(no subject) [nekare]

It's my parents' anniversary today - they've been together for 21 years, bickering a lot but as fas as I know, never fighting for real. ♥ I want to be like them when I grow up.

Bad part of the day? We went for Italian to celebrate and the food well, it didn't sit well with me. And I still feel a bit queasy at the mention of food. ;___; And I have an Aesthetics test tomorrow, ugh.

Anyway, I'm hoping the Big/Little week will be held somewhat regularly, because I've been having so much fun! Both with making the gifts and getting them (and my Big is all awesome and she's taking me on a tour to Paris and it makes me all nostalgic and damnit, but I wanna go to Paris again...). ♥

Um. I know there was something I wanted to say but I've forgotten. *HEADDESK*

So I'll just say: PLACEBO TOMORROW, OMG, OMG, OMG!!

NO, WAIT! I've just remembered what I was going to say.

There's been a lot of talk about accents as of lately on my flist, and I'm digging it! In my case, well, I actually like my accent quite a bit, even when everyone else in the country says we sound like we're singing o_O. My accent's the midwestern one, which is, to me, a very "neutral" one. It's not as marked as the Northern or Southern one (in all honesty, and not asking for trouble, I found those a bit funny-sounding). And everyone and their mothers complain that the accent from the DF (Mexico City) is quite trashy sounding, but I actually find it very similar to my own. *shrug*

About the way I sound, well, it's weird. I talk really, really fast and I get words mixed up a lot, even in Spanish (it's even worse in English, which sucks), and I've been known to twist words around and use weird phrasing (my college friends and I have this on-going contest about which one of us says the weirdest phrase - my best one so far is when I said "claro quien sabe y a la mera sea tóxico" which would be something like "of course, who knows, and maybe it's toxic" o_O).

But while I speak oddly, I'm horribly nitpicky when it comes to writing. I bet you all must be going, "Her? For real? She misspells everything in her posts!" and, er, yeah. That's another weird thing about me - I don't care that much about misspellings in English, while I bitch and moan at anyone in RL when they don't write an accent or, say, write 'ascendente' with just and 's' or a 'c'. My small Spanish-speaking flist must be thinking that I must be lying, or something, since I hardly accentuate comments, but that's 'cause it's too much of an effort to change keybord settings all the bloody time, but believe me, I cringe inside at every accent I miss.

So, um, yeah. I love my language, and I hate to see it butchered by our version of 1337 speak - and I've gotten in a few troubles with teachers when I go and yell loud enough for the entire class to hear, "Rápidamente has an accent!" XD

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Man, 21 whole years? Without killing each other. Congrats to your parents. That's very admirable of'em.

I can't really get on this accent train, (Limey, as you know, who thinks in American.) I can imagine how it must be quite frustrating at times for you, though. Being all multi-lingual. I honestly don't know how you cope. *g*

Oh! And good look on your test tomorrow!

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I know! I'd probably go nuts after so long XD

Nah, it's actually pretty cool. I dreamt in Japanese for the first time about a month ago, and I was all happy for like, an entire week XD

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You know what's really fun?

Taking an introductory language class while also taking a class all about the acquisition of language during infancy to early childhood.

I hate trying to make language into a science, but it's just so darned interesting.

I loooove geeking out on languages. When my little cousin was starting to speak I kept on following her around as if she was an experiment, or something, and it was so cool to see how many words I could get her to repeat and actually learn.

So, you of the apparently boring language class, does the ability of learning things fast during early childhood just, atrophies, or something? Or whatever happens to it? And can we unlock it? Because it'd be damn handy to learn stuff *g*

Oh yeah, it tapers off really really early. And the ability to thoroughly learn second languages disappears by age 12. No way to unlock it, unfotunately. :(

Wow, 12? That's actually a larger number that I was expecting... I guess I'll be trying to get my kids to learn a second language really early, then *g*

Weird thing is, I didn't actually started digesting English until after I was 12 (and then I continued to suck at it until I found fanfic at 14/15). And I started studying it when I was 9. *scratches head*

One of the things that pretty much guarantees that I'll never be a fluent speaker of Spanish is my grandmother's very strong feelings towards accented Spanish. She speaks a very clear and proper Spanish. We're Puetro Rican and she uses few of the "Nuyorican" fake words, although a lot of my cousins speak in the weird hybrid of half English-and-Spanish. You go for the words that fit best.

Oh, I meant to say about accents, I'm very aware that when I'm speaking Spanish, my voice gets all weird because I'm actively trying to keep my heavy New York accent from ruining the natural rhythm of words. Which means it sounds ever weirder and then I become completely self-conscious.

I'm enough of a fast-talker and word-mumbler in English, I don't need to butcher another language with my speed-talking.

All that you said? I'm the same, only with English. I have this thing where I want to sound as less 'foreign-y' as possible, and I end up getting flustered and frustrated when I pronounce something wrong.

We should find a way to have you talking in Spanish to me and me English to you so we can finally let that go of it... *ponders*

Obviously I should stay away from you when attempting to write in Spanish. I always drop accents. It's not like they're important, after all. :D

Congratulations to your parents!

Haha, no, I obviously wouldn't judge non-native speakers with the same bitchiness I do with people that should have learnt all that stuff in primary school.

Seriously, though, do try and write - I got most of my English thanks to fanfic XD

*talked to someone from Mississippi yesterday*

*had to keep from laughing at said accent*

*Has very little accent to speak of but MN pick-ups*

*Has little doubt she will pick up southern drawl while in New Orleans*

That is all ^_^

21 years, that's awesome.

As for accents I have an souther US one that people always ask me about since I moved north. The biggest thing for me is saying y'all, darlin and fogetting to add 'g's to the end of words.

Zomg my parents' anniversary is tomorrow! XD It's their... 18th or 19th I think... they're still young. :)

claro quien sabe y a la mera sea tóxico

That's. so. cute. <3 <3 <3 I don't know why but it is.

Aww, (belated) congrats to your folks!

Haha, wanna know the rest of the story? I went out of a class last semester, and I was chewing this foamy-filled paper called formworth (it feels so sooooft and nice while chewed), and I found some friends waiting for us outside, and they stared at me. And they asked what I was doing with the paper in my mouth. And I said chewing. And I said claro quien sabe y a la mera sea toxico pero sabe rico. *HEADDESK*

Hee hee. *pokes* Well, if you die from it, at least you die with a good taste in your mouth. *g*

And, is the 'x' in tóxico pronounced like the one in México or like in the English "toxic"? Is there some sort of rule that says when to pronounce it like that? Cause I got a little confused in Spanish class about that yesterday. :)

x is usually pronounced as in English, in fact, the only words I can remember right now that sound like an 'h' are Mexico and Texas, and that's 'cause in the original Spanish spelling they were both spelled as Mejico and Tejas (still are, in Spain, and it bugs the hell out of me whenever I see it...)

in the original word for the aztecs, mexicas, the 'x' is pronounced like 'shh' so I guess that's how we ended up using such an odd consonant in our country's name XD

That's so interesting! Thanks for telling me. :D Texas too, how cute! XD Zomg I love your language. I wish I could speak it better. I still need to get my mouth used to the pronounciation, too. Your 'd's are so different and your 'v's are a little weird too and it sounds strange when I roll the 'r' and I love it but it still sounds very strange in my mouth. *g*

Haha, you know what the odd thing is? In here, everyone considers the German 'v' and 'w' to be really weird XD They're kinda hard to pronounce for us.

Have you tried saying 'Ferrocarril' yet? Or better yet, 'rápido corren las ruedas del ferrocarril'? Ah, we used to tease our English teacher so much with that phrase. A bazillion years living here and those Rs just refused to come out right XD

Whenever you feel like you can read a bit already I'll start sending you books or something for you to practice. It'll quicken the process a LOT, believe me. :)

Our 'v' and 'w'? Really? Hmm. *g* I can see that it might be hard to know when to pronounce the 'v' like an 'f' and when to pronounce it like our 'w', but apart from that... but I'm used to them, so. *g* Most people in my class just can't get over the fact that you just don't pronounce the Spanish 'h' and they have trouble with the 'j'/'y'/'ll' thing, oh and don't get me started on the 'g'... It's very interesting though, because it's always 'e' and 'i' that change the pronounciation of such a letter. In French, they change the hard 'c' into an 's' sound, and the 'g' into a 'sh' sound, for example. That in mind, I can always remember how to pronounce your 'g'. ^^

Well, it's not like we don't have your rolled 'r'... most Bavarians use that, actually. It's just that I'm too lazy to speak it, and it always adds such an open, loud (but not necessarily in volume, you know?) quality to a language, and yeah, that fits with Italian and Spanish, but it doesn't fit with my timid, quiet kind of German. Plus, I'm a bit spoiled by the French 'r', too. ^^

*tries saying the phrase* *is amused* XD

Zomg that would be so cool! :D :D :D Yes, send me books, anytime! Waah XD If you want me to send you anything specific from here, just say so too, alright? Though I imagine you probably already have most of the stuff we have here too. ;) Aah, I'll have to send you another parcel again anyways, next time I have some left-over money. *g*