2007-06-16 Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła

At times I'm a very talkative guy, but all in all I wouldn't say that I am good at expressing myself. I only speak one other language than my own and it doesn't feel very fluent yet. I have however picked up some bits and pieces here and there. And since I am one of these "let's make a list about it" guys, that's exactly what I'll do:

Polish
At the time I worked in a nursing home, one of the inhabitants came from Poland. He taught me a word and a phrase. The word is "tak", which means "yes". The phrase is "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła", meaning "Poland has not yet perished". It's a common proverb in a hopeless situation (at least in Germany, which adds a weird aftertaste if you think of the Polish-German history) and also the first line of the Polish national anthem.

Italian
A long time ago I bought myself a dictionary and tried to learn Italian. My goal was to read The Name of the Rose in the original language. I didn't get very far, though. And when I later read the book in German I realized that the language was difficult enough to understand, even in my own mother tongue. But after all, Italian is not too hard to understand when the Italians speak slow. Too bad they never do. Ever.

Spanish
I had Spanish lessons for one semester. You wouldn't think my Italian skills were good enough to get in the way, but somehow they did. All I remember is the one sentence I knew already before the lessons: "hablo español muy bien" -- "my Spanish is very good". Now that won't get me anywhere. However, all that didn't keep me from seeing Treasure Planet in Spanish when I visited Barcelona a few years ago.

French
Don't even get me started. I had to learn it for four years in school. I was probably the worst student my French teachers ever had. I've even been to France twice as an exchange student and twice afterwards. It wasn't too bad, but I still don't like the language.

Korean (you need to have Asian fonts installed here)
They have the most adorable writing system I've ever come across. There is more logic in it than in any other language. Sweet. On the other side of the coin is GRAMMAR written in cold sweat. But I still remember a little vocabulary:
hello = 안녕하세요 (anyong haseyo)
love = 사랑 (sarang)
spinach = 시금치 (sigumchi)
who's the best? = 누가 최고야? (nuga chegoya?)
I write the name of all my instant messenger contacts in Korean, that how much I like the language.

Tagalog
It's not much, but I'm working on it.
ingat = take care
salamat = thanks
kumain ka na ba? = have you eaten?
duwag = coward
I said I'm a slow learner, alright?

English
Well, it's enough to get along I guess, but it doesn't take much to expose me as an alien. And without LEO I'm lost anyway.

German
Ah, that's an easy one. I spoke the language even before I was old enough for kindergarten. It's not that difficult after all.

C/C++/C#, Basic, Java
Okay, I just crossed the line from desperate to ridiculous. Message received.

***

All I did today was chat and... er... well, chat some more, so I have nothing to show for it except maybe this:

The perspective is messed up you say? I know that! It's not good you say? It's far from it, I know that, too. But given the time that has passed since my last attempt, I'm satisfied. I wouldn't say no to a little flattery, though.