Comments on: Weaving class

By: kris

kris — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:37:29 +0000

weaving is the new yoga, it seems! i bought a cheap table loom a couple of months ago; still haven’t got round to taking a class. soon, though.

great report on the language troubles! let me know what i can to do bring some norwegian into the mix ;-)

By: Lotta

Lotta — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:59:07 +0000

Hey girl, be proud of your language skills! I used to be very shy about speaking “in languages”, too, but after living in a foreign country, I’m more confident. I sometimes do still worry about speaking “perfectly”, but I know I shouldn’t, because nobody speaks perfectly, not even the natives. Every now and then there’s an embarrasing situation, when I use a word I _think_ I know the meaning of, but it turns out to be something else… pronounciation has gotten better, but I still screw up ocassionally, although people claim I don’t have an accent. (I do, especially when I’m tired).

Seems like your method of learning was the best one, after all! (Omar’s article) I’ve learned all my languages at school, and I think so much time is wasted using poor methods of teaching languages, although I think that is getting a little better. But teaching reluctant kids Swedish isn’t easy, no matter which method you use…

Good luck with the weaving class! I miss “työväenopisto”!

By: Stitchy Fingers

Stitchy Fingers — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:30:29 +0000

I learnt weaving (which I haven’t done for many years) and computering (yes I know it isn’t a word) in Finland, so my vocabulary for both is mainly Finnish. It’s sometimes embarrassing when I translate a word that I’ve learnt for either topic directly from Finnish into English, believing it is the correct word, and the other person doesn’t know what I’m talking about! Sigh.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:54:39 +0000

You know, the way you’re telling all of this, its like there’s something wrong with you (my brain is fried, they must think I’m an idiot, I kept silent) – but all I can think of is that I’ve got no more than a few words in spanish and french to my language credit, and am nowhere near capable of speaking in eithere. I guess its all relative, but I think its amazing that you can do what you can do. Not to mention that your English is absolutely perfect!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:43:58 +0000

Your post reminded me of my (almost) father-in-law, who has one foreign language he speaks: EnglishGermanDanish. He spent a lot of time working in Denmark and Germany, and isn’t really sure which of the 3 foreign languages words come from sometimes.

The part about you copying from your neighbour is funny too.

The weaving sounds fun though, hope to see pictures of your projects.

By: omar

omar — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 05:45:27 +0000

oddly enough, i’m actually reading about second language acquistion (or 3rd or 4th) today. so when i saw your comment, especially about your intellect knowing that you should just start speaking, i felt i should speak up, as what i read did not jive with that thought.

one of the most influential thinkers on language acquisition (Stephen Krashen) writes

“The best methods are therefore those that supply ‘comprehensible input’ in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are ‘ready’, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production.”

“In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very helpful.”

you can find more by googling [stephen krashen].

By: Valerie in San Diego

Valerie in San Diego — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 04:06:16 +0000

I’m interested by your self-criticism, when in fact it seems that you speak several languages and have been rather brave to try so many different classes in languages less than comfortable for you. Maybe this is just an American view; I speak only English and Spanish at all well, and Spanish very shyly! Though, I also studied Russian and Hebrew (but don’t remember so much). I have been trying to learn at least Icelandic pronunciation (we’re hoping to visit next year), if not a few words — wish me luck.

I love the idea of ‘knitting in English’ or ‘weaving in Swedish’. I sometimes cook in Spanish, though, now that I think about it!

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:33:26 +0000

Your brain won’t explode, it’s good for you! Combats the awful monster of Alzheimers…. (The English word for the paper things you use to cut out clothes is “patterns,” by the way.)

There are some things I learned to do when I lived in Germany that I still do in German, too, so don’t worry, you’ll cope.