The first time you feel comfortable enough to tell a joke in a foreign language and people understand you -and laugh about it- that’s the moment when you know you are now fluent enough to carry on a conversation, join a discussion, or make small talk.
Tag: <span>English</span>
If English is not your first language, you will struggle with some words. Like brussels sprouts. You hear all the time, “I hate brussels sprouts,” and you start to wonder what the poor guy did. Everybody talks about him, he must be a celebrity.
Marriage advise! Haven’t I read them all and guess what? It’s a miracle my husband and I are still happily married because the way it seems we did everything wrong a couple can do wrong.
What did we have in common when we met? Nothing at first glance, we didn’t even speak the same language. He didn’t understand German or the Austrian dialect I spoke, and my English was almost non-existing. We came from different continents and different backgrounds. We didn’t have the same traditions -not even the food we cooked and ate was the same. We could have not been more different, yet, somehow we complete each other in a way that cannot easily be explained.
“They are right up my alley,” I said, softly swinging from one side to the other in my chair. Shoulder rolling, half-closed eyes, and all the other things this kind of music makes me do. “They have the groove,” I said and my husband laughed.
“You are going to England for the summer,” my Grandma told me and she would spend my favorite time of the year with two children from Italy. She had been given a pamphlet of EF a student summer exchange program -which is still existing to this day. She had liked the idea, because she had signed up for it months before I knew about it.
Today’s exciting word for the daily prompt is…hold your horses, drumroll -patience please, the word is “Or.”
I am a very private person; I don’t even post a picture of me on my blog. What doesn’t make any sense because I am outgoing and outspoken; I haven’t met a stranger in my life. I talk to everybody about almost everything. I go toward people -I don’t hold back. Still, I keep a wall of privacy around me.
I studied hard to learn English when I came here, and I did it the old fashioned way. I listened to TV and radio and wrote down the words that I didn’t understand; I looked them up in the dictionary and scribbled the meaning and the translation in my notebook.
I don’t do things halfheartedly, I try my best – always- even when I make a total fool out of myself.
My newest toy is a free program called “Grammarly” -an extension to Google Chrome. The word “free” is a magical world to me, I got curious and had to download it. I mean come on, why wouldn’t I do that, it doesn’t cost a thing? (What can I say, I am cheap but not easy). Better grammar, better punctuation, and a spell check for everything I write online…yeah Baby, you just can’t top that!