Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Alejandro

The ubiquitous Lady Gaga, she just won't leave us alone, will she?

So, the tussle is between continuing with French and learning a brand new language - Spanish!

Here's the deal. I can speak French. Un petit peu. Enough to make basic conversation with someone. But I need fluency. It's also been about 8 years since I had a conversation with someone in French, so there are a lot of words I've forgotten. Recently though, I've been brushing up my French by tuning into Air Canada on my way back home from work - they have a program on everyday French lessons. And I've been reminded once again about how I'd love to be fluent in it.

Then there's also the interest in Spanish. I find it to be a very beautiful language. It's also slightly easier to learn as compared to French b/c unlike their neighbors, the Spaniards believe in pronouncing every alphabet of the word. There are no alphabets just hangin' around havin' a good time, which does make life much easier. Then there's also a very high possibility that when I'm traveling the world and lost, or in trouble, it's more likely that a Spanish speaking person will save my ass rather than a Frenchman!

I do want to learn some language. Help!

And no, don't say German. I went through that phase when I was fourteen. I used to idolize Steffi Graf, you see.

8 comments:

muddleglum said...

Spanish, by far, because you understand English well and Spanish tends to be more like English than French does (though English is a bastard German-French.) I also understand that if you know Spanish you can easily pick up French and Italian.

Beside that, I realized in my youth that one must be prejudiced against some group or another, so I chose the French for various idiotic reasons. There you have it—nothing French is good!

Your coin flip may tell you otherwise.

You do know that there are various computer programs that promise to make you fluent, don't you?

Si, hablo espanol, mas o menos.

Moonshine said...

Learn both.. advanced level french and basic spanish. If you have a flair for languages you could also learn Italian, portugese....mandarin? Japanese? Or learn Indian languages? Malayalam? lol.

Kalyan Karmakar said...

Bangla? Marathi?

Scarlett said...

@Muddleglum - If you know of any such computer programs (that promise to make you fluent), please pass along the knowledge :)

And yes, if you know Spanish, learning French becomes a lot easier. I've been told the same thing by friends who tried learning French after learning Spanish.

@Moonshine - One thing at a time, please :) As it is, I have problems sticking to things that I start. I have no interest in Chinese/Mandarin/Japanese. I've already learnt one Indian language in the past 2 years - Bengali! I'm leaning towards Espanol :)

@Knife - I can understand Bangla & speak a little bit too!

muddleglum said...

I googled and found a number of software packages—many more than when I first looked a decade ago, but I can't remember the packages I used, and haven't the time to find out. I did find the following URL http://www.spanishsoftwarereviews.org
which has a list of different software, but surely not all. Hope it helps and that the cost isn't overwhelming.

Remember, *they* promise to make you fluent. I promise nothing.

Supernova said...

Ok..I am getting a little spooked now... have had "Alejandro" on my brain for the last couple of days..

As for the languages, I learnt some basic French in B-school and always hoped to learn more some day...even went to Alliance Francaise recently. Returned disheartened when I found out that my free times just wouldn't match with their class schedules. :(

Have spotted a place called Casa Latina near my place so hoping it will further the cause...will let you know if its any good.

Scarlett said...

@Muddleglum - Thank you!

@Supernova - Please tell me you haven't written about 'Alejandro' already...that would be really spooky.

Two things turned me off Alliance Francais. First, the guy said he'll take my oral & written test to decide if I can enroll in the Intermediate level class. Second, the weekend classes are from 10am-1pm or 3-6pm on Sat & Sun. I would've preferred a 2 hr class and neither slots seemed attractive to me. Where's Casa Latina?

Supernova said...

Casa Latina is near Jodhpur Park...

And no haven't written about Alejandro...yet. ;)