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What Do You Do When Not Reading?
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Marlene
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Nov 06, 2011 12:27PM
Oh, and I think "the more languages, the better". I´d really like to learn every language of the world, but I think this is an impossible task.
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Marlene,Yes. If I travel by train, I will reach my destination.*smile*
Perhaps, I can refresh my use of German, thanks to you.
Mercedes has a factory near my city, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It is not unusual to hear German spoken in the grocery shops and restaurants here.
My favorite location where I hear German spoken here is at an old restaurant called "The Oasis." It opened in 1948. You might consider it a Biersaal that serves wonderful hamburgers. There is a jukebox that plays music by people such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is a fun place where you find people from all walks of life. When you are there, you feel you have left the present and stepped into the past.
When I was much younger, I thought Tuscaloosa was a very small place. But we are a University town and it is a very pleasant place to live.
You have the benefit of youth. You will not always live in the middle of nowhere. And when you are older, you may long for the peace that such a place, as where you live now, provides.
Gute nacht
Guten Abend... and LSU. (great game... but I digress)I loved italy and was ready to come homewhen we left. We got to see Rome many times, Vinice, the Amalfi coast (my record is unbroken, I've had someone get care sick every time I drove the coast road), Sorento...Pizzaria Aurora ... best pizzaria in Campagna...the Caserta Palace, Monte' Lisory.
I had fun there... and loved the food.
Unfortunaltey I never was outside Europe. I´d like to go, but there is this little money-problem... I thought about going abroad for one year (woud´ve been to the USA) but, same problem there.
Instead I started reading tons of english books. Well...
Mike, you are an inspiration. I am usually busy with school, corrections, tutoring at home(to supplement my income). Now my son is working I've started slowing down a bit from the mad rush.I still have about 7 years to retire and have been thinking of learning a language. But I am always filled with trepidation that the grammar would be too difficult to handle although I've been teaching English for the past 29 years.Well, I think I'll give it a try...if I cant at least I would have tried..
Deutsch ist auch eine komplizierte Sprache ;) I think it´s never too late to learn a language, unfortunately there is not enough time most of the time! My father just started to learn english last year and he is making great progress! It really helps when you want to learn and when you have fun doing so! Good luck everyone who is learning or wants to learn another language! I plan on studying American studies and Chinese after graduation the upcoming summer.
I'm into music heaps, I'm always listening to it and slowly building my vinyl collection (I'm only getting the classics - at least in my opinion). I play guitar (acoustic and electric) and harmonica, am trying to learn piano but it makes my wrists die, not being used to the chords. I'm not in a band, nor am I much interested in starting/joining one, it's just for me to relax and unwind.
I also watch a LOT of movies and TV though I hate sitting in one place for too long, so I usually wander around most days.
I also hate cooking so I spend a lot of time avoiding that.
I'm also (trying to) save up, I'm thinking of going to south america next year backpacking on my own, and having some weird and wacky adventures.
I also spend time everyday not cooking. I did not know I could count that as a hobby.
"What do you do when not reading?"Dying.
Or doing NaNoWriMo.
Since its november, it should be the last one. Im not quite sure though; at the moment I definitely feel like one of the undead (vampire, zombie... choose one).
Kim wrote: "Lately I've been doing this - http://www.flickr.com/photos/az84/635..."GORGEOUS photos! I envy your eye....
Normally I either:Write something myself (I enjoy writing for fun and relaxation). I might walk my dog, swim, cook or play some sport (either basketball or cricket usually). However you're more likely to find me on my own, if I'm not reading, simply relaxing on my bed thinking, watching a movie or a tv show or even perhaps playing a video game/browsing the internet.
When not reading, or working, I'm cheering the best little 75lbs and below, 6 year old cheerleader squad EVER, featuring my daugther and her awsome tumbling skills. The girl can really whip a power cartwheel out when ever she needs one. Even though she forgot and did a two handed cartwheel instead of a one handed cartwheel at the competition. Gabi (daughter) was the "flyer" on top of "the stack" and managed a back walkover right in front of the judges. The team took first PLACE!... and of course it was as exciting as 6 year old competitions can be. Lots of energy, a few tears. (Coaches and mommies boohooed as they called out the second place teams name leaving our girls as the first place team! (the girls didn't know they won, they hadn't heard their team name called out and everyone was cheering.)
I of course knew it all the time... I hate those proud fathers that can't stop going on and on about their kids. (P-{D> ) Of course that's not me... (Okay, it is me, but I am proud!)
Kim, don't mind if I bookmark that one to check up on all the time to see what new stuff you come up with! (I can't believe I just found this thread now... gosh, since August it's been here! Argh!)Kayci, I've started many projects that incorporate books into art (calligraphy and painting in my case)... any pieces you can share?
Heather, I know exactly what you mean by studying, and then to relax pulling out a book! Unfortunately 8h studying a day is lightweight for a med student xD
Ala, that made me giggle.
Stephen/Melki, is there something I'm missing about how you guys use the word 'obscure'?
Nicole, what kind of calligraphy do you learn? Personally I preferred Gothic type for about a year but recently I've been branching out into creating my own forms of English Script... that is when I'm not mixing it all up together into crazy works of art that never seem to finish...
Marlene, how do you do it with languages? Just learn them from books? tapes? move to the countries? I'm currently tackling Hungarian by living here, but it's a super insane crazy language that I feel needs you to drink about a liter of palinka before you can speak it... Englisch ist meine Muttersprache, aber meine Familie ist Deutsch. Deswegen lehrne ich Medizin auf Englisch momentan... und nicht in Deutschland wo ich es viel viel billiger machen könnte! I would love to learn all the languages of the world too. Or at least Hungarian, because of all the languages (other than perhaps some incredibly obscure ones) this one seems the most like a 'secret language' to me! Want to give it a shot?
Mike, that is a fascinating list! Wow! I suppose being a lawyer is a lot like acting, so I sorta see the connection there... maybe. xD
To everyone else: it seems like a theme; reading, languages, photography, video games, art, music, caring for others seem to be the most recurring. Thank you for all the great insights into your lives, btw! It made me feel quite cozy for a little moment here in my freezing apartment!
Let me break the mold by saying: I adore baking (and cooking). I bake something yummy every weekend, even when in exam time!
I also embroider when I can. It's calming and helps me relax my mind after numbing hours of learning about the amazingness that is our human body. That's what I do most of the time... that and scratch a few hours of sleep a night when not pondering reddit.com bits!
Wouldn't trade it for the world though! I love my life as it is right now!
As I´m preparing for my Abitur (my final exams are starting in April) I can´t reach my goal of learning as many lanuages as possible right now. So I´m focusing on the ones I already know. Three exams (namely English, German and Spanish) are languages and I´m in a Latin-course too.
I´m teaching myself a bit Japanese, but I can´t say that I made any progress. No time, you see?
I want to study English and hope that they will be offering some courses (Chinese, Greek, maybe?). Someday I WILL learn another language. Or two. Or three.
Oh, well. We´ll see.
Man kann also in Deutschland billiger Medizin studieren als im Ausland? Das ist mal interessant. Deine Familie ist deutsch? Wie jetzt, sind sie aus Deutschland ausgewandert und haben die Sprache an dich weitergegeben? Bist du vielleicht zweisprachig aufgewachsen?
Das würde auf jeden Fall dein gutes Deutsch erklären. ;)
Grüße aus dem Tiefsten Hessen!
Oh, good luck on your Abitur!! That thing is so freakin hard xD Hessen, huh? Dunno how their system works, actually. Hamburg just switched to a 12 year (down from 13) and has a special 'program' thing, sorta like a major in community college in the US. You can study for cheaper in Germany because it's free (or almost free... my city-state of Hamburg makes you pay like 200 euros a month) but you need to have a 1.0 Abi... which I didn't have. That's why there's tons of Germans in Budapest studying medicine for 2 years, then transferring back home.
Meine Familie ist ausgewandert nach Kalifornien als ich ein Baby war. Dann sind Sie zurück gewandert als ich 16 worde. Deswegen habe ich meinen Abi in Deutschland gemacht. Bin 1.5 sprachig aufgewachsen xD Also, 75% Englisch, 25% Deutsch oder so. Das meiste was ich auf Deutsch kann musste ich lehrnen als ich mein Abi gemacht hab... garnicht so einfach, aber irgendwie habe ich es geschafft!
Good luck on your Abitur! Don't procrastinate studying. It's not as hard as university, but definitely not as easy as the rest of the exams!
Wow, these responses are so inspirational. I just raked dog doo from their pen and am psyching myself up to clean the bird cage.
I´m pretty good at school; in fact I never really had to learn. I´m not a genius, no way, but I´m not bad either. I´m just a bit lazy, I think. *looks around sheepishly* But it was either school or life and I decided for life. It wouldn´t do me good to spend my whole time in my room and never being around friends. I had too much of that already.They changed the length of school for whole Germany. I´m in the first grade which had to do 12 years; the grade before us consisted of some who had to do 12, some 13 years. I would have liked 13 years of school better, even if it sounds stupid. We had so much stress and long hours... it was a very busy school time (and that´s the understatement of the year). We didn´t have a speacial program, sadly.
At the college I want to go to - screw that, in almost every state I´d want to study - I´ll have to pay 500€ a month. That´s MUCH.
Dafür hört sich dein Deutsch wirklich gut an! Das muss ganz schön schwer gewesen sein, auch wenn du vorher 25% Deutsch konntest. xD
Außerdem ist es wirklich was anderes, wenn man wirklich über längere Zeit eine Sprache sprechen muss. Zwei Stunden Englisch in der Schule und dann wieder Deutsch - das bringt nicht wirklich viel. Deshalb will ich auch ein Jahr im Ausland (vorzugsweise in England oder Amerika) studieren. Kalifornien würde definitiv auf meiner Liste stehen. ;) Ich wollte immer mal nach Amerika.
When I continue like this, my Abi will be 1.6 to 1.8, depending on how my final exams will be going. That should suffice for what I want to do. There´s no way I could get a scholarship, at least not as far as I know.
And who would ever have an Abi of 1.0? Okay, I know this one guy, but he IS a genius, so it was to be expected. BTW, he wants to study medicine. ;)
Okay, I think I took enough space for now...
In my year 3 people got a 1.0. They are all studying medicine now and were all girls. 2 of them didn't have a social life and the third was Miss Popularity herself. No clue how she pulled that off... What are your Leistungs-/Prüfungsfächer? I took English (no joke!) / Informatik and Biologie / Religion (had to do something in that category... gosh it was terrible).Thanks. :) I still speak German with all my family, so I sorta stay in practice. Not as much as I'd like, though.
I'm not sure if visiting the States is still such a good idea... but hey, go anyway! The worst that could happen is you get labeled a terrorist and get deported. It's not so bad, that. (Unless you're Muslim, in which case you get tortured first, but you're not, right?)
Lately I've had very little time to read. I'm addicted to the new Star Wars MMO as well as I'm preparing to move to the US later this year.
Kim wrote: "Lately I've had very little time to read. I'm addicted to the new Star Wars MMO as well as I'm preparing to move to the US later this year."Really Kim??? Where to!?
First: I´m not muslim. I´m a christian. And I couldn´t fight if they forced me. I can´t even kill a fly (seriously, I pity them too much and always sneek them out of the back door).Second: I´ll go anyway. ;) I just want to see America some time. I don´t have to live there, necessarily, but I want to see it.
Thrid: My Prüfungsfächer. (It´s hilarious to see that word in an english text!)
P1 (Prüfungsfach 1): English!
P2: German
P3: Spanish
P4: Biology (because I had to, same as you)
P5: Religion (also because I had too, like you)
P1 to P3 are Leistungskurse and P1 and P2 will even count double. So far I´m straight 13 points in English; I always have the best exams. ;)
Man muss immer am Üben bleiben, wenn man eine Sprache weiterhin sprechen will, sonst verlernt man sie irgendwann. Meine Mutter kann zum Beispiel kaum noch Englisch, obwohl sie das auch in der Schule gelernt hat. So soll es mir auf keinen Fall gehen, weshalb ich, auch wenn ich Englischlehrerin werde, immer noch Spanische Bücher lesen und mir spanische Filme ansehen werde.
♥Xeni♥ wrote: "Also, you calligraphy/lettering fans will love this guy: http://seanwes.com/"You´re right; they´re awsome!
And she´s right there too: Where do you want to move exactly? And how will you carry all your books?
Marlene wrote: "Thrid: My Prüfungsfächer. (It´s hilarious to see that word in an english text!)"Definitely!!! I was laughing myself xD Though 'Geschlechtsverkehr' still wins, hands down, as the weirdest German word I ever learned!
Hey! Meine Mutter hat auch das meiste ihres Englisch vergessen seitdem wir zurück von USA sind! Schade, eigentlich... aber sie hat schon immer hauptsächlich Deutsch gesprochen... deswegen kann ich es auch noch ein bisschen: wennimmer wir telephonieren spreche ich einfach automatisch Deutsch. Aber mit meinen Vater English!
Ich habe ungefähr 3 Jahre Spanisch in der Schule gehabt... ab und zu immer mal wieder. Und es auch in Kalifornien benutzt... aber es it wie du sagst: wenn man nicht übt dann verliert man es. :( Deswegen bin ich so froh das ich Latein und Ungarish lernen darf (sogar muss!) nebenbei Medizin zu studieren.
Wenn du irgendwann mal mehr von Europa sehen möchtest ich bin in Budapest noch mindestens fünf Jahre. Komme doch mal vorbei! I think it'd be great! :D
And for everyone else: sorry that we Germans hijacked the topic. >.<
Yeah, I´m sorry too, but I won´t stop anyway. Sorry again! ;) :D :PI think I have some words that top "Geschlechtsverkehr". Maybe you heard some of them, but I seriously doubt you know all:
Floccinaucinihilipilifikation
Paraskavedekatriaphobie
Friggatriskaidekaphobie
Well? Not good enough? Then I have another one, even though it´s not german: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!
That´s a town in Wales, I think.
I don´t have anyone to speak English with. I can only write you guys on Goodreads or talk in my english lesson. Not good enough. That´s why I want to go to the US some day.
Dazu müsste ich erstmal genug Geld zusammenbekommen, was ziemlich schwierig werden könnte. Aber Ungarn... das wär schon was. Vielleicht komme ich mal auf das Angebot zurück. :) Would definitely be great.
You know, I have a friend that maintains that floccinaucinihilipilifikation is the longest word in the English dictionary. Thank goodness Wikipedia recently proved him wrong and me right, since I always maintain it's antidisestablishmentarianism! The thing I have with Geschlechtsverkehr is how sex = gender traffic. That's just weird!Yeah, Hungary is cheap compared to... well, everywhere but more East. xD
I speak English all the time. Studying in English. I occasionally get to practice my German, like once a month. :D
Just like Kim to drop a bomb like that, then leave us hangin'.MountainShelby - you have my sympathies. My mother once had a mynah bird, and I once cleaned its cage. (And I emphasize ONCE!) I'm pretty sure it's the worst thing I've ever smelled. And I've smelled some really awful things.
Haha, maybe we should write in German, so you can practice. :)But I think our Goodreads-friends wouldn´t like that so much, would they?
But how can antidisestablishmentarianism be longer than floccinaucinihilipilifikation? Floccinaucinihilipilifikation has 29 letters; antidisestablishmentarianism only 28!
And I´m glad to find somebody who shares my interest in very long words. Though it´s fun to see the expression of people I tell these words. It´s REALLY funny.
Yeah, Geschlechtsverkehr is a strange word, and nobody ever uses it. Nur wenn Eltern um den heißen Brei herumreden und nichts von Sex sagen wollen, benutzen sie das Wort Geschlechtsverkehr - während sich die Teenager totlachen. Ridiculous! And absolutely priceless.
Because antidisestablishmentarianism is the 'true' longest word. The others are all coined or scientific terms. I love saying floccinaucinihilipilifikation!! I was driving my family crazy with that word over x-mas break!
My biology teacher started talking about sperm and eggs and sex, in German of course, but it sounded HILARIOUS in German. And somehow I was the only one cracking up.
I think I would find it funny to listen to an english teacher trying to explain math to me too. It´s just hilarious. You normally don´t use an of this expressions outside of school, but inside... well, it´s another universe. But the students expect the teachers to sound strange, so they´re not that surprised.
That was the topic my class laughed about most too, so don´t worry. You´re not alone.
I annoy all my friends and my familiy with it too! But by now they know it, unfortunately. It´s so much fun to drive people crazy with words they don´t know! And I tried it while playing Galgenmännchen once. You know that game?
Never heard of it... Have I missed a crucial point in my adolescence by not growing up in Germany??
♥Xeni♥ wrote: "Really Kim??? Where to!?"I'll be moving to the Seattle area. Not sure exactly where there yet.
Marlene wrote: "And how will you carry all your books? "
On my Kindle :P I'll be storing all my physical books with family here then shipping them over later.
Melki wrote: "Just like Kim to drop a bomb like that, then leave us hangin'"
Sorry I was running late for work :P
Yeah, just like Kim indeed. :pSeattle... buy a raincoat and an umbrella and some goulashes. You'll need them. And prepare yourself for Starbucks!!
Just make sure to drop down and visit California! It might remind you of home a bit ;)
It´s strange to read that you were getting late for work at 11pm. ;)I think it´s "Hangman" in English. Ring a bell? It´s a game we play at the last days of school very often, when the teachers don´t know what to do and the students have their heads in the holidays already. Of course nobody knew floccinaucinihilipilifikation. xD
What are goulashes? And I never was to Starbucks in my life!
What are goulashes? And I never was to Starbucks in my life!
I spent Christmas there so I'm a little prepared for it :)I'll definitely be going down to California but I think I'll have to go to Mexico to get the weather the same
Oh my god, yes... And teachers always had students pick words, and they always took really easy ones, and we all ended up bored to tears. Still, at least it was better than high school in Cali. There we somehow ended up watching Finding Nemo in almost every class for 3 years running. I hate that movie by now.. and yet it's still cute. xDI guess you just gotta make sure you know how to spell floccinaucinihilipilifikation correctly at the time! Though I doubt anyone can really check to see if it's right...
Marlene wrote: "It´s strange to read that you were getting late for work at 11pm. ;)"In my old job I used to start work at 1am :P
"What are goulashes? And I never was to Starbucks in my life!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galoshes Rubber overshoes. There are Starbucks everywhere in Seattle. Every block or two.
That's because they come from Seattle. xD Sorta famous over there! Don't bother going to a Starbucks unless it's in the US... you need that first cultural experience to be in it's home country. Other countries just don't make it the same!
I visited the original store and it is tiny. The funny thing is I don't drink coffee :P
:O A non coffee drinker! Teach me, O Grand Master!
xDI´ll keep that in mind when I visit America, but that´ll take a while.
And to be back on topic: Today I didn´t read. Instead I watched some movies I already knew while I crotcheted a cat. Strange hobby, but true.
Haha I just can't stand the taste. I only went in there because my fiancée loves the stuff.
I don´t like coffee either. I think it´s disgusting. If I have to drink something with caffeine to stay awake, iced tea will do.
What will you do with the cat? I read a whole book today... it was awesomeness! But I actually ended up do a lot of lettering/calligraphy instead :D
Coffee and cigarettes are the life substance of med students... unless they're really hardcore and grab energy drinks and harder drugs. Don't know any of those personally, though.
♥Xeni♥ wrote: "What will you do with the cat?"Our cats will come over to live with us. They don't have to go through quarantine.
And I'll only be 3 hours drive from Portland where one of the world's best book stores is :D
