English 101

Eleven Things Every Forienger

Should Know About American English.

[Not British.]

1. "THE" is actually pronounced "DA" [DUH].

2. Swearing/cursing does NOT make you look cool. [Trust me.]

3. Don't worry about your spelling. Not many of us can spell either.

4. No one uses the term "Mum" on this side of the waters.

5. "Ain't" IS a word; they just won't LET you say it.

6. A "Coke" is a brand, not a noun.

7. Some words are singular and plurl at the same time: Moose are Moose, Fish are Fish, Deer are Deer.

8. The term: "Mashed Potatoes", isn't just a food.

9. Even some native English speakers are hard to understand.

10. "Big Pimpin'" is verb. [Ex: I big pimpin', you big pimpin', he/she/it big pimpin'.]

11. "Bling-Bling" 1998-2003. Let it Rest In Peace.

My English

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English 10% Dixie 10% Yankee 5% Upper Midwestern 0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Happy Dia De Los...

Uh, how do you say "Easter" in spanish?

Whoops.

So it's late and I wanted to write an Easter post. [Ok, so it isn't really that late, but I have to get up in 6 hours.]

I began my assignment: The completion of the book "1984." BORESVILLE. I can only hope it gets better in the future. Right now it just goes on and on about this guy's dictoritative daily life as a Record filer. BoO.

So Easter was great. I have a story to tell about this guy Kenny, but I don't have time right now.

Oh and there's one more thing. I don't believe in the easter bunny. I didn't see no easter bunny yesterday when I was up stuffing colorful plastic eggs with candy.

EASTER BUNNY = HOAX!

(>'.')><('.'<)

[]D [] []V[] []D

Hmm, there is another one of these, but I can't remember it.

You people that actually read this should be proud of me. I have done 2 in a row. That is a miracle in my eyes. Well it has come and gone. As soon as this week begins I will probably go back to my old ways. It's the circle of Life.

The Great Diente Mystery

I finally got rid of my earaches! I hope at least. The tooth has been taken care of, and I now have a silver tooth D:

So, for the past, I don't know how long, I have been trying to figure out where my Dentist's origins are.

He has one of the thickest accents ever [Well not so bad I guess, but you can tell he's foreign] and I have been puzzled trying to figure out from where.

Anyone else wouldn't care less about the matter, but knowing me, the matter is a thorn in my side.

I mean really. Who cares where their dentist is from?--Someone who is planning to major in Foreign languages and Linguistics, that's who.

So anyway, I have been putting 2 and 2 together, and this is what I got:

He is light skin.
Brown hair.
THICK ACCENT.
FORIEGN.

Ok, so these aren't the best, but they have something.

His dental assistant has the accent too.

More Facts!

He has an extremely hairy chest.. Gross, and that makes me think of Italy. How do I know about the chest? This guy is right in my face when he is digging for gold in my gum line all the time. How could you NOT see it?

I seriously thought he was from Greece for the longest time. [Not because of the hair of course.]

Then I thought maybe he was from a Spanish speaking country. Remember that Juan Franco thing? Well, this could have been the same case.

His last name is Scherer, so that was cancelled out.

What kind of last name is Scherer? Who knows!

I heard him talking on the phone again, and don't get me wrong, I am not an eavesdropper, I just heard him from my chair, and he talked in a way I definately couldn't understand. I figured it was a European language for sure.

It kinda reminded me about Pastel, and when he talks in Hungarian. Was he Hungarian? Do Hungarians have hairy chests? Lol Hope not ;)

Maybe not Hungary. It is impossible.

It wasn't until today where I got my biggest lead.

"I once worked with a Sri Lankan, and a Filippino."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, that was when I was living in Qatar."

Now this was the converstion between a dentist assistant, and my dentist. It was so weird because they were digging in my mouth talking about their past jobs.

It was the dental assistant who said this.. and then she said,

"I also worked with a lady from Romania," and then he got really intrested. "Really?" He said.

"Yeah! But she was so quiet. I thought to myself, 'she is nothing like the guy I know from back home!'"

So, he is from Romania.

Case Closed.

I think I want to go get me a cup of coffee.

Crackers!

Yum, I ate some delicious crackers today.

Can crackers be delicious?

So, I am so sore from Friday night. It was after the football game, and some friends and I decided to be stupid and race up and down the aisles of the Room. I don't think I could remember the last time I ran that fast. I was on the tips of my toes as I sprinted up and back down the rows. I wasn't exhausted either. It wasn't a hard sprint, but later I started to feel it.

Like today.

I didn't feel anything yesterday. Saturday. I think it was a nice day yesterday. I was at home, and I talked to Pastel for about 1987235060348572034 years.

But oooh, this morning.

I felt it.

I was so sore. I went to sleep on the floor by accident, and then I woke up in the middle of the night, and went to bed. When I got up this morning, my legs and abs, felt like they were bleeding.

OH the agony!

It was difficult to laugh, and I love to do that, so you know how it must have felt.

I went to Church today, of course, and I had a nice time. After, I went to 'Ryan's' with the family and a friend of the family. I ate some good food :D

When I got home, all I wanted to do was lay down. I think I looked pregnant again, because my stomach was sticking out so far. I thought it was going to explode.

PASTEL. Again. Today I learned my Hungarian numbers :D

1: Edy
2: Kettő
3: Harom
4: Negy
5: Öt
6: Hat
7: Hét
8: Nyolc
9: Kilenc
10. Tiz
11. Tizenegy
12.Tizenketto
13. Tizenhárom
14. Tizennégy
15. Tizenöt
16. Tizenhat
17. Tizenhét
18. Tizennyolc
19. Tizenkilenc
20. Húsz
21. Huszonegy
30. Harminc
31. Harmincegy
40. Negyven
50. Ötven
60. Hatvan
70. Hetven
80. Nyolcvan
90. Kilencven
100. Szaz

Now I just have to memorize them :D

This week went by so fast! It is already Monday again. Then it will be next Monday. Then Christmas. You just wait. See? It is already October! Today is the last day of September.

Saturday, I felt so go about myself. I worked on my Spanish. I hadn't done that in a long time, so I decided to work some, and it was worth it.

Mentirosa

It was SO HOT today! I thought I was melting!

I was so exhausted by the end of the day, I couldn't even complain [and I do a lot of that :D].

It amazes me how hot the sun can ACTUALLY get.

There is not too much to talk about right now. I am up late, and I need to finish some stuff. I went to sleep not long after I got in today. I was so tired. I woke up about 10 mins ago, and then remembered this.

I learned that word. 'Mentirosa' - Liar this past weekend. Someone called me that. Haha.

I never knew that word. I have always saying "No es verdad," or "No tienes razon." This is so much easier.

It felt like I was hungry all day today. My stomach was growling and having fits. It was weird.

Sunmilk

Yet, another sleepless night because of that wretched tooth of mine. I went to sleep late, AS USUAL, and woke up merely an hour later with that nasty toothache. I took an Alieve and went back to sleep. I can't stand loosing sleep over this. It is becoming more frequent too.

We planned to have our track session at 6 today, since yesterday, it was so crowded. We ended up leaving at the exact same time we left yesterday. What a waste getting up that early.

No work tomorrow. I just found out it is going to be raining again! Jeez, I hate this. Some people might even me because on some days I work, and on others I don't but I don't like it because you know what no work means.. No money. No tengo dinero ahora mismo. Which is really SAD.

So like you know, I stayed home today, and slept a little bit. I was so tired because I didn't get that much sleep last night. But then again, what's new?

My house is so dirty, and the laundry isn't done. I am going to go do some clothes in a few minutes: that means, washing, folding, drying, and putting away. All those clothes are piling up in my bathroom! I'm telling you, the Summer can make you pretty lazy. Notice I said YOU, and not me, because I am lazy 24/7.

I talked with my friend Peter a long time today. It was so funny because he got an all-over sunburn, and where he is from, they call sunscreen sun-milk.

I thought that was the funniest thing.

He was telling me how he put on his sun milk. It sounds a little funky to me.

In the mist of our conversation, I asked him if he wanted to learn some Spanish. He already knows some, and I thought he would've like to know some more. I ended up giving him a beginner's lesson! I don't think either one of us intended for it to be that long.

Later, I asked him If I could learn some Hungarian. (He's originally from Hungary.) So he taught me some things. I never thought one day I would learn Hungarian! I like it.. it reminds me of Russian, and I have always wanted to learn that for some weird reason.

Here's some Hungarian Pronunciation:

g is always hard as in 'gun', never soft as in 'gem'
r is rolled off the tongue, though not really trilled
t is pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the teeth (dental)

c is pronounced like the ts in 'bats'

cs is the English ch as in 'check'

gy is one sound pronounced like dy, or the d in 'adulation'

j, ly are both pronounced as y like 'yes'

ny is pronounced like the Spanish ñ and like the ni in the English word 'onion'

s Be careful! This is always pronounced like sh as in 'shun' and 'ship'

sz like a regular English s as in 'sell', never pronounced as a z like 'rose'

ty a soft t sound, pronounced much as it looks; say 'at your' fast

zs like the s in 'pleasure'

The letters q, w, x, y are not Hungarian and appear only in foreign words or in some family names. The English sound /j/ as in 'jet' appears in foreign words and is spelled dzs in Hungarian.

Note: Double consonants are pronounced long, like the final and initial /k/ sound in 'book-case'. When a double consonant occurs at the end of a word, try to linger on the sound slightly. With consonants like gy, ny, ty, sz etc. only the first letter of the cluster is doubled (ssz, ggy, etc.)

a hard to describe, but rather like the sound in 'awe' and the British 'hot'

á a very open sound, between the a in 'matter' and the a in (American) 'father'

e the sound in 'set' and 'bed'

é Like the sound in 'way' but with the back of the tongue higher in the mouth

i not quite as short as the sound in 'sit', more like the short ee in 'feet' and 'meet'

í a long ee as in 'feed' and 'bleed'

o like the sound in 'stole' and 'sold'

ó a long o, as in 'rogue' and 'rode'

u a short oo as in 'boot'

ú a long oo as in 'food' and 'cool'

ö as in German ö, say French 'peu' and 'le'

o" a longer version of ö, like German 'schön' (Note: o" really looks like an o with a quotation mark or double acute accent on top, but is represented here with a quote next to it)

ü like German ü and French u as in 'début'. English speakers, round lips as if to say o but say ee

u" a longer version of ü (Note: like o", written with double accent on top, but represented here with a quote next to it)

Wow, I watched that movie "Final Destination 2." I've never seen any of those. They are ok. A little weird I'd say. What's the point of killing off all the characters? Whoops! Did I just say that? My bad. Don't read if you haven't seen it! I think that warning was a little late. Well, that is the only movie I watched today. Surprising isn't it? I know.

Speed Bumps.

Ah! What a day. It was pretty good.

I went to Walgreens this morning, because I needed some stuff for the house. It was so hot! I don't know the actual temperature, but, I was sweating just sitting in the car! I was so glad to get in the store.. it was nice and cool, I didn't want to leave.

I cleaned a little today. Once again though, I got too lazy to finish it. I ended up taking a nap! So sad.

I woke up about 2 hours later. "The Mummy" was on the screen. Is that a good movie? I remember when that came out. You can tell that is fake. Not even scary one bit.

Yeah, I ended up sleeping through half of it. Whoops.

I think there might be a bug going around on MSN messenger. Just saying. Be careful.

I was planning on seeing "The Scorpian King" but, I was out when it came on. I came back, and I had forgotten all about it.

YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY: A Pizza Hut P'zone. Those are too good. So filling! They beat out the Hippos by a mile stone!

The abundantly stuffed P’Zone Pizza fuels you up and dares you to eat it all. The P’Zone Pizza weighs in at more than a pound and has savory toppings and cheese sealed inside a folded-over 12-inch pizza crust. Served with a side of marinara sauce.

That thing was so good. I could only eat half of it. It was just so savory and delicious. I advise you get the Pepperoni like me. SO GOOD.

Right now, I am listening to "Dakishimetai" by K. It is such a great song, and he sings the famous "Only Human" song that came on when you entered my page. It is so great. I love his voice and his music.

After dinner, I went to the park. It was getting late, and the Mosquitos were attacking me so bad. Eating me alive!

My hermana and I thought of this: You know you're fat when: You are walking, and you can't make it over the speed bump. It was so sad. I was too full to make it over.

I'm going to try to go to sleep early tonight, because I am going to have some company tomorrow. They are going to be coming in early. Believe it or not, 4:30 to 5:00 a.m they are going to ARRIVE. Of course, I have to be up the greet them. Did I spell greet right? It looks weird to me. I hate when that happens. I forget how to spell simple words like "greet." That still looks weird. It isn't "great" because that is a whole different word. Weird.

Which reminds me.

I might be going into Italian soon.

I am a little excited. It will be my fourth language! Once I get to Chapter 18 in my Japanese lesson book, I am going to start Italian. It won't be as hard as some completely random foreign language like.. I don't know.. Serbian. Some people don't even know where that is. Sad. I could Tell you where most countries are, and their capitals. That is just something I remember.

My best quality would be memory. I might not remember little things like when it's time to take the cookies out of the oven, or when the tv movie is coming on, but for some reason, I remember weird things like, the location of Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Strange.

Anyway, like I was saying. It won't be as hard to learn because it is a lot like Spanish. Not too much, but enough for me to get around a little bit without even knowing a lick of Italian.

And.

I wanna see what's so romantic about it.

People say that Italian is a romantic language.

Tropical Tango

Ahh, man.

I got up at the usual 6:50, and I lasted all day! That never happens!

I went to sleep at around 1 a.m.

Last night was another one of those nights. Weird toothaches at 4 a.m. You know, I am really getting tired of this. I woke up in the middle of a dream again. This time I was doing Kung Fu. Maybe it was from all those movies I watched last week. Anyway, it is becoming a real bother because they might start to become uncontrollable, and then that is when a doctor/dentist (which ever happens first) gets involved. Remember the heart problems? Yeah.



What were the contents of today?

To tell you the truth I can't remember. Is that bad? Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I didn't get enough sleep as usual.

I did get a nice morning exercise and breakfast like always. HIPPO TIME! Yes, and I remembered the camera this time, so you can see.




I even took a picture of the smoothie, but I was almost finished. It was a "Tropical Tango." It was good, as usual.

I did a little language exploring today. That was only because a friend (Peter) asked me to learn some Hungarian.

Now, Hungarian is little bit far away from what I am used to, but you know me, I am not afraid to take any challenge.

I learned one thing. Ok, I learned and REMEBERED one thing. "Köszönöm" which means Thank you in Hungarian. It is easy to prounouce. "KA" as in "Call" "SZO" is pronounced like the "sa" in "SAW." Then lastly, the "NOM" is the same as in "VietNAM" Simple. Long story short, the O's sond like long a's.

我的名字是 Leah

The above text says "My name is Leah" in Chinese.

"Oh Leah! You know Chinese too!? You are just amazing!"

I know.

However, I do not know Chinese. I have a buddy that is trying desprately to teach me, but he did get a little successful today.

"Ni Hao" Means Hello. I already knew that though. He was in awe. He thinks I am just so smart. Lol.

Wo de ming zi shi..
My name is..
Ni jiao shen mo ming zi?
What is your name?

I always thought it was hard. I guess it is not. I think it is just the pronounciation. The sentence structure doesn't look that complicated. That is the thing with me and languages. I can read it sure, but I just need to know how to pronounce it. I could go 5 years learning a language, and end up pronouncing everything wrong. There would be no use for it. I asked Lee what was the pronounciation for the letters. He told me "A" like in "Bus". Weird, I know, but Chinese is a funky little language. I think that along with French go hand in hand.

I just so happened to learn a little bit more French today, only this time, it is more in depth:

Bonjour - Hello. Traditional Phrase. Used in America as well as Disney's Beauty and The Beast.
Pronounciation: Like BOWL without the "L". PLUS SHORE.

Comment t'appelles-tu? - What is your name? One of the very first French phrases I learned.
Pronounciation: Como (Like in Spanish) PLUS the "TA" in "TOT" PLUS "Pale" PLUS "TOO" from "tooth."

Je m'appelle.. - My name is.. Great way to trick people into thinking you speak French.
Pronounciation: A combined J+Z+E sound PLUS "MA" in "MOP" PLUS "PALE" again.

Et Toi? - And You? Was so easy to learn because it looks a lot like the Spanish "Y Tu?" They both mean the same thing. Things like that make this job so easy.
Pronounciation: E like in "E.T" PLUS "Too" like in "tooth" again PLUS "A" in "TOT"

I learned a smidget more, but I don't feel like putting the rest. I did a lot more today than that.

I got a complement on my piano playing tonight. I play for my church, and I have been playing there for a few months now. I am suprised someone said anything. I mean, yeah, I am an ok player. I am not perfect or anything. I play by music better than I do by ear, AND I have good days, and bad days, but I guess this was a good day, because they were really REALLY impressed.

"Wind of Life" is coming along. I have had it for over a year, and I just started playing it less than a month ago, and now.. I am almost to the third page. Not bad for a person who is learning 4 songs at one time, and who taught themselves how to play piano.

Yeah that's right, I taught myself. My mother took piano classes when she was younger, but at the time when I wanted to learn when I was younger, she didn't feel like teaching me. I see where I got my laziness from!

So I took this cheap $50 keyboard we bought off of some old couple, and taught myself, starting with "Middle C."

Afterwards, I hunted down some easy sheet music for me to read, and gradually I went from simple C chords to more complex items like I don't know.. Bethoveen? Pachelbel?



I am currently working on "Only Human" by K, "Waltz of Chihiro" by Joe Hisaishi, "Wind Forest" by Joe Hisaishi, and "Wind of Life" by Joe Hisaishi. You can find all of these samples at Youtube.com, or go listen to my first internet attempt at playing on my Personal YouTube

All are amazing pieces, and I hope I learn them soon!

If you have any specific pieces you would like to hear played, by me, don't be shy to ask! You can send me copies, or just send me a name of what you would like to hear played.

I just got another complement on my blog. "I love your blog! It is a great way to express yourself!"

Thanks, I know.

I give her an A+

OH! There is some new music for my page in the making. I know you probably DON'T like what I have now, and there is a pretty good chance you are not going to like what I put up. Lol. This stuff is MY music. It's not like it will make your ears bleed or anything.

It is so late here. I have been doing this for over 2 hours. I quit and chatted for a while, but now I am back, and trying to fix things; I need to do so much, like fix my counter at the bottom of the page, change the song, and ningun otra cosas.

I also did some spanish today. I haven't practiced spanish in so long; Japanese has been stingey with all my time, so I haven't been able to do the other one. I had a bit of conversation in spanish today. It made me remember how much I still had left to go! But I managed. She didn't speak too quickly. Right now I am on ClassZone practicing my spanish. Free lessons if anyone wants to go!

I think they also have French, and German. I don't do German. Their spelling is Crazeh.

I learned a bit of French today..

I have a MySpace. Yes I know, it is a shock. Oo, I am slick. I just embedded my MySpace url into that word Shock.

You know, I hope this blog won't be one of those things that you get started, and then just forget about. I do that quite often. I like this. I want to keep the juices flowing.

Deary me, I almost forgot. I've got Japanese flashcards to practice. Is it too late?

Seeing as though one of my siblings speaks a dab of French, today I "stumbled" across a video on YouTube that teaches French. Should I learn it? Or should I NOT learn it. Hmm..

Anyway, I learned about 2 or 3 words including: J', wee, merci, madame, c'est. Ok ok, I admit. I knew a few of those already.

Just because I learned them doesn't mean I will remember them. OI!