links
Okay, so this is really the last one for the day, I promise. I was looking for some cool clip art for this blog when I realized that I have no post for cool links. So... This post is now known as Nifty Language Links. There will be a link to just this post on the left side bar of the blog. I'll update it whenever I find another cool link...
Foreign Language News and Newspapers- This site has newspapers for like 8 different languages. Including Russian, French, Chinese and Italian.
Enchanted Learning- Okay so this is actually a resouce for teachers. However it offers printable coloring books in several languages including French, Swedish, and Dutch. *The link takes you to the french page. The links to other languages are at the bottom.
Language Guide- This probably has to be one of the coolest sites I've ever seen. You can click on one of several languages and the site will take you to a place where you can choose a category and then it uses quicktime to pronounce the words you click on. Languages include Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic.
Foreign Language News and Newspapers- This site has newspapers for like 8 different languages. Including Russian, French, Chinese and Italian.
Enchanted Learning- Okay so this is actually a resouce for teachers. However it offers printable coloring books in several languages including French, Swedish, and Dutch. *The link takes you to the french page. The links to other languages are at the bottom.
Language Guide- This probably has to be one of the coolest sites I've ever seen. You can click on one of several languages and the site will take you to a place where you can choose a category and then it uses quicktime to pronounce the words you click on. Languages include Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic.
Oh yeah...The little Kids...
I forgot... So Last Thursday, five girls (including me) Went to teach some basic french to the gifted students at the middle school. They were so cute and little. It was really precious listening to them try and pronounce the words. There were three boys and one girl. All of the people I went with came back talking about how well the little girl did in pronunciation. Yet I have to disagree with them. She did eventually pronounce them correctly, but there was one little boy who like had everything right off. It made me wonder if he has the same type of gift I do? hmm... Anyway, we're going again tomorrow. I'm excited because not only do I get to skip half of french, but I get to play with cute little kids. :-)
Dad said that he'd look into putting a Russian font on the computer so I can share some of what I'm learning. However there is nothing yet. Maybe if I keep bothering him...
*Dad if you're reading this, please work on installing a Russian font. or a way that people can see the Cyrillic alphabet...*
Dad said that he'd look into putting a Russian font on the computer so I can share some of what I'm learning. However there is nothing yet. Maybe if I keep bothering him...
*Dad if you're reading this, please work on installing a Russian font. or a way that people can see the Cyrillic alphabet...*
Russian?
Everytime I think I know what I'm doing, something changes my mind. On Monday, my russian prof. Told me that I had a talent and I should major or minor in russian. So maybe I'll do something with Russian Translation and possibly work for the FBI.
I'm sorry I don't update this blog as often as I used to. See, Neat stuff happens in at least one language class a day but I've gotten in trouble and my parents changed the computer password. Again. So I can only get on every couple of days. By the time I do, all the cool stuff I had to say has been forgotten.
Okay, back to Russian. If I got a B.S. In russian translation, I could have more job opportunities than if I did french. Though I could actually get a double B.S. In two languages...Hmm... If you would like to see what Kent State has in the way of translation, here's the page:
Overview of the Bachelor of Science in Translation Major.
That's only if you care...
I'm thinking I should go to Russia though the thought of going there scares me to death. Going to France doesn't. I think it's because Russia is farther away, and in a way I think it's more foreign because of the Cyrillic alphabet. I'd be worried I wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on.
I do have to admit that I do like Russian. It's a pretty language, both written and spoken. I don't know what I'm going to do...
I'm sorry I don't update this blog as often as I used to. See, Neat stuff happens in at least one language class a day but I've gotten in trouble and my parents changed the computer password. Again. So I can only get on every couple of days. By the time I do, all the cool stuff I had to say has been forgotten.
Okay, back to Russian. If I got a B.S. In russian translation, I could have more job opportunities than if I did french. Though I could actually get a double B.S. In two languages...Hmm... If you would like to see what Kent State has in the way of translation, here's the page:
Overview of the Bachelor of Science in Translation Major.
That's only if you care...
I'm thinking I should go to Russia though the thought of going there scares me to death. Going to France doesn't. I think it's because Russia is farther away, and in a way I think it's more foreign because of the Cyrillic alphabet. I'd be worried I wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on.
I do have to admit that I do like Russian. It's a pretty language, both written and spoken. I don't know what I'm going to do...
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
What I Love...
I think that my absolute favorite thing to do right now is wait for Russian to start. I know that sounds really odd but give me a moment to explain. Even with the long drive, the bus ride and the walk to Satterfield hall, I still arrive at my classroom about half an hour before class starts. There's a Spanish class that uses the room before we do and so the only thing to do is sit myself outside the door in a chair and work on homework. Homework isn't the only thing I acconplish however.
My classroom is on the third floor of SFH. Also on that floor are two labs for graduate students who are majoring in Modern and Classical Languages and Translation. I love to listen. I've heard Spanish, French, Russian. Maybe it sounds a little odd, but it's fun to sit there and listen. If no one walks past speaking something, I always have the spanish class. I think it's a Spanish I or II class because sometimes I can kind of understand what the teacher is saying. So I listen to that, I listen to the people who walk past, or sometimes who stop and have a conversation right in front of me and I think. Someday that'll be me. I can only hope that it'll be soon.
I found out something kind of depressing. I was going to work extra hard on my Spanish this year because our youth group was going to go work with orphans in Mexico next summer. However, I found out that we probably won't be going now. Which is really depressing because now I have to wait until I go to France before using my language skills.
Speaking of Spanish, we're going to start learning a past tense. In french, Tomorrow is our first day teaching the gifted students. Bell's going to ring, gotta go.
My classroom is on the third floor of SFH. Also on that floor are two labs for graduate students who are majoring in Modern and Classical Languages and Translation. I love to listen. I've heard Spanish, French, Russian. Maybe it sounds a little odd, but it's fun to sit there and listen. If no one walks past speaking something, I always have the spanish class. I think it's a Spanish I or II class because sometimes I can kind of understand what the teacher is saying. So I listen to that, I listen to the people who walk past, or sometimes who stop and have a conversation right in front of me and I think. Someday that'll be me. I can only hope that it'll be soon.
I found out something kind of depressing. I was going to work extra hard on my Spanish this year because our youth group was going to go work with orphans in Mexico next summer. However, I found out that we probably won't be going now. Which is really depressing because now I have to wait until I go to France before using my language skills.
Speaking of Spanish, we're going to start learning a past tense. In french, Tomorrow is our first day teaching the gifted students. Bell's going to ring, gotta go.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Cool Opportunity
Okay so in French class I've got this cool opportunity. Madame had five of the people in my class who would be interested in maybe teaching or doing something with French in the future talk to her. She told us that the gifted education program in our school distrect is doing a unit on french and we get to go to the middle school and teach French once a week. Tomorrow is our first day. I'm very excited!
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Books
So since today is tuesday, I don't have Russian. I had to hang out at High School all day because I don't have a car on Tuesdays. (usually) Tenth Period I went to Madame's room and helped put change in those little paper sleeves for a fundraiser we're doing for the hurricane victims. Then I asked her if she had anything for me to read. She told me yes. She'd gotten some new stuff over the summer when she went to France.
11th period I paid a visit to Señora. She had a ton of stuff for me to look through. She even had Peanuts and Garfield cartoons in Spanish. I'm going to be reading the Garfield book when I learn more spanish.
In French we've been learning the tense 'Le Futur.' It involves the letter "R" as Madame keeps telling us. Anyway basically you take the infinitive and add an ending. Here's an example:
Rester
Je resterai
Tu resteras
Il restera
Nous resterons
Vous resterez
Ils resteront
Le futur translates as "will" The first sentence above, Je resterai means I will stay. So yeah. That's basically French in a nutshell today.
In Spanish, we're still talking about the same old same old. Reviewing what we've learned before. The only difference is that now we're going over telling time again. whoopee *rolls eyes* It'd be nice in a way if all my language classes went as fast as Russian.
Speaking of Russian, I'm behind in that class because I'm supposed to be learning five new words a day. I haven't been. BAD BAD BAD! I'm supposed to have mom help me set up these note cards so that I'll be able to learn the words more quickly. Part of my problem though is that I'm in a play and I've got practice like every evening so I haven't had time to make the cards.
By the way, I'm working on downloading a Russian font as I type...
Ah. Mom just asked me when we are going to do cards. I guess now would be the time.
11th period I paid a visit to Señora. She had a ton of stuff for me to look through. She even had Peanuts and Garfield cartoons in Spanish. I'm going to be reading the Garfield book when I learn more spanish.
In French we've been learning the tense 'Le Futur.' It involves the letter "R" as Madame keeps telling us. Anyway basically you take the infinitive and add an ending. Here's an example:
Je resterai
Tu resteras
Il restera
Nous resterons
Vous resterez
Ils resteront
Le futur translates as "will" The first sentence above, Je resterai means I will stay. So yeah. That's basically French in a nutshell today.
In Spanish, we're still talking about the same old same old. Reviewing what we've learned before. The only difference is that now we're going over telling time again. whoopee *rolls eyes* It'd be nice in a way if all my language classes went as fast as Russian.
Speaking of Russian, I'm behind in that class because I'm supposed to be learning five new words a day. I haven't been. BAD BAD BAD! I'm supposed to have mom help me set up these note cards so that I'll be able to learn the words more quickly. Part of my problem though is that I'm in a play and I've got practice like every evening so I haven't had time to make the cards.
By the way, I'm working on downloading a Russian font as I type...
Ah. Mom just asked me when we are going to do cards. I guess now would be the time.
Friday, September 16, 2005
The Final Step
The title needs a little explanation...
A few days after creating my "11-step plan" for writing a Literary Novel, I was sitting in english class. I can't remember how it came about, but I mentioned to Mrs. Haynam that I was going to write a literary novel since "anyone can do it." she gave me a really odd look and then said "can I see a copy of it when you're done?" I took this as a challenge and so I've begun the writing (actually I'd already started. -prologue complete)
I've decided that as I write this novel, I'm going to use my list on how to write a literary novel, and various techniques I pick up as we dig through Beloved more.
Okay. Now that you've got the background, here's the reason for the title...
I was on my way home from Kent and Russian class (more on that later) and I was trying to think of a good idea for my story. I've got a prologue and that's about it. So I'm driving along, sipping a milkshake when an idea comes to me. Suddenly I'm thinking... "step number 12, the book must contain some sort of magic (see number 6)" So that's it. It really should be somewhere higher on the list, but that's okay.So now I'm calling it my "12 step plan to writing a literary novel..." I'm thinking about putting it in a booklet and selling it for a ton of money on infomercials. *evil laugh*
Okay. Enough about that, now onto Russian class
Right after Prof. Barber started teaching today, I got really sleepy. I kept telling myself I had to keep awake. It was hard though because my eyes kept crossing and I was just having the worst time. So I'm sitting in my chair, not letting my eyes close for a second 'cause I didn't want to fall asleep in class. I'm reapeating the words that prof. Barber is saying and then the next thing I know, She's saying "your home assignment is..." I don't think I was actually asleep, it was just like my brain turned itself off... it was weird because there's like this blank so I have absolutely no idea what the lesson was about though it might've been about locative words because I seem to remember her saying something about them. In fact...Now that I think about it it was almost like an out of body experience though it was in body.
I remember her saying something and I remember myself repeating it, but I was watching myself reapeat it from the inside of my body...weird.
Since this post has turned out to be uber long...for those of you who wish to skip all the little important details, here's the language summary of the day:
French- Not as boring as usual, we talked about being an exchange student
English- got in groups to work on a project
Russian- I have to learn five words a day, and do some listening activities this weekend
Spanish-BOOOOORRRRIIINNNGGGG we spent the last week reviewing the same thing everyday! I know it can't be helped with 28 people in the class, maybe I'll say something to Señora anyway though.
A few days after creating my "11-step plan" for writing a Literary Novel, I was sitting in english class. I can't remember how it came about, but I mentioned to Mrs. Haynam that I was going to write a literary novel since "anyone can do it." she gave me a really odd look and then said "can I see a copy of it when you're done?" I took this as a challenge and so I've begun the writing (actually I'd already started. -prologue complete)
I've decided that as I write this novel, I'm going to use my list on how to write a literary novel, and various techniques I pick up as we dig through Beloved more.
Okay. Now that you've got the background, here's the reason for the title...
I was on my way home from Kent and Russian class (more on that later) and I was trying to think of a good idea for my story. I've got a prologue and that's about it. So I'm driving along, sipping a milkshake when an idea comes to me. Suddenly I'm thinking... "step number 12, the book must contain some sort of magic (see number 6)" So that's it. It really should be somewhere higher on the list, but that's okay.So now I'm calling it my "12 step plan to writing a literary novel..." I'm thinking about putting it in a booklet and selling it for a ton of money on infomercials. *evil laugh*
Okay. Enough about that, now onto Russian class
Right after Prof. Barber started teaching today, I got really sleepy. I kept telling myself I had to keep awake. It was hard though because my eyes kept crossing and I was just having the worst time. So I'm sitting in my chair, not letting my eyes close for a second 'cause I didn't want to fall asleep in class. I'm reapeating the words that prof. Barber is saying and then the next thing I know, She's saying "your home assignment is..." I don't think I was actually asleep, it was just like my brain turned itself off... it was weird because there's like this blank so I have absolutely no idea what the lesson was about though it might've been about locative words because I seem to remember her saying something about them. In fact...Now that I think about it it was almost like an out of body experience though it was in body.
I remember her saying something and I remember myself repeating it, but I was watching myself reapeat it from the inside of my body...weird.
Since this post has turned out to be uber long...for those of you who wish to skip all the little important details, here's the language summary of the day:
French- Not as boring as usual, we talked about being an exchange student
English- got in groups to work on a project
Russian- I have to learn five words a day, and do some listening activities this weekend
Spanish-BOOOOORRRRIIINNNGGGG we spent the last week reviewing the same thing everyday! I know it can't be helped with 28 people in the class, maybe I'll say something to Señora anyway though.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Russian Revelation
I'm in physics at the moment, got done with my lab early and so I'm killing time. I had a revalation in Russian Class yesterday. We learned how to conjugate our first verb. Zhets which means to live. Anywhoo. I realized that it's exactly like french or spanish it just uses a different alphabet. So I'm thinking that that takes away the reason that Russian would be so hard. That's about all I've got at the moment. Oh I absolutely hate french but I can't figure out why. It's like I'm finally taking all the languages I want, but I'm not enjoying it.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Teen Angst and odd languages
They’re sometimes shades of gray
It’s times like these I have to wish,
Those things would go away
It never seemed to matter
‘Cause you were always there
But now that it is finished,
I’m trying not to care
The words you spoke so dearly
Will never leave my head
The burning images I see
Are all in shades of red.
It never seemed to matter,
‘Cause you were always there
But now that it is finished,
I’m trying not to care
Simple things remind me
Of relationships now lost,
I think about all that we shared,
Was it really worth the cost?
It never seemed to matter,
‘Cause you were always there
But now that it is finished,
I’m trying not to care.
Personally, I'm proud of this. It's the first poem I've written that has decent rhyme. Usually, I can't rhyme to save my life. Please let me know what you think as I'm trying to get a variety of opinions on it. I wrote this...I think it was thursday actually. I've only just now posted it. I've decided I write teen angst really well for someone who's never had any. I suppose that poems I post really have nothing to do with the theme of the rest of the blog, but in a way they do. They're in english aren't they? so there you go! HA HA HA! I WIN! Okay. I'm done now. I'm just tired and behind on my homework already...
Tomorrow is my first quiz in Russian. It's not a big deal, we just get a printed word and have to write it in Russian. Hopefully I'll have no trouble with it. Though sometimes I connect the letters funny.
Russian is a funny language. No offense to all of you Russian speakers out there...but in my opinion the whole voiced/unvoiced consonant thing is kind of weird. I mean...Think about it. If the consonant at the end of the word is voiced then you have to make it unvoiced and therefore it's not pronounced the way it looks...
I suppose that I shouldn't complain. Especially since it's not like english makes sense...or even french for that matter I mean come on! The french for everything is so long! Like instead of saying please they say "If it pleases you" While I'm on it, Let me talk about Spanish. Half the time they don't even use pronouns!
Okay, So I didn't mean for that entire paragraph to come out...so I'm gonna sign off for now, get my shower, work on Beloved *urgh* And then get to bed. I've got another long day tomorrow...
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Addendum
So After I was done with my last post, I was at Study Spanish.com. They have a Spanish Word a Day and there was a way you could put it on your site...So I did. It's down on the left side of the page a little ways. Enjoy.
How to Write a Good 'Literary' Novel...
Before I actually start this post I've got to give an update.
Right now, I'm enjoying Spanish more than french. I absolutely love Señora Bey who is muy loca and extremely funny. I'm also understanding Russian better now that I've been going to class everyday though the drive is loooonnnngggg! French is alright. I also love Mrs. Haynam, my english teacher.
Okay now on to the reason For this post.
*warning, this post may turn into a rant and be rather sarcastic. Proceed at your own risk*
I never mentioned it, but over the summer for my english class, I had to read and take notes on a book called Beloved by Toni Morrison. It's one of those literary novels that college classes are in love with and because I'm taking English Ap. I had to read it. Right from the start, I knew I was in trouble...
So anyway, since this is not the first book that I've read like this (This book reminded me a lot of The Poisonwood Bible And Wicked Though not as much with the latter) I've compiled a list of how to write a literary novel...
How to Write a Literary Novel, (and Earn Money Doing it)
1. Decide you are going to write a literary novel
2.Sit down at the computer, or with a notebook, and begin writing
3. Have the book's main characters be girls or women.
4. The book Must make absolutely no sense!
5. If the book does make sense then got to #6 the following (do it if the book doesn't make sense too)
6. Have a chapter that's really odd, from the point of view of a random animal, or has no punctuation. (or All of the above)
7. Make the book at least a hundred pages longer than necessary
8. Make up a bunch of junk that could be considered "symbolisim"
9. Have so much of this "symbolism" that people could pretty much make everything in the book symbolic.
10. At least one sex scene is required (This may be an implied sex scene see #6)
11. After it's published and people begin to approach you about it's mature themes and symbolism agree that both are in the book even though you never really put them there to begin with.
Alright. So that's about it. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense it's just really frustrating. I really do think that Barbera Kingsolver and Toni Morrison both woke up one day and were like "I think I'll write a novel today." They began typing and presto. You get Beloved and The Poisonwood Bible. I could actually go on about the stupidity of Beloved for several more pages but I won't. Besides I do have to admit that I like symbolism. I've written a couple of symbolic poems and whether it was put there intentionally or not, I had a thought about a place that might be symbolic in Dances With Wolves (The movie) I was watching it one day when I realized or at least I felt that Kevin Costener's horse and the wolve he befriends are both symbolic. The wolf of his future, the horse of his past. And when the horse is killed it symbolizes the fact that he can't go back to his past. When the wolf is killed it's symbolic of the future of the Indians and Costener's future. He can't live with the Indians.
That's an example of how you can take just about anything and make it symbolic. Okay so...I think that's about the end of it. Or at least, the end of the rant. You'll probably be hearing a lot more about Beloved because in english we're going to be analizing it to death. Yipee! *rolls eyes*
Right now, I'm enjoying Spanish more than french. I absolutely love Señora Bey who is muy loca and extremely funny. I'm also understanding Russian better now that I've been going to class everyday though the drive is loooonnnngggg! French is alright. I also love Mrs. Haynam, my english teacher.
Okay now on to the reason For this post.
*warning, this post may turn into a rant and be rather sarcastic. Proceed at your own risk*
I never mentioned it, but over the summer for my english class, I had to read and take notes on a book called Beloved by Toni Morrison. It's one of those literary novels that college classes are in love with and because I'm taking English Ap. I had to read it. Right from the start, I knew I was in trouble...
So anyway, since this is not the first book that I've read like this (This book reminded me a lot of The Poisonwood Bible And Wicked Though not as much with the latter) I've compiled a list of how to write a literary novel...
1. Decide you are going to write a literary novel
2.Sit down at the computer, or with a notebook, and begin writing
3. Have the book's main characters be girls or women.
4. The book Must make absolutely no sense!
5. If the book does make sense then got to #6 the following (do it if the book doesn't make sense too)
6. Have a chapter that's really odd, from the point of view of a random animal, or has no punctuation. (or All of the above)
7. Make the book at least a hundred pages longer than necessary
8. Make up a bunch of junk that could be considered "symbolisim"
9. Have so much of this "symbolism" that people could pretty much make everything in the book symbolic.
10. At least one sex scene is required (This may be an implied sex scene see #6)
11. After it's published and people begin to approach you about it's mature themes and symbolism agree that both are in the book even though you never really put them there to begin with.
Alright. So that's about it. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense it's just really frustrating. I really do think that Barbera Kingsolver and Toni Morrison both woke up one day and were like "I think I'll write a novel today." They began typing and presto. You get Beloved and The Poisonwood Bible. I could actually go on about the stupidity of Beloved for several more pages but I won't. Besides I do have to admit that I like symbolism. I've written a couple of symbolic poems and whether it was put there intentionally or not, I had a thought about a place that might be symbolic in Dances With Wolves (The movie) I was watching it one day when I realized or at least I felt that Kevin Costener's horse and the wolve he befriends are both symbolic. The wolf of his future, the horse of his past. And when the horse is killed it symbolizes the fact that he can't go back to his past. When the wolf is killed it's symbolic of the future of the Indians and Costener's future. He can't live with the Indians.
That's an example of how you can take just about anything and make it symbolic. Okay so...I think that's about the end of it. Or at least, the end of the rant. You'll probably be hearing a lot more about Beloved because in english we're going to be analizing it to death. Yipee! *rolls eyes*
Monday, August 29, 2005
First Day of Russian
wow, Kent is a rather big scary place. It wasn't that I had trouble finding where I was going, it was just the sheer number of people that was scary. I thought I was going to be late, but I arrived at one. (class starts at 1:10) The class was interesting and I think I'm going to enjoy it. We started learning the alphabet today.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Something I forgot...
I forgot to tell you. This year, I'm taking English AP, which is advanced placement which means it's like a college class that you take at High School but get college credit for. Anyway, we had a ton of homework over the summer for it and you'll be pleased (maybe) to hear that I'm not done with it! And High School starts the day after Labor day! One of the things we had to do, was read the book Beloved By Toni Morrison, take notes in the margins, and highlight things. It's a 320 page book and I'm on page 100. Now, I'm an extremely fast reader but it takes me forever to take notes and highlight. Plus, I'm still trying to figure out why this book is a college bound book when it is the most stupid thing I've read since Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible AAARRRGGGHHH! Everytime I start to get into the story, something stupid happens. We have to write an essay on it the first day back at school, and I'm hoping Mrs. Haynam will ask us to write our opinion as part of the essay because I'm thoroughly going to tell her how much I hate that book! I mean if we're going to read a college bound book let's at least read a classic! And if you want more of a modern classic then what's wrong with Clan of the Cave Bear? I mean, at least there's some point to it, and it's interesting. Gah! Okay, this has definitely turned into a rant...sorry...I think I'd better go to bed before I hurt myself.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Monday Afternoon, and A little updating
okay, so this blog has been idle almost all summer due to the fact that I don't really do anything much with languages over the summer. However I thought It was time to post considering my RUSSIAN CLASS starts Monday! hooray! yeah, I'm also fixing the little thingy on the side that tells who everyone is. I don't have Mr. Shields this year, I have Mrs. Bugansky aka Señora Bey. For Russian my prof. is professor Barber, I assume that she is a native Russian speaker though because her first name is Svetlana which I think is an awesome name.
I'm a little nervous about the first week of Russian for one reason...I'm missing two classes due to the Fair. (I show goats on two days) So yeah, that's the only reason I'm a little apprehensive. I'm also rather redundant. Anywho...That's about it and I'll Let you people know about what happened the first class or two asap. (It'll be a little hard 'cause I'm living at the fair for the week but I might be able to post after class, but before I leave for the fair Monday.)
I'm a little nervous about the first week of Russian for one reason...I'm missing two classes due to the Fair. (I show goats on two days) So yeah, that's the only reason I'm a little apprehensive. I'm also rather redundant. Anywho...That's about it and I'll Let you people know about what happened the first class or two asap. (It'll be a little hard 'cause I'm living at the fair for the week but I might be able to post after class, but before I leave for the fair Monday.)
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Nifty Little Quiz
| You Should Learn Swedish |
 Fantastisk! You're laid back about learning a language - and about life in general. Peaceful, beautiful Sweden is ideal for you... And you won't even have to speak perfect Swedish to get around! |
Dad sent me this nifty link. So I took it and as you can see, it told me to learn Swedish. *Giggle* Anyway, just thought I'd share it. If you take it, leave a comment and tell me what language it tells you to take. (the link is up above)
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Awarded
Last night was the awards night at school. I got two certificates and a medallion for taking the National French Test and getting 6th in the state and 8th in the nation.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Music?
I asked Madame if I could borrow her french cds because I can't find anything good at Borders she said to call her over the summer and I could come over and she'd make me copies. Sounds good to moi.
The poem in the last post is the one from the french text book. I'm not going to translate it though actually I think it would be okay translated (not like the other one I posted which definitely isn't as good translated) but I'm too lazy to do it. It would be good practice if I'm going to be a french translator but like I said, I'm too lazy.
...I just found this site that has some different French poets who are living. It has examples of their poetry in french with the english translation next to it.
France-Poetry International Web
The poem in the last post is the one from the french text book. I'm not going to translate it though actually I think it would be okay translated (not like the other one I posted which definitely isn't as good translated) but I'm too lazy to do it. It would be good practice if I'm going to be a french translator but like I said, I'm too lazy.
...I just found this site that has some different French poets who are living. It has examples of their poetry in french with the english translation next to it.
France-Poetry International Web
René Philombe "L'homme qui te ressemble"
Click Here for my English Translation
L'homme qui te ressemble
J'ai frappé à ta porte
J'ai frappé à ton coeur
pour avoir bon lit
pour avoir bon feu
pourquoi me repousser?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Pourquoi me demander
si je suis d'Afrique
si je suis d'Amerique
si je suis d'Asie
si je suis d'Europe?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Pourquoi me demander
la longueur de mon nez
l'épaisseur de ma bouche
la couleur de ma peau
et le nom de mes dieux?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Je ne suis pas un noir
je ne suis pas un reouge
je ne suis pas un blanc
mais je ne suis qu'un homme
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Ouvre-moi ta porte
OUvre-moi ton coeur
car je suis un homme
l'homme de tous les temps
l'homme de tous les cieux
l'homme qui te ressemble!...
J'ai frappé à ta porte
J'ai frappé à ton coeur
pour avoir bon lit
pour avoir bon feu
pourquoi me repousser?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Pourquoi me demander
si je suis d'Afrique
si je suis d'Amerique
si je suis d'Asie
si je suis d'Europe?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Pourquoi me demander
la longueur de mon nez
l'épaisseur de ma bouche
la couleur de ma peau
et le nom de mes dieux?
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Je ne suis pas un noir
je ne suis pas un reouge
je ne suis pas un blanc
mais je ne suis qu'un homme
Ouvre-moi mon frère!...
Ouvre-moi ta porte
OUvre-moi ton coeur
car je suis un homme
l'homme de tous les temps
l'homme de tous les cieux
l'homme qui te ressemble!...
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Hooray!
Okay so I got a letter from Kent State today. I kept it folded and looked at like the first three words it said "we are pleased..." so I know I'd been accepted. This means that I get to take Russian next year!! I have to sign up for my class, but first I have to go back up to Kent and get my ID card. School's almost done. It's a good thing because I'm ready to be done. It's a bad thing though because that means no more French or Spanish for a few months. Oh that reminds me, We had to do projects in French class. Everyone had to study four things. My four things were: Le Sénégal, La Fête des Rois, Grasse et l'industrie de parfum, and Jean Lafitte. I was kind of nervous though I don't know why. Then I misspronounced the famous perfume, Channel No. 5. It's definitely not pronounced like T.V. "Channel" number 5. I felt really retarded but there was nothing I could do but laugh. My mom always says that no one ever died of embarrassment. Anyway. I've got some cool links that go along with what I had to talk about some are in English, some are in French. I also found this nifty poem in the back of my French book but I didn't bring it home so I can't post it yet. Okay, Enough distraction. On to THE LINKS!
Crime Library-Jean Lafitte This site has a complete biography on the lovable pirate.
FAQ du protestantismeA little about La Fête des Rois (also called Epiphanie) The coolest thing about this site is the excerpt about the three kings from the gospel of Matthew In french!
Virtual Visit to Gorée Island Gorée is an island in Sénégal where slaves were kept before being shipped off. This site has a nifty virtual tour of a slave house. They have a photo tour and a ten minute video tour(cool). (you need realplayer for the movie)
Enchanted Learning-French This site has nothing to do with my French Project but it's neat. It has different pages that you can print out and color and practice your french with (and I mean a bunch of pages) Even if your older (like sixteen *cough cough*) It's worthwile to color if it's for a good cause like learning french! :-P
That's all I've got for now and when I bring my French book home for the weekend, I'll post that cool poem from it here.
Crime Library-Jean Lafitte This site has a complete biography on the lovable pirate.
FAQ du protestantismeA little about La Fête des Rois (also called Epiphanie) The coolest thing about this site is the excerpt about the three kings from the gospel of Matthew In french!
Virtual Visit to Gorée Island Gorée is an island in Sénégal where slaves were kept before being shipped off. This site has a nifty virtual tour of a slave house. They have a photo tour and a ten minute video tour(cool). (you need realplayer for the movie)
Enchanted Learning-French This site has nothing to do with my French Project but it's neat. It has different pages that you can print out and color and practice your french with (and I mean a bunch of pages) Even if your older (like sixteen *cough cough*) It's worthwile to color if it's for a good cause like learning french! :-P
That's all I've got for now and when I bring my French book home for the weekend, I'll post that cool poem from it here.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Post Secondary
I'm hoping to be accepted at Kent State for Postsecondary which is where I take a couple of college classes and get both college and high school credit for it. If I do get accepted, I want to take a language class but I don't know which one to take, Kent has like ten or fifteen languages!!
On the national French test, I got sixth in the state.Shana, another girl who took it got first. She only missed two!
Russian stopped. It was rather discouraging. we only had three showing up regularly and it felt like we weren't learning anything.
On the other hand, I've been having fun with french. I've been going to Yahoo France and Amazon France and looking at all the interesting things. Tomorrow we have a test in french and then we're doing a unit all about culture. I can't wait!!!
On the national French test, I got sixth in the state.Shana, another girl who took it got first. She only missed two!
Russian stopped. It was rather discouraging. we only had three showing up regularly and it felt like we weren't learning anything.
On the other hand, I've been having fun with french. I've been going to Yahoo France and Amazon France and looking at all the interesting things. Tomorrow we have a test in french and then we're doing a unit all about culture. I can't wait!!!
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Chatting
I'm having lots of french fun lately. My friend Joye and I have been speaking french like all the time the past week. It's really amusing. Today we had a conversation about boys. Cheap entertainment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)