I came upon this blog randomly. The writer is working on her English, and the results are more poetic than she can know:
"...I will think them repeatedly to avoid forgetting them and I can't do the next thinking."
I love this blogger for bringing me new combinations of words, for sidling up to the language I've been speaking all my life. I used to toy with the idea of moving someplace where I didn't speak the language (like Stephen Vizinczey), learning to write in an unfamiliar tongue, stumbling on new ways of putting things together, free of clichés, expectations, trod and re-trod paths.
As it is, I'll have to make do in English for now, and bless Jennia for a glimpse through the murk.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
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2 comments:
I was in this class once and the teacher asked if for people to name a difficult language to learn. Students yelled out Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, etc.
I raised my hand and said "English." Being a non-native speaker, I meant what I said. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. And the teacher refused to write my suggestion on the board, even when I reiterated my opinion a second and third time.
Possible my answer would have done better than in the class I was attending: teaching people to read and write English for Project Literacy.
- monkey#5
Ha! But it's true, the logic of English is pretty convoluted, & so many exceptions to its own rules...
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