Hi guys! So I may or may not have mentioned on this blog before but I love beer! And since I've tried around 100 beers from different countries, I though it was about time that I have a page dedicated to beers from all over the world that I have tried. So head over to Beers of the World and see if I've tried beer from your country yet!
#๐ป๐ป๐ป
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
How to learn a language: 10 personal tips
Hi guys! I have returned to blogspot as I have finally finished university and so bit by bit I shall start uploading more...we pray!
I am once again a volunteer for a conversational club group called FREE (Friendly Relaxed Educational English) that aims to help internationals with learning English. In Bournemouth, where I have been based for university since 2014, there are numerous language school which brings quite a bit of diversity to the town with the influx of people from different nations from all corners of the earth.
I must say I really love it. Teaching has been something I wanted to do for around 10 years, but I doubted myself because of confidence and the feeling that I am not explaining something in a clear way. I told this to some people in my Church when I believe I was asked what is a skill that I would like to obtain. They told me that in fact I am a natural teacher and shouldn't really doubt myself in this area...since then I have been trying to teach without worries and one thing that I like to teach is English!...which is actually surprising for me as I often go on for days about how I don't like the language and how it makes no sense to me so how can it make sense to people who aren't native speakers (in fact I posted about this in 2015: "English is such a terrible language".) I would even consider teaching English or being a language assistant for English in countries such as Spain or South Korea.
So away from my digression there; some of the students that came to the conversation class reassured me of my teaching style and asked advice on how to improve learning English. In all honesty I may not be the best person for this: 10 years into Spanish and I still haven't achieved C2 Spanish, I learn French on again off again, and my level of Korean is...we can say ambiguous! However, all of the following points are ways that helped me learn these languages a bit easier and I recommend to anyone who wants to learn English or any language. In no particular order of importance:
This one is easy to understand but not always easy to do. Make friends with people who speak your target language! It's a bit much just making a friend just because you need something from them, like help to improve your English. However, not everyone views it that way. A lot of people want to make new friends and are at the same time helpful so would be delighted to help someone learning their language. In fact, a lot of my friends and I really love making international friends. It's almost a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" situation. For example, I'd be happy to have a friend who lives the other side of the planet as I can go and visit them there; plus I love learning about new cultures so it's not only a language exchange but a culture exchange. It opens up the mind, it makes you understand people better, it betters you as a person having friends from all over - which I do! Having these friends that speak your target language helps you learn things like slang, culture, it helps you get better with listening and speaking because with friends you're not really shy and they wouldn't be shy to correct your mistakes. You also find things you have in common along the way. So make sure that you do not go to places having the perception that people would not want to interact with you because your language level is not adquate; many people would be very content to engage in conversation with you and flattered at your attempts. So go out and make friends today!
Kaycey example: I have many Korean friends, probably around 20, who as soon as they heard me say something as simple as "์๋ ํ์ธ์" which means "hello" in Korean, they were shocked and flattered. Many of them always correct my Korean when we are chatting and use Korean terms that I do not know in order for me to learn. Also, when they are talking amongst other Koreans, they tend to ask me a lot if I understand what they are saying (I usually get the gist depending on the topic and sometimes butt in) I do wonder what my Korean would be like without having my friends there to help me.
Kaycey example: If you know me you know you know that I chose to improve my Spanish so I can understand Shakira - the Colombian talented, philanthropic, beautiful queen of belly dancing. I found the reason why many people complain that her new material is garbage compared to her old songs, which is only true in the sense that she just has more fun pop songs these days because times have changed and please find yourself in the 21st century...the old songs that these people talk about are complete "obra maestas" and very soul-touching and poetic. I was only able to understand that by breaking down the lyrics and their meanings and well it's not completely hard to tell due to the emotion that she would sing with. (Disclaimer - nothing of hers is garbage and she still releases pretty poetic songs if people actually listened to her music properly...#IAmShakiraTrash);
Surprise of understanding a song or a lyric
I believe listening to music in different languages has helped to train my ear. I feel I focus more on the lyrics instead of just mumbling the only sentences I could only make out at first. Nowadays, I am catching onto all the nastiness that appears in reggaeton songs and have learnt that Korean Hip-Hop rappers tend to put many meanings to just one line of their song, showing off their witty thinking and I catch onto that easier these days.
I often go out for "Latin night" at a local club and have started noticing a lot of dances are actually lyrical (the dances go with the lyrics) and are not just a routine people have chose to learn.
I recently saw Shakira live in concert and the guy next to me wasn't visibly a "hispanohablante" but would sing those key lines as if understanding the depth of their meanings which made me think "oh, if you know that, you must surely understand Spanish".
Last point, I became more attentive and nosy to Portuguese music as it is similar to Spanish, I like to see what I can detect.
There is nothing like immersion! Being surrounded by the language you want to learn is obviously a good way to learn that language and is of course a tip I can't give to these international students who have already come to the UK to learn English better. You're forced into an environment where you are living and want to live comfortably being able to communicate with everyone around you. You may be at work and you have to understand the commands that your boss gives to you or communicate with your colleagues. You have to know what to say at a shop when shopping and do not want that anyone takes advantage of you because they believe your language capabilities to be lacking so you're easy a target to con. You would learn new language just by walking down the road, going to a local cafe and interacting with those around you. This is really a key way to learn a language but it can fail if you do not aim to immerse yourself in the community around you.
Kaycey example: I moved to Barcelona! It was a bit different from what I call "Spain-Spain" as Catalan was quite (very) prevalent there; but it wasn't too hard to understand as Catalan is basically, I've been told, "a drunk Spanish man trying to speak French". I plan to one day move back to Spain for maybe a year again, we shall see! To some of my colleagues I told "por favor, no quiero que me hables en ingles. Estoy aqui para aprender espaรฑol" [please, I don't want you to speak to me in English. I'm here to learn Spanish] and some others that I would usually speak to in English would tell me something along the lines of "Kaycey te voy a hablar en espaรฑol para que aprendas" [Kaycey, I'm gonna speak to you in Spanish so you learn]; the latter I usually met with a fake grin as I was dreading either their strong accent or the fast pace at which they spoke.
I improved my Spanish abilities a lot, yet I still was't so confident whilst living there and kind of went into hermit mode and often avoided speaking Spanish a lot until my final months there because of a long story that I'll tell one day...but I stick by the statement that there is nothing like immersion and I am at a stage where I am determined to speak to any Spanish speaker and understand them. Incluso la gente de Argentina que me cuesta demasiado entender!!
As I was working a role where I needed a certain level of Spanish proficiency, I needed to improve to communicate with the customers and my co-workers and of course you come into contact with more people when living anywhere. There were many people I met that couldn't speak hardly any English if at all which forced me to put extra effort into trying to improve speaking and listening.
This is quite a typical example and also a fun one! I have many friends who have learnt English through movies and shows and it has proven effective. If you watch films / shows without subtitles you're testing your hearing a whole lot - of course you need to understand the plot which may cause you to rewind a few times if watching at home. If you watch them with subtitles in the target language, you can at least see the words that you do not know and are able to note them down or learn the spelling. This is very helpful when the dialogue goes by very quickly and it is also better when the audio is in the target language to help your understanding and how things are pronounced compared with how they are spelt.
Kaycey example: All I watch is Korean shows. I find them fun and my language definitely would not have improved if it wasn't for these shows. I've been able to learn day to day language and phrases and colloquial terms, things not so easy to find in a textbook; I've discovered different accents and it helps me understand the culture more by seeing how people act and learning what is socially right and wrong in their eyes. I usually watch 'variety shows' - a form of energetic and funny shows usually there to make people laugh and explore a subject or culture. From these shows I have learnt Korean humour and phrases.
I also have watched a Spanish season, which is one of the best most intense shows I have ever watched, called 'La casa de papel'. From that I realised that although I've watched Spanish films with Spanish subtitles, I prefer watching this series with English subtitles to 100% get the gist of it (especially since the show was so intense, I did not want to be rewinding because of every word I didn't understand as that would have killed the moment).
Though there are countless language learning apps, HelloTalk is my favourite that I have used so far. It is good for making friends, for speaking with natives of your target language and even other languages if you want. You teach people by conversing and correcting them with in-app correction kits and they do the same for you. Maybe you're being solely a teacher by helping the other person speak your language, or perhaps only a learner as you speak the language of the native which is your target language; however, I believe most of the time it is an equal and enjoyable exchange of both languages. You can even send audio to each other to converse and help out with pronunciations and also you can post on community boards to reach out to more people and start discussions there.
Kaycey example: First of all shout-out to Gerard my lovely pen-pal that I met on HelloTalk and was also able to meet whilst I was living in Barcelona! I am thankful that he helped me a lot and encouraged me too. I'm not always confident speaking Spanish with everyone but I could tell he understood my level and knew where to meet me and correct me...and explain Spanish politics and grammar. I really think this app is essential for you, even if you are not learning a language actively - but it's really fun and nice to make friends and be called out on even the smallest of mistakes which will in effect help you improve your abilities
This point is really important. It is more to do with self-confidence, resilience and having no fear of the mistakes you may make when conversing. So many people tell me that their weakest skill is speaking - it's the one they want to improve the most. It's the skill that school didn't teach properly. It's the skill that the students at FREE club tell me they yearn to improve. It's the skill I myself also really need to improve. Challenging yourself in conversation is being not afraid to speak to natives, it's being not scared to speak because they might laugh at you, it's being confident in yourself that you will improve and the only way to improve is practice because practice makes perfect. It is asking the person to repeat the question that you did not understand instead of brushing over it or ignoring it. It is asking them to speak slower because you can't understand them when they are speaking 100 words per 10 seconds. It is speaking your full opinion instead of giving small dull replies. It is trying to become more fluent verbally and adding more flavour to your language. On the note of fluency, remember that fluency is speaking or writing in an articulate and natural manner; using language easily and accurately. I learnt that through Polyglot Benny Lewis - you are most likely fluent in your target language, fluent isn't being indistinguishable from native speakers or having arguments about politics or philosophy in your target language. If you just recognised that you are fluent in that target language, give yourself a pat on the back and be proud - learning languages isn't easy (for everyone); and if you are still not fluent yet, don't worry because if you follow these tips I am sure that you will get there!
In short, challenging yourself in conversation is speaking to people and not giving up because you don't understand. It is finding other ways to understand on those occasions where you are not understanding.
Kaycey example: Korean is my confident language verbally. I am very confident in my speaking level as I learnt a lot of Korean through my friends and through constantly speaking. It was fun when I started learning Korean - with my Korean friends I won't shut up - if we're speaking English I will always try to throw Korean words in the mix. If we're speaking Korean I'm being hyper and excited to be speaking. I'm not afraid to mess up things when speaking Korean; like I said before, my friends understand my level and appreciate me being interested in their language that isn't a typical French, Spanish, Chinese or Japanese.
For me, Spanish is the opposite which I'm sure you have been able to tell by now. I have improved in forcing myself to speak Spanish as I was working in Spain with Spanish people and with Spanish customers however, as I started learning Spanish 10 years ago in school (those first 4 years were very easy and learning things like family members and where you live etc.) I became very sensitive about my speaking abilities. I still have friends who I hate speaking Spanish with and thus refuse to as I'm not comfortable or embarrassed or am whatever negative nonsense that the head creates itself...or that it's just not natural for us to speak that language as we didn't become friends in that language something I call banter language*. But it has been step by step which is why I want to go out to Spain again to not lose my ability and to push myself to indulge and immerse in the language more. Challenging myself in conversation sheds light upon my weak points - whether it be grammar, verb tenses or range of vocabulary.
It is true. It has been found that drinking can help with foreign language skills. Check out this article from The Independent! I'm not saying to go out and get 'hammered' but a little bit of alcohol gives confidence - and not just confidence, the study that is featured in the The Independent article says it helps with pronunciation. So maybe the next time you want to have better conversation with someone who speaks your target language, have half a pint first.
Kaycey example: I remember being nervous during the day but a chatty patty at night whilst I was in Valladolid in 2014 doing my work experience. I would be speaking to everyone and fearless with my speech after a one beer. It is what it is - alcohol gives confidence which you may need in order to find another way to speak your target language.
This tip comes from my 3rd ever Spanish teacher who had to deal with me for A2 level Spanish. Reading news articles. This helps you understand what is going on with the world...but in a different language. You will definitely learn new vocabulary and a formal way of using language. You see and you copy by example as you see how a native would write these things. Plus, you're reading so you are becoming able to get used to reading, you start to pick up the pace and improve your reading skills.
Kaycey example: My old Spanish teacher told me to start reading 'el paรญs' and 'BBC Mundo' to get better for my reading comprehension exam. At first I was quite lazy with it as I am a lazy person however, I began to find its use and it became a habit and just natural for me to to BBC Mundo to read the news. I maybe read BBC Mundo more than English language news and have notifications of headlines sent to my phone. It's useful to do a bit of reading every now and then to train the brain and also to find out about subjects I'm interested in or those that I hardly know anything about. It's killing two birds with one stone.
Having your friends around you in the classroom can be a distraction, right? You're trying to learn but they keep getting in the way and poking fun at things. It's all fun and games until you realise that you aren't getting anywhere with your learning and things are proving difficult. Everyone, you have to know and live by that 'teamwork makes the dream work!' I live by that, I love being a team player - so if you and your friend are trying to learn the same language - help each other. Point out where your friend is making mistakes; if one of you understands a grammar rule and the other one does not, then explain it to your friend; encourage each other and for the love of God, avoid speaking your mother tongue where possible. I think this is most important for intermediate level language learners. You're above the basics so you can actually form sentences that make sense. You're fluent in this language but you want to be better - it's not completely comfortable to you. It may be a big demand saying to not speak your mother tongue but that's not what I'm saying. Don't cut it completely...that's a bit weird. But help each other out - say to your friend "does this sound normal in English? Would you phrase it that way?" and practice with each other - sentences, oral exams, pronunciations etc.
Maybe if you are competitive see it as a competition (but not too seriously...you don't want to lose your friend) but a little bit of I want to speak better than them might help push you both that way. But remember teamwork makes the dream work so it can't be a harsh competition where you put each other down.
I think this is a hard task but then I remember a lot of staff at work would only speak Spanish with each other though they might have French, Portuguese or Italian in common (this was especially to help all us interns who had to improve our Spanish level); also, one of my university lecturers, who is Bulgarian, told the Bulgarian students that she will not speak Bulgarian with them (though I think this was more to professionalism than to help with English...as they are all I presume C1 / C2).
Kaycey example: I believe I thought of this whole post because of the students from FREE club that I spoke to the other day. They made me laugh a lot. Two guys from Saudi Arabia learning English but finding it hard being with each other all the time so, of course, naturally speaking Arabic to each other. One said "I'm never going to speak better English because of him...how do I lose him?" My advice was "you gotta get into a fight with him, then you'll not speak with him anymore!"
I too also had a similar scenario - I was in Spain and of course wanting to improve my Spanish but most of my housemates, the people I spent the most time with, knew English better than Spanish, was a native speaker or just wanted to improved their English with a native. There were two of my French housemates that I spoke to in Spanish with 90% of the time - it was odd, I spoke Spanish with people who didn't have Spanish as a first language more than I spoke Spanish with actual Spaniards or other Latinos. This was really helpful for me as we were at a similar level so empathised with each other the struggle of sometimes not knowing the right thing to say and were patient with each other - though I think at that point in time we were actually more confident than not with speaking Spanish to each other at least. I realised I was actually good at explaining things in Spanish (a good skill for a future teacher ๐) and commended myself more for improving.
This my friends, is an extreme version of immersion! How better to learn a language than learning it from the person you love (or might love one day lol). Why not learn the 'language of lurveee' and your target language at the same time! I know plenty of people who do this method, especially if they want to move to a country where their target language is the primary language. I think this is a good method because with love there should be no miscommunication, therefore you would want to understand each other 100%...so...language.
Kaycey example: No comment ๐ถ
Banter language - with people who share the same two languages or more and are most likely at different levels (e.g. person 1 - a native in Spanish and advanced English, person 2 - a native in English and upper intermediate Spanish) there will be a predominant language that you banter with in this multilingual friendship. You may have become friends in one of those languages and speak using both of those languages, but there is only one language that you banter in. For some reasons jokes make sense in that language and things are funnier in that language.
I am once again a volunteer for a conversational club group called FREE (Friendly Relaxed Educational English) that aims to help internationals with learning English. In Bournemouth, where I have been based for university since 2014, there are numerous language school which brings quite a bit of diversity to the town with the influx of people from different nations from all corners of the earth.
I must say I really love it. Teaching has been something I wanted to do for around 10 years, but I doubted myself because of confidence and the feeling that I am not explaining something in a clear way. I told this to some people in my Church when I believe I was asked what is a skill that I would like to obtain. They told me that in fact I am a natural teacher and shouldn't really doubt myself in this area...since then I have been trying to teach without worries and one thing that I like to teach is English!...which is actually surprising for me as I often go on for days about how I don't like the language and how it makes no sense to me so how can it make sense to people who aren't native speakers (in fact I posted about this in 2015: "English is such a terrible language".) I would even consider teaching English or being a language assistant for English in countries such as Spain or South Korea.
So away from my digression there; some of the students that came to the conversation class reassured me of my teaching style and asked advice on how to improve learning English. In all honesty I may not be the best person for this: 10 years into Spanish and I still haven't achieved C2 Spanish, I learn French on again off again, and my level of Korean is...we can say ambiguous! However, all of the following points are ways that helped me learn these languages a bit easier and I recommend to anyone who wants to learn English or any language. In no particular order of importance:
1. Friends
This one is easy to understand but not always easy to do. Make friends with people who speak your target language! It's a bit much just making a friend just because you need something from them, like help to improve your English. However, not everyone views it that way. A lot of people want to make new friends and are at the same time helpful so would be delighted to help someone learning their language. In fact, a lot of my friends and I really love making international friends. It's almost a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" situation. For example, I'd be happy to have a friend who lives the other side of the planet as I can go and visit them there; plus I love learning about new cultures so it's not only a language exchange but a culture exchange. It opens up the mind, it makes you understand people better, it betters you as a person having friends from all over - which I do! Having these friends that speak your target language helps you learn things like slang, culture, it helps you get better with listening and speaking because with friends you're not really shy and they wouldn't be shy to correct your mistakes. You also find things you have in common along the way. So make sure that you do not go to places having the perception that people would not want to interact with you because your language level is not adquate; many people would be very content to engage in conversation with you and flattered at your attempts. So go out and make friends today!
Kaycey example: I have many Korean friends, probably around 20, who as soon as they heard me say something as simple as "์๋ ํ์ธ์" which means "hello" in Korean, they were shocked and flattered. Many of them always correct my Korean when we are chatting and use Korean terms that I do not know in order for me to learn. Also, when they are talking amongst other Koreans, they tend to ask me a lot if I understand what they are saying (I usually get the gist depending on the topic and sometimes butt in) I do wonder what my Korean would be like without having my friends there to help me.
2. Music
The US music industry is booming and it is typical for people to know songs in English...even if they don't understand the lyrics. But what about Brazilian funk, Spanish bachata, French Afro-Trap, Korean Pop and countless other genres of music that may or may not be native to these regions but are performed in your target language? The music can be so inviting and fun and the people who tend to avoid them are the people who have no interest in learning another language or about another culture. "Music has no language", so why avoid a song because you do not understand the language - there are various websites available that translate the lyrics for you...but you definitely should be interested in the language of the music if that is the language that you are learning. So onto my main point: listen to the music! It is so fun, if you like the way a song sounds go look at its lyrics and truly understand what the singer is singing about. You may be very surprised finding out a song may not be at all what you thought it was about. Learning languages through music is a good way to dissect the lyrics, the meanings, the words that you do not know and to go on a grammar hunt - plus you can be very impressive to others singing in a foreign language.Kaycey example: If you know me you know you know that I chose to improve my Spanish so I can understand Shakira - the Colombian talented, philanthropic, beautiful queen of belly dancing. I found the reason why many people complain that her new material is garbage compared to her old songs, which is only true in the sense that she just has more fun pop songs these days because times have changed and please find yourself in the 21st century...the old songs that these people talk about are complete "obra maestas" and very soul-touching and poetic. I was only able to understand that by breaking down the lyrics and their meanings and well it's not completely hard to tell due to the emotion that she would sing with. (Disclaimer - nothing of hers is garbage and she still releases pretty poetic songs if people actually listened to her music properly...#IAmShakiraTrash);
Surprise of understanding a song or a lyric
I believe listening to music in different languages has helped to train my ear. I feel I focus more on the lyrics instead of just mumbling the only sentences I could only make out at first. Nowadays, I am catching onto all the nastiness that appears in reggaeton songs and have learnt that Korean Hip-Hop rappers tend to put many meanings to just one line of their song, showing off their witty thinking and I catch onto that easier these days.
I often go out for "Latin night" at a local club and have started noticing a lot of dances are actually lyrical (the dances go with the lyrics) and are not just a routine people have chose to learn.
I recently saw Shakira live in concert and the guy next to me wasn't visibly a "hispanohablante" but would sing those key lines as if understanding the depth of their meanings which made me think "oh, if you know that, you must surely understand Spanish".
Last point, I became more attentive and nosy to Portuguese music as it is similar to Spanish, I like to see what I can detect.
3. Live in a country where your target language is the official language
There is nothing like immersion! Being surrounded by the language you want to learn is obviously a good way to learn that language and is of course a tip I can't give to these international students who have already come to the UK to learn English better. You're forced into an environment where you are living and want to live comfortably being able to communicate with everyone around you. You may be at work and you have to understand the commands that your boss gives to you or communicate with your colleagues. You have to know what to say at a shop when shopping and do not want that anyone takes advantage of you because they believe your language capabilities to be lacking so you're easy a target to con. You would learn new language just by walking down the road, going to a local cafe and interacting with those around you. This is really a key way to learn a language but it can fail if you do not aim to immerse yourself in the community around you.Kaycey example: I moved to Barcelona! It was a bit different from what I call "Spain-Spain" as Catalan was quite (very) prevalent there; but it wasn't too hard to understand as Catalan is basically, I've been told, "a drunk Spanish man trying to speak French". I plan to one day move back to Spain for maybe a year again, we shall see! To some of my colleagues I told "por favor, no quiero que me hables en ingles. Estoy aqui para aprender espaรฑol" [please, I don't want you to speak to me in English. I'm here to learn Spanish] and some others that I would usually speak to in English would tell me something along the lines of "Kaycey te voy a hablar en espaรฑol para que aprendas" [Kaycey, I'm gonna speak to you in Spanish so you learn]; the latter I usually met with a fake grin as I was dreading either their strong accent or the fast pace at which they spoke.
I improved my Spanish abilities a lot, yet I still was't so confident whilst living there and kind of went into hermit mode and often avoided speaking Spanish a lot until my final months there because of a long story that I'll tell one day...but I stick by the statement that there is nothing like immersion and I am at a stage where I am determined to speak to any Spanish speaker and understand them. Incluso la gente de Argentina que me cuesta demasiado entender!!
As I was working a role where I needed a certain level of Spanish proficiency, I needed to improve to communicate with the customers and my co-workers and of course you come into contact with more people when living anywhere. There were many people I met that couldn't speak hardly any English if at all which forced me to put extra effort into trying to improve speaking and listening.
4. Films / TV shows
This is quite a typical example and also a fun one! I have many friends who have learnt English through movies and shows and it has proven effective. If you watch films / shows without subtitles you're testing your hearing a whole lot - of course you need to understand the plot which may cause you to rewind a few times if watching at home. If you watch them with subtitles in the target language, you can at least see the words that you do not know and are able to note them down or learn the spelling. This is very helpful when the dialogue goes by very quickly and it is also better when the audio is in the target language to help your understanding and how things are pronounced compared with how they are spelt.
Kaycey example: All I watch is Korean shows. I find them fun and my language definitely would not have improved if it wasn't for these shows. I've been able to learn day to day language and phrases and colloquial terms, things not so easy to find in a textbook; I've discovered different accents and it helps me understand the culture more by seeing how people act and learning what is socially right and wrong in their eyes. I usually watch 'variety shows' - a form of energetic and funny shows usually there to make people laugh and explore a subject or culture. From these shows I have learnt Korean humour and phrases.
I also have watched a Spanish season, which is one of the best most intense shows I have ever watched, called 'La casa de papel'. From that I realised that although I've watched Spanish films with Spanish subtitles, I prefer watching this series with English subtitles to 100% get the gist of it (especially since the show was so intense, I did not want to be rewinding because of every word I didn't understand as that would have killed the moment).
5. HelloTalk
Though there are countless language learning apps, HelloTalk is my favourite that I have used so far. It is good for making friends, for speaking with natives of your target language and even other languages if you want. You teach people by conversing and correcting them with in-app correction kits and they do the same for you. Maybe you're being solely a teacher by helping the other person speak your language, or perhaps only a learner as you speak the language of the native which is your target language; however, I believe most of the time it is an equal and enjoyable exchange of both languages. You can even send audio to each other to converse and help out with pronunciations and also you can post on community boards to reach out to more people and start discussions there.Kaycey example: First of all shout-out to Gerard my lovely pen-pal that I met on HelloTalk and was also able to meet whilst I was living in Barcelona! I am thankful that he helped me a lot and encouraged me too. I'm not always confident speaking Spanish with everyone but I could tell he understood my level and knew where to meet me and correct me...and explain Spanish politics and grammar. I really think this app is essential for you, even if you are not learning a language actively - but it's really fun and nice to make friends and be called out on even the smallest of mistakes which will in effect help you improve your abilities
6. Challenge yourself in conversation
This point is really important. It is more to do with self-confidence, resilience and having no fear of the mistakes you may make when conversing. So many people tell me that their weakest skill is speaking - it's the one they want to improve the most. It's the skill that school didn't teach properly. It's the skill that the students at FREE club tell me they yearn to improve. It's the skill I myself also really need to improve. Challenging yourself in conversation is being not afraid to speak to natives, it's being not scared to speak because they might laugh at you, it's being confident in yourself that you will improve and the only way to improve is practice because practice makes perfect. It is asking the person to repeat the question that you did not understand instead of brushing over it or ignoring it. It is asking them to speak slower because you can't understand them when they are speaking 100 words per 10 seconds. It is speaking your full opinion instead of giving small dull replies. It is trying to become more fluent verbally and adding more flavour to your language. On the note of fluency, remember that fluency is speaking or writing in an articulate and natural manner; using language easily and accurately. I learnt that through Polyglot Benny Lewis - you are most likely fluent in your target language, fluent isn't being indistinguishable from native speakers or having arguments about politics or philosophy in your target language. If you just recognised that you are fluent in that target language, give yourself a pat on the back and be proud - learning languages isn't easy (for everyone); and if you are still not fluent yet, don't worry because if you follow these tips I am sure that you will get there!
In short, challenging yourself in conversation is speaking to people and not giving up because you don't understand. It is finding other ways to understand on those occasions where you are not understanding.
Kaycey example: Korean is my confident language verbally. I am very confident in my speaking level as I learnt a lot of Korean through my friends and through constantly speaking. It was fun when I started learning Korean - with my Korean friends I won't shut up - if we're speaking English I will always try to throw Korean words in the mix. If we're speaking Korean I'm being hyper and excited to be speaking. I'm not afraid to mess up things when speaking Korean; like I said before, my friends understand my level and appreciate me being interested in their language that isn't a typical French, Spanish, Chinese or Japanese.
For me, Spanish is the opposite which I'm sure you have been able to tell by now. I have improved in forcing myself to speak Spanish as I was working in Spain with Spanish people and with Spanish customers however, as I started learning Spanish 10 years ago in school (those first 4 years were very easy and learning things like family members and where you live etc.) I became very sensitive about my speaking abilities. I still have friends who I hate speaking Spanish with and thus refuse to as I'm not comfortable or embarrassed or am whatever negative nonsense that the head creates itself...or that it's just not natural for us to speak that language as we didn't become friends in that language something I call banter language*. But it has been step by step which is why I want to go out to Spain again to not lose my ability and to push myself to indulge and immerse in the language more. Challenging myself in conversation sheds light upon my weak points - whether it be grammar, verb tenses or range of vocabulary.
7. A little bit of liquid courage / confidence
It is true. It has been found that drinking can help with foreign language skills. Check out this article from The Independent! I'm not saying to go out and get 'hammered' but a little bit of alcohol gives confidence - and not just confidence, the study that is featured in the The Independent article says it helps with pronunciation. So maybe the next time you want to have better conversation with someone who speaks your target language, have half a pint first.
Kaycey example: I remember being nervous during the day but a chatty patty at night whilst I was in Valladolid in 2014 doing my work experience. I would be speaking to everyone and fearless with my speech after a one beer. It is what it is - alcohol gives confidence which you may need in order to find another way to speak your target language.
8. Reading news articles
This tip comes from my 3rd ever Spanish teacher who had to deal with me for A2 level Spanish. Reading news articles. This helps you understand what is going on with the world...but in a different language. You will definitely learn new vocabulary and a formal way of using language. You see and you copy by example as you see how a native would write these things. Plus, you're reading so you are becoming able to get used to reading, you start to pick up the pace and improve your reading skills.Kaycey example: My old Spanish teacher told me to start reading 'el paรญs' and 'BBC Mundo' to get better for my reading comprehension exam. At first I was quite lazy with it as I am a lazy person however, I began to find its use and it became a habit and just natural for me to to BBC Mundo to read the news. I maybe read BBC Mundo more than English language news and have notifications of headlines sent to my phone. It's useful to do a bit of reading every now and then to train the brain and also to find out about subjects I'm interested in or those that I hardly know anything about. It's killing two birds with one stone.
9. Do not speak your mother tongue with friends that also are trying to learn your target language
Having your friends around you in the classroom can be a distraction, right? You're trying to learn but they keep getting in the way and poking fun at things. It's all fun and games until you realise that you aren't getting anywhere with your learning and things are proving difficult. Everyone, you have to know and live by that 'teamwork makes the dream work!' I live by that, I love being a team player - so if you and your friend are trying to learn the same language - help each other. Point out where your friend is making mistakes; if one of you understands a grammar rule and the other one does not, then explain it to your friend; encourage each other and for the love of God, avoid speaking your mother tongue where possible. I think this is most important for intermediate level language learners. You're above the basics so you can actually form sentences that make sense. You're fluent in this language but you want to be better - it's not completely comfortable to you. It may be a big demand saying to not speak your mother tongue but that's not what I'm saying. Don't cut it completely...that's a bit weird. But help each other out - say to your friend "does this sound normal in English? Would you phrase it that way?" and practice with each other - sentences, oral exams, pronunciations etc.
Maybe if you are competitive see it as a competition (but not too seriously...you don't want to lose your friend) but a little bit of I want to speak better than them might help push you both that way. But remember teamwork makes the dream work so it can't be a harsh competition where you put each other down.
I think this is a hard task but then I remember a lot of staff at work would only speak Spanish with each other though they might have French, Portuguese or Italian in common (this was especially to help all us interns who had to improve our Spanish level); also, one of my university lecturers, who is Bulgarian, told the Bulgarian students that she will not speak Bulgarian with them (though I think this was more to professionalism than to help with English...as they are all I presume C1 / C2).
Kaycey example: I believe I thought of this whole post because of the students from FREE club that I spoke to the other day. They made me laugh a lot. Two guys from Saudi Arabia learning English but finding it hard being with each other all the time so, of course, naturally speaking Arabic to each other. One said "I'm never going to speak better English because of him...how do I lose him?" My advice was "you gotta get into a fight with him, then you'll not speak with him anymore!"
I too also had a similar scenario - I was in Spain and of course wanting to improve my Spanish but most of my housemates, the people I spent the most time with, knew English better than Spanish, was a native speaker or just wanted to improved their English with a native. There were two of my French housemates that I spoke to in Spanish with 90% of the time - it was odd, I spoke Spanish with people who didn't have Spanish as a first language more than I spoke Spanish with actual Spaniards or other Latinos. This was really helpful for me as we were at a similar level so empathised with each other the struggle of sometimes not knowing the right thing to say and were patient with each other - though I think at that point in time we were actually more confident than not with speaking Spanish to each other at least. I realised I was actually good at explaining things in Spanish (a good skill for a future teacher ๐) and commended myself more for improving.
10. Date someone who speaks your target language
This my friends, is an extreme version of immersion! How better to learn a language than learning it from the person you love (or might love one day lol). Why not learn the 'language of lurveee' and your target language at the same time! I know plenty of people who do this method, especially if they want to move to a country where their target language is the primary language. I think this is a good method because with love there should be no miscommunication, therefore you would want to understand each other 100%...so...language.
Kaycey example: No comment ๐ถ
Banter language - with people who share the same two languages or more and are most likely at different levels (e.g. person 1 - a native in Spanish and advanced English, person 2 - a native in English and upper intermediate Spanish) there will be a predominant language that you banter with in this multilingual friendship. You may have become friends in one of those languages and speak using both of those languages, but there is only one language that you banter in. For some reasons jokes make sense in that language and things are funnier in that language.
Monday, 12 March 2018
A quick update to say follow my Instagram where I post pictures of the wonderful world outside your front door regularly...at least with updates more regular than that on this blog.
I can't wait to get writing again - my degree is almost finished and I'm sure I'll have time to be writing away to my hearts desire on subjects such as: my dissertation, my holidays and travel experiences, language improvement, tourism and well all those things I've been forgetting to write about for the last 3 years ๐ ๐
So check me out! Here a few snippets of where I've been in the past 12 months
I can't wait to get writing again - my degree is almost finished and I'm sure I'll have time to be writing away to my hearts desire on subjects such as: my dissertation, my holidays and travel experiences, language improvement, tourism and well all those things I've been forgetting to write about for the last 3 years ๐ ๐
So check me out! Here a few snippets of where I've been in the past 12 months
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| Chelsea Embankment, London |
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| Gothic Quarter, Barcelona |
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| La Alhambra, Granada |
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| En route to Formentera |
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| Durlston Country Park, Swanage |
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| Passeig De Gracia, Barcelona |
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| China Town / Leicester Square, London |
Sunday, 2 October 2016
Weekend away in a small town: Rediscovering Flatford Mill
Storytime: This summer I had an amazing oppurtunity to escape the crazy hustle and bustle of London for a weekend, to spend some time with my wonderful second year housemate and her family. It was a great time surrounded by Spanish to help practice before I left for Barcelona also good food, conversation and music!
On the Saturday we went to a differnt town to go boat rowing, have a picnic and go on a walk. If you know me you know how much I love long walks especially in rich nature settings. It isn't real if there isn't a bunch of animal droppings everywhere, mountains or rivers! I was asked if I had ever rowed a boat before and I said the only time I did was on a geography trip years back.
We saw many animals. Geese, swans, cows. The swans reminded me of the same geography trip when a small phobia of swans arose because one was chasing me and my friend, trying to attack us. On the walk I pointed at a swan and said "that might have been the swan that attacked me!"
We approached a bridge and I stopped walking and was really confused. I knew I had been here before as it was the strongest sense of dรฉjร vu I had ever felt. So I let my friend and her parents know I really felt as if I had been there before on the geography trip that I kept mentioning. I couldn't remember the exact location we went for the trip but I knew that I had stayed at Flatford Mill and it was either in or really near to Ipswich. So I asked how near we were to Ipswitch but they said it was still a few miles away. I tried to open Google Maps to see how near Flatford Mill was but the internet fails me in vital moments of life like this! So we walked a bit further, me still shaken by the real familiar views. I came across this sign that gave me my hallalujah.
Flatford Mill was real close so we went to go visit it. We weren't able to go inside the building but we walked around the outside and took pictures. I was so delighted as it was one of my favourite geography trips and such a beautiful place. It was also such a lovely 'coincidence' as I was thinking about the trip a lot that day because of the swan and the boats. The only other time I rowed a boat was there; the swan that I saw and the swan that attacked me literally could have been the same swan!! Life is funny.
It was so good to be surrounded by some english countryside and I FINALLY got a better phone with a better camera so you are able to see the evident difference in quality between the pictures.
On the Saturday we went to a differnt town to go boat rowing, have a picnic and go on a walk. If you know me you know how much I love long walks especially in rich nature settings. It isn't real if there isn't a bunch of animal droppings everywhere, mountains or rivers! I was asked if I had ever rowed a boat before and I said the only time I did was on a geography trip years back.
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| 2016 |
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| 2013 |
We approached a bridge and I stopped walking and was really confused. I knew I had been here before as it was the strongest sense of dรฉjร vu I had ever felt. So I let my friend and her parents know I really felt as if I had been there before on the geography trip that I kept mentioning. I couldn't remember the exact location we went for the trip but I knew that I had stayed at Flatford Mill and it was either in or really near to Ipswich. So I asked how near we were to Ipswitch but they said it was still a few miles away. I tried to open Google Maps to see how near Flatford Mill was but the internet fails me in vital moments of life like this! So we walked a bit further, me still shaken by the real familiar views. I came across this sign that gave me my hallalujah. |
| "Flatford Mill 200 miles" |
Flatford Mill was real close so we went to go visit it. We weren't able to go inside the building but we walked around the outside and took pictures. I was so delighted as it was one of my favourite geography trips and such a beautiful place. It was also such a lovely 'coincidence' as I was thinking about the trip a lot that day because of the swan and the boats. The only other time I rowed a boat was there; the swan that I saw and the swan that attacked me literally could have been the same swan!! Life is funny.
(A mixture of pictures I took at Flatford Mill in 2013 & 2o16)
It was so good to be surrounded by some english countryside and I FINALLY got a better phone with a better camera so you are able to see the evident difference in quality between the pictures.
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| The swan that attacked me |
Saturday, 3 September 2016
So let me reintroduce myself
Hello reader.
My name is Kaycey and I am a university student in the UK. I study tourism and my course is 4 years long. The third year (this year) I have to work in the tourism industry for 40 weeks thus I by God's grace ended up in the city of Barcelona and have a home and work placement here until next year summer.
I chose to study tourism because I wanted to do a subject with hints of geography and languages. I feel I wasn't intelligent enough or good enough at science to do Geography (one of the most underrated subjects in this world) and wasn't good enough at Spanish to study Spanish. Though those points seem negative, it is the truth and it lead me to study this amazing subject at a wonderful university - in fact the best in the country for tourism. I have always loved travelling and going on holiday (like every single normal human ever) and wanted to know more about this wide 24 365 industry. I liked that I could study subjects like environmental studies, which looks at eco tourism and the pressure tourism puts on nature fauna and flora; I could also study tourism operations management and tourism development and planning. French was also available as a module which allowed me to pick up from where I left up with French in year 9 and many management subjects, like finance, marketing, economics and managing people - which can all be implemented in many fields of work.
I will concentrate on Spain in a later post and Korea and Malta which I have visited in the past year.
I sincerly thank you for reading and hope my blog is something of interest to you. #reboot
My name is Kaycey and I am a university student in the UK. I study tourism and my course is 4 years long. The third year (this year) I have to work in the tourism industry for 40 weeks thus I by God's grace ended up in the city of Barcelona and have a home and work placement here until next year summer.
I chose to study tourism because I wanted to do a subject with hints of geography and languages. I feel I wasn't intelligent enough or good enough at science to do Geography (one of the most underrated subjects in this world) and wasn't good enough at Spanish to study Spanish. Though those points seem negative, it is the truth and it lead me to study this amazing subject at a wonderful university - in fact the best in the country for tourism. I have always loved travelling and going on holiday (like every single normal human ever) and wanted to know more about this wide 24 365 industry. I liked that I could study subjects like environmental studies, which looks at eco tourism and the pressure tourism puts on nature fauna and flora; I could also study tourism operations management and tourism development and planning. French was also available as a module which allowed me to pick up from where I left up with French in year 9 and many management subjects, like finance, marketing, economics and managing people - which can all be implemented in many fields of work.
I will concentrate on Spain in a later post and Korea and Malta which I have visited in the past year.
I sincerly thank you for reading and hope my blog is something of interest to you. #reboot
Bad blogger
Hello readers,
I return to being a writer because I have missed blogging that much. It has been more than a year now that I have been postponing writing, even though I have been gathering writing material and have many ideas. I can admit I haven't been able to keep up with many areas of my life but this is going to become my new homework - to revive this blog and fill it with the content that I had originally intended.
I even considered starting afresh a new blog but that would cause everything I've ever posted here to become invaluable. I'd compare this blog to a plant I bought but kept forgetting to water it...but that plant is a cactus so it will live long and survive arid conditions.
I put my writer cap back on, try to communicate using proper english and return to tell you about the world outside your front door. And now, some spam!
I return to being a writer because I have missed blogging that much. It has been more than a year now that I have been postponing writing, even though I have been gathering writing material and have many ideas. I can admit I haven't been able to keep up with many areas of my life but this is going to become my new homework - to revive this blog and fill it with the content that I had originally intended.
I even considered starting afresh a new blog but that would cause everything I've ever posted here to become invaluable. I'd compare this blog to a plant I bought but kept forgetting to water it...but that plant is a cactus so it will live long and survive arid conditions.
I put my writer cap back on, try to communicate using proper english and return to tell you about the world outside your front door. And now, some spam!
Friday, 8 April 2016
International heart?
I started to write this post when I had one week to go until my big adventure but now my big adventure has almost ended so I have a lot to tell you :)
First I wanted to share a little summary of my first year of university and some things to come. I have a great year at my university home or 'beachland' as I like to call it. I really feel at home there and it is an amazing place. Perhaps my course isn't all I expected it to be but I still enjoyed it so much and passed year 1 with a merit which I am proud of so I can't complain! (Even though I could have done better). Bring on second year tourism management! This year of course I have to be ever more cautious of my grades as they contribute to my final year mark and the grade I graduate with. This year I must also start to look for a placement which I will really be praying over; there are certain lands and fields of tourism on my heart.
I'd like to think I have an international heart. I think I mentioned last year how I get confused as an international student as most of my friends are international students. (A bit annoying that that is the assumption as if international students should only hang out with each other) but I love to learn from them. Sharing different cultures and customs, learning bits of other languages and of course the awesome food; I find it all so fun! I sometimes go this international cafรฉ and of course everyone asks where I am from but get confused that I am a British student (especially since my english fails a lot) and that I want to learn from them about their home cultures. I still have not figured out how exactly I identify with foreign students. Is it a personality thing? A selfish thing that I am just friends with people from certain places as I want to learn their language. I am not sure but I am a proud back up for the international team at Christian Union, global buddy for next year and geography & languages enthusiast
I am currently at a crossroad, not knowing whether to take on French again next year or not. I enjoy learning it, but could I possibly be assessed on it at a higher level?
So I write this post from a hairdressers in Seoul, South Korea as I wait for my friend to get her hair done. I finally made it here guys, and though my adventure is almost over, a real big one starts tomorrow ;)
...updates coming soon
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Comeback!
I am very excited to announce that I will be returning to my blog after almost a year of hiatus. Many exciting things this past year have happened and many exciting thing are coming up...keyword = EXCITEMENT.
I have a lot of content, that I have been planning to write for a long time now, that I will be able to share real soon. Life threw me under the bus with a lot of university work however, "it's been along time coming, but I'm here now".
Kaycey, welcome back.
I have a lot of content, that I have been planning to write for a long time now, that I will be able to share real soon. Life threw me under the bus with a lot of university work however, "it's been along time coming, but I'm here now".
Kaycey, welcome back.
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Da Rules
This video right here relates a bit to my rant post that I uploaded about a month ago. I literally just watched this video but found it too epic and deep that I just had to share it everywhere! This is really the world outside your front door as I feel a lot of people have no idea the racism in society especially against black people. Eyes need to be opened and though there have been several movements in the past that we all are reminded about during black history month, racism still exists.
Being black often feels like walking on eggshells, how we have to be so careful not to 'scare' people, how so many stereotypes (stupid and offensive) are always brought to us and how we have to be careful that our 'blackness' or lack of it doesn't offend people. Check out this poem recited by these three young African Americans - Marvin Hodges, Em Allison and Saidu Tejan Thomas. "Da Rules"
In other news, exam period is approaching so busy busy busy I am. I am still having an amazing time preparing for my South Korea trip and am in love with the new Mfbty album "wonderland".
If you do not know who Mfbty (my fans better than yours) are, they are a project group built up of 3 of the best, most famous, crazy skilled hip hop artists based in South Korea. They created Feel Ghood Music and are Bizzy, Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae (Tasha). Their sound comes from a variety of places and they have lived all over the world (including New Zealand, USA and of course South Korea). Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae, who is half African American, are married and the group is just amazeballs. The song I really recommend is ์ฌ๋๊ณผ ํํ (love & peace) featuring Jeon In Kwon - it has a smooth reggae Maxwell type beat and is the tale of pride in love causing loss, the pain that comes after and realising it is time to apologise.
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Los secretos de aprender otro idioma en pocas semanas
Hi all! Hope you have all had a lovely Easter. I recently came across an article on BBC Mundo (so it is in Spanish) giving advice about learning laguages. So if you are a Spanish speaker learning another language or Spanish is the language you are learning, give the article a read! Discover tips and possibly nuevo vocabulario!
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Discover Patagonia
Some of you may know that Patagonia (a region shared between Argentina and Chile) is like my dream location and I have done a lot of research on it for various school projects and personal interest etc.
An opportunity came up, for my Environmental Studies unit, to create a leaflet promoting an adventure trip for a protected area in the world and my first thought was obviously PATTY! It isn't the best quality leaflet (the majority was done at 7am after a night out - I am a fresher...leave me alone lol.) I may be biased, but I am in love with it and would want to go on this trip! One day, you will be mine Patagonia..
An opportunity came up, for my Environmental Studies unit, to create a leaflet promoting an adventure trip for a protected area in the world and my first thought was obviously PATTY! It isn't the best quality leaflet (the majority was done at 7am after a night out - I am a fresher...leave me alone lol.) I may be biased, but I am in love with it and would want to go on this trip! One day, you will be mine Patagonia..
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Manu Chao
In class one day, in 6th form, I had to do a 'fill the gap' and translation task of a song. That song was Clandestino by Manu Chao. A song about the life of illegal immigrants and the law against them. It was a nice different kind of eye opener song.
I then came across the same song a few months later and decided to Youtube the song...leading to coming across a stream of the album 'Clandestino' leading to me becoming addicted to that album. Now I have started to listen to 'Prรณxima Estaciรณn - Esperanza'.
I then came across the same song a few months later and decided to Youtube the song...leading to coming across a stream of the album 'Clandestino' leading to me becoming addicted to that album. Now I have started to listen to 'Prรณxima Estaciรณn - Esperanza'.
I really enjoy Chao's sound and have never heard anything like it. Chao is a French born musician of Spanish blood and sings in Spanish, French, Portuguese, English, Arabic, Galician and Wolof (yes he is multilingual) and he usually mixes languages in his songs.
His sound carries many genres from punk, rock and French chason to salsa, ska, reggae and Algerian raรฏ.
Chao's lyrics talk about immigration, love, living in ghettos and drugs, and often carry a left-wing message. [1]
One day I will have a proper sit down and listen to his songs whilst reading lyrics before I am nodding along to some nonsense, however I understand quite a lot of the contact as I learn Spanish, French, can understand some Portuguese and obviously know English. I really do recommend listening to his obras. It is somewhat refreshing.
The song of the moment, for me, is 'Me gustas tu':
Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tu. [I like airplanes, I like you]
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tu. [I like to travel, I like you]
Me gusta la maรฑana, me gustas tu. [I like the morning, I like you]
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tu. [I like the wind, I like you]
Me gusta soรฑar, me gustas tu. [I like to dream, I like you]
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tu. [I like the sea, I like you]
Que voy a hacer, je ne sais pas. [What am I to do, I don't know]
Que voy a hacer, je ne sais plus. [What am I going to do, I don't know anymore]
Que voy a hacer, je suis perdu. [What I'm gonna do, I'm lost]
Que horas son, mi corazรณn. [What time is it, my heart]
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tu. [I like to travel, I like you]
Me gusta la maรฑana, me gustas tu. [I like the morning, I like you]
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tu. [I like the wind, I like you]
Me gusta soรฑar, me gustas tu. [I like to dream, I like you]
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tu. [I like the sea, I like you]
Que voy a hacer, je ne sais pas. [What am I to do, I don't know]
Que voy a hacer, je ne sais plus. [What am I going to do, I don't know anymore]
Que voy a hacer, je suis perdu. [What I'm gonna do, I'm lost]
Que horas son, mi corazรณn. [What time is it, my heart]
As you must know, when learning languages music is a big help to become aware of vocabulary and phrases and modern terms and the language you are learning in general.
2 years!
Wow! I guess sometime this month is my 2 year outsideyourfrontdoor.blogspot.com anniversary. I am not sure the exact date but I am so happy that I was inspired to create this blog. It really helps me organise my thoughts and share them with all you readers and document so many amazing things I have come across and learnt.
Whether you have been reading for two years or two minutes, sincerly, thank you.
I hope I never forget to blog, thank you for reading ๐
Whether you have been reading for two years or two minutes, sincerly, thank you.
I hope I never forget to blog, thank you for reading ๐
Thursday, 5 March 2015
English is such a terrible language
And tumblr shows us evidence why on this buzzfeed article. Enjoy this read...or end up really frustrated at how some English grammar and spelling rules make like 0 sense
Sunday, 1 March 2015
SUMMER 2015
Getting away from my previous post (my lovely little rant if you missed it) Summer 2015 is going to be awesome. I am finally going to embark on the amazing adventure to *drumrolls* ๋ํ๋ฏผ๊ตญ (๋ง์ธ ๋ง์ธ) ใ
ใ
ใ
YES YOU GUESSED IT. KOREA2k15 is a thing! It is happening! I am going!
Tickets are booked and I am going with two unnies / older friends from my old Korean class. There will be so much to fit in to our 2 week itinerary. Visiting 5 of our Korean teachers, friends, penpals, monuments, landmarks, palaces. Having fun! it shall be mental. We are so excited and constantly thinking about this trip.
It is true and cannot be ignored - there are racism horror stories; but it is like that in so many places once you come out of like multicultural London for example (not to say it doesn't happen in London too) but doesn't mean everyone is the same. I have met several Koreans and all they are are just welcoming lovely Seouls (anyone get my Seoul / Soul joke hahahahaha...no...okay). I cannot wait especially to meet my ์น๊ตฌ์ฒ๋ผ ์ธ๋ ใ ใ ;)
More to come on this trip and you know this blog will be bumping in the summer time..though I am trying very hard now
Around this time last year was Spain, this summer will be Korea, next year I pray Spain again (maybe for a work placement God willing) and then where to next?!
I cannot remember posting my 'official' top 10 list but of where I want to go in some particular order:
Tickets are booked and I am going with two unnies / older friends from my old Korean class. There will be so much to fit in to our 2 week itinerary. Visiting 5 of our Korean teachers, friends, penpals, monuments, landmarks, palaces. Having fun! it shall be mental. We are so excited and constantly thinking about this trip.
It is true and cannot be ignored - there are racism horror stories; but it is like that in so many places once you come out of like multicultural London for example (not to say it doesn't happen in London too) but doesn't mean everyone is the same. I have met several Koreans and all they are are just welcoming lovely Seouls (anyone get my Seoul / Soul joke hahahahaha...no...okay). I cannot wait especially to meet my ์น๊ตฌ์ฒ๋ผ ์ธ๋ ใ ใ ;)
More to come on this trip and you know this blog will be bumping in the summer time..though I am trying very hard now
Around this time last year was Spain, this summer will be Korea, next year I pray Spain again (maybe for a work placement God willing) and then where to next?!
I cannot remember posting my 'official' top 10 list but of where I want to go in some particular order:
- Spain (Spain is only here cause I just always want to go but have already been 3 times before)
- Korea
- Argentina
- Chile
- Mexico
- Norway
- Italy
- Peru / Colombia
- Brazil
- Nicaragua
Welcome to MY culture: Rant
This is a different kind of post, a post of frustration for a change - I have already come to terms that I cannot win whatever I do but I am done trying to win - I am just doing me. I have come to 100% acceptance of who I am and only God and I know who that truly is.
What I mean (in preparation for this rant) I am so sick of people telling me who to be according to outwards appearance. If you have read any of my blog you can tell that 'Kaycey's culture' is about literally everything I am interested in and that includes the languages I learn and the countries I read about and cultures that I investigate. I try not to discriminate - I am interested in the world outside of each one of our front doors! I am a world person - and like to travel - I would go everywhere if it was up to me.
This all came from a conversation that I had today with two of my close friends (whom I love loads and will be traveling with this summer). We spoke about racism we may face when going to this certain country (two of us going are Asian and two of us are black) and racism in general. Quite a lot of emotion was brought out because of the unfairness and superficiality and ignorance and arrogance people from all over the world have to encounter; the constant stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination - just because of such a measly thing - because of our race. Races being different, which should be such a small irrelevant thing has become such a big thing in such a negative light because of this thing called racism. We're bloody made different for a reason - everyone is beautiful and special in different ways for a reason!- and I have never been able to understand how one race could be more valuable, more powerful and more high up in some sort of weird stupid hierarchy - what is the reason?!
I spoke to my friends about my experience of people always judging me because of my apparent personality and hobbies - "Are you even black?" "Why are you trying to be White / Asian / not be black". Just because I take an interest in languages and cultures people think I want to change my race. It is so annoying I am not defined or boxed in by my race. Under the skin we all look so similar! I am in love with Spain and Latin America EVIDENTLY but people only take notice of me learning an Asian language and because of that apparently I only like Asian guys too?! If anything I would want to be Latina (my love for Shakira is too deep) but I am happy being me! If I find someone attractive it is not because of their race - it is their everything. My own family hint at me how I am not black enough? What does that mean; no one has actually explained that to me?
Are they are hinting at stereotypes like me not wanting to smoke 'ganja' or go to bashment parties, or my inability to cook certain dishes, do certain hairstyles, dance certain dances? My friend in response to this said "There is more to being black than a few Caribbean stereotypes". I still don't get it! Please tell me how I could have 'interacted with my race' properly.
It is hard enough living in such a multicultural country. I was born and brought up here but I always get "yeah you are from London...but where are you FROM?!"
I just act according to my heart and not what is expected. I genuinely like a mix. I have friends from all over the world and I don't choose them as my friend because of where they are from - if we get on and have similar interests then bam! - friendship formed. I have an international heart. In my course people from the UK tend to hang out with each other and there is a little bit of segregation as the international students hang out together. But why is it like that? I was even mistaken as an international student several times because of me hanging out with the internationals.
To be honest, it is nonsense. I have friends from South America, Bulgaria, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, France, Hong Kong, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Guyana, Jamaica, Eritrea, Morocco, India, England and all over the world. Why is it every time I might take an interest in their culture I am suddenly 'trying to get away' from my heritage?
I admitted to them there have been times when I have found 'being black' tough but mainly due to my own insecurities. Whenever I'd go on holiday I would get darker and because of comments like "Wow! You are dark" said in such a negative way I hated going outside in summer in fear of becoming darker. How stupid and sad that is! My friend said in response to this 'The darker the berry the sweeter the juice'. Black people also compare their skin tones amongst themselves (and other races also do this aswell). 'Lighties' 'teamdarkskin' all of that. In my head from when I was young I was confused if being such a colour was such a bad thing. It is a thing with so many people that 'hair is beauty' - mines is a very tough short coily curly mess of an afro thing that I do not maintain well and does not grow so easily. India Arie wrote a song about all of this "I am not my hair, I am not my skin; I am a soul that lives within". "Dont judge me based my hair or my skin color but on who I am inside".
I mentioned to some friends how I have not in recent years had a black guy approach me (no I am not talking about those 40 year old uncles - I mean black guys in the same age category) and they told me that I was lying (because of a certain 'black' apparently attractive feature I might possess lol). Guys have their random preferences so I am not going to appeal to everyone and that is fair - but it was unfair to say that I filtered out black guys because of my apparent preferences. IT IS TOTALLY NOT LIKE THAT!
If I put on reggae or hip-hop or RnB it goes ignored. The second the language changes suddenly I hate being black? If I like a black guy no one cares. The second I mention liking a guy who is Asian for example "Yeah you like your Asian boys don't you!" I want to travel the WORLD instead of always going to the same Caribbean countries (which I love btw). Oh, suddenly now I hate and am ashamed of Jamaica? I made jerk chicken earlier this week and all I get is "oh what happened to the Asian food". Just because I like a mix.
God made us all in his perfect image, but some certain humans intervened and created the 'desired image' and so came the 'white supremacy'. This isn't a race rant or a history rant, this is a me rant so I will leave that part right there but remember 'WE ARE ALL AFRICAN' - WAKA WAKA (Shakira love too deep).
People from all different races are different and sooo soo beautiful regardless; however, society's flaws created so much of this racism crap. At the end of the day, I (finally) love who I am and am comfortable with myself. I hope for anyone who feels like they 'do not belong' that they remember that they do and are so important - so put spoons on your eyes and 'umm block out the haters'
What I mean (in preparation for this rant) I am so sick of people telling me who to be according to outwards appearance. If you have read any of my blog you can tell that 'Kaycey's culture' is about literally everything I am interested in and that includes the languages I learn and the countries I read about and cultures that I investigate. I try not to discriminate - I am interested in the world outside of each one of our front doors! I am a world person - and like to travel - I would go everywhere if it was up to me.
This all came from a conversation that I had today with two of my close friends (whom I love loads and will be traveling with this summer). We spoke about racism we may face when going to this certain country (two of us going are Asian and two of us are black) and racism in general. Quite a lot of emotion was brought out because of the unfairness and superficiality and ignorance and arrogance people from all over the world have to encounter; the constant stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination - just because of such a measly thing - because of our race. Races being different, which should be such a small irrelevant thing has become such a big thing in such a negative light because of this thing called racism. We're bloody made different for a reason - everyone is beautiful and special in different ways for a reason!- and I have never been able to understand how one race could be more valuable, more powerful and more high up in some sort of weird stupid hierarchy - what is the reason?!
I spoke to my friends about my experience of people always judging me because of my apparent personality and hobbies - "Are you even black?" "Why are you trying to be White / Asian / not be black". Just because I take an interest in languages and cultures people think I want to change my race. It is so annoying I am not defined or boxed in by my race. Under the skin we all look so similar! I am in love with Spain and Latin America EVIDENTLY but people only take notice of me learning an Asian language and because of that apparently I only like Asian guys too?! If anything I would want to be Latina (my love for Shakira is too deep) but I am happy being me! If I find someone attractive it is not because of their race - it is their everything. My own family hint at me how I am not black enough? What does that mean; no one has actually explained that to me?
Are they are hinting at stereotypes like me not wanting to smoke 'ganja' or go to bashment parties, or my inability to cook certain dishes, do certain hairstyles, dance certain dances? My friend in response to this said "There is more to being black than a few Caribbean stereotypes". I still don't get it! Please tell me how I could have 'interacted with my race' properly.
It is hard enough living in such a multicultural country. I was born and brought up here but I always get "yeah you are from London...but where are you FROM?!"
I just act according to my heart and not what is expected. I genuinely like a mix. I have friends from all over the world and I don't choose them as my friend because of where they are from - if we get on and have similar interests then bam! - friendship formed. I have an international heart. In my course people from the UK tend to hang out with each other and there is a little bit of segregation as the international students hang out together. But why is it like that? I was even mistaken as an international student several times because of me hanging out with the internationals.
To be honest, it is nonsense. I have friends from South America, Bulgaria, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, France, Hong Kong, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Guyana, Jamaica, Eritrea, Morocco, India, England and all over the world. Why is it every time I might take an interest in their culture I am suddenly 'trying to get away' from my heritage?
I admitted to them there have been times when I have found 'being black' tough but mainly due to my own insecurities. Whenever I'd go on holiday I would get darker and because of comments like "Wow! You are dark" said in such a negative way I hated going outside in summer in fear of becoming darker. How stupid and sad that is! My friend said in response to this 'The darker the berry the sweeter the juice'. Black people also compare their skin tones amongst themselves (and other races also do this aswell). 'Lighties' 'teamdarkskin' all of that. In my head from when I was young I was confused if being such a colour was such a bad thing. It is a thing with so many people that 'hair is beauty' - mines is a very tough short coily curly mess of an afro thing that I do not maintain well and does not grow so easily. India Arie wrote a song about all of this "I am not my hair, I am not my skin; I am a soul that lives within". "Dont judge me based my hair or my skin color but on who I am inside".
I mentioned to some friends how I have not in recent years had a black guy approach me (no I am not talking about those 40 year old uncles - I mean black guys in the same age category) and they told me that I was lying (because of a certain 'black' apparently attractive feature I might possess lol). Guys have their random preferences so I am not going to appeal to everyone and that is fair - but it was unfair to say that I filtered out black guys because of my apparent preferences. IT IS TOTALLY NOT LIKE THAT!
If I put on reggae or hip-hop or RnB it goes ignored. The second the language changes suddenly I hate being black? If I like a black guy no one cares. The second I mention liking a guy who is Asian for example "Yeah you like your Asian boys don't you!" I want to travel the WORLD instead of always going to the same Caribbean countries (which I love btw). Oh, suddenly now I hate and am ashamed of Jamaica? I made jerk chicken earlier this week and all I get is "oh what happened to the Asian food". Just because I like a mix.
God made us all in his perfect image, but some certain humans intervened and created the 'desired image' and so came the 'white supremacy'. This isn't a race rant or a history rant, this is a me rant so I will leave that part right there but remember 'WE ARE ALL AFRICAN' - WAKA WAKA (Shakira love too deep).
People from all different races are different and sooo soo beautiful regardless; however, society's flaws created so much of this racism crap. At the end of the day, I (finally) love who I am and am comfortable with myself. I hope for anyone who feels like they 'do not belong' that they remember that they do and are so important - so put spoons on your eyes and 'umm block out the haters'
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Happy New Year!!
Greetings loyal / new / wandering readers! I hope that the Winter break was enjoyed and peaceful for those who had a break and that 2015 will be good for you all!
I decided (NEW YEARS RESOLUTION...though January is almost over) I really have to dive into blogging again so I will be hopefully having minimum weekly posts and multiple updates coming soon as I have some time on my hands.
So here we go~~
I follow a really beautiful twitter page called viajerosblog on twitter (it means travelers blog) and my friend tells me I spam by retweeting my 'paradise porn' pictures. I can't help it! Check out the glorious pictures of various worldwide destinations they post!
I received another box filled of lovely Korean goodies from my amazing Korean friend - I realised I still have not shared what was in the first box and what I sent! (Major procrastination) so an update on the two coming up!
I mentioned a blog called 'fluentin3months' a few months ago on my 'Esperanto' post and recently bought his (Benny Lewis') book with the same name as the blog. I have not started reading yet but the book is 'Tips and techniques to help you learn any language'. It should be a good and helpful read!
I am loving my uni town and have settled really well here. I love my course (...so far), my Church, my Christian Union, my home away from home and the many wonderful friends I have met here. I went on trips to a lovely country mansion, the Isle of Jersey and to Brownsea Island I am still into Geography / language related things in my free time.
I often read 'BBCMundo' when reading the news, my 'Santa Biblia' to read beautiful translated Bible verses in the beautiful Spanish language;
I go on lovely nature walks through forests or on the beach,
I cook Korean and sometimes Mexican dishes and I am trying to keep up with my Korean TV shows music and Spanish films! French is going well as well.
I often read 'BBCMundo' when reading the news, my 'Santa Biblia' to read beautiful translated Bible verses in the beautiful Spanish language;
 |
| Yes, that is a selfie stick #ftw |
I go on lovely nature walks through forests or on the beach,
I cook Korean and sometimes Mexican dishes and I am trying to keep up with my Korean TV shows music and Spanish films! French is going well as well.
Plus, my room has lovely World Maps on the walls ;)
That is it for now. I hope 2015 is prosperous and excellent for you all. 2014 was a big lesson for me and I went through some radical changes last year. 2,500+ page views ↑ we go!~~
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