Chinese... I have learned the about 50 characters I have encountered so far.
But I just know the characters. I don't know their names and the names mean nothing to me. I mean... xiao? I suppose it means something. I have heard it. I don't know what it means. Or zai. Or ba. I think that might be eight. It might be something else, also. And it's possible it's not just ba, but bai or something else. And don't ask me about the tone. I wouldn't know. Could be third. Or not. (It is ba and the tone is first, which is what I meant, which means that I don't even know what "third tone" is... *sigh* Not good. :-D)
But I like Chinese. I want to learn it. I want to be able to read it and speak it and understand it.
Now, Arabic I don't like. I think it sounds ugly and the writing is stupid - and ugly - most people making notes in Arabic write like 3rd graders just learning to write cursive. Crude and ugly and uneven. My father had the world's most beautiful handwriting, and he is my ideal. I want to be able to write Arabic as my father would have written it, had he known how to write Arabic.
Now, I want to learn Arabic though. Because of two reasons. 1) I started learning it when I was about 15, and I would like to finish what I started, especially when it comes to languages and 2) I have serious problems with the Arabic part of Maltese, and it's easier to learn Arabic than Maltese. I seriously hope it will help me learn Maltese. If not, I'm going to be pretty angry and feel cheated.
Now, most of the reasons people give to why others should learn Arabic are uninteresting to me. I am not Muslim nor will I ever be. I am not planning on living or traveling in Arabic speaking countries. Now, I live in an area with predominantly Syriacs or Assyrians, who speak mostly Arabic or Aramaic (Syryoyo), and understanding them would be really nice... because I'm pretty sure they are saying nasty things about non-Syriacs, including me. It would be nice to be proven wrong about that.
That there is a lot of idioms in Arabic - there's a lot of idioms in every language. Duh.
That the grammar is easy and everything builds on core words, sure. Nice. But that's not a reason to learn a language.
Now, Korean I find very interesting. The writing is simple, easy, logical and looks nice. It sounds... odd. Unfamiliar. The sounds, the way of speaking, the language itself, is unfamiliar, and intriguing. I find it difficult to learn because I can't find a handle... I suppose it's just to parrot sentences until they start making sense, and that doesn't feel good to me.
But, but... too much procrastinating here, already. My 15 minutes pause has long passed :-D Back to studying.
But I just know the characters. I don't know their names and the names mean nothing to me. I mean... xiao? I suppose it means something. I have heard it. I don't know what it means. Or zai. Or ba. I think that might be eight. It might be something else, also. And it's possible it's not just ba, but bai or something else. And don't ask me about the tone. I wouldn't know. Could be third. Or not. (It is ba and the tone is first, which is what I meant, which means that I don't even know what "third tone" is... *sigh* Not good. :-D)
But I like Chinese. I want to learn it. I want to be able to read it and speak it and understand it.
Now, Arabic I don't like. I think it sounds ugly and the writing is stupid - and ugly - most people making notes in Arabic write like 3rd graders just learning to write cursive. Crude and ugly and uneven. My father had the world's most beautiful handwriting, and he is my ideal. I want to be able to write Arabic as my father would have written it, had he known how to write Arabic.
Now, I want to learn Arabic though. Because of two reasons. 1) I started learning it when I was about 15, and I would like to finish what I started, especially when it comes to languages and 2) I have serious problems with the Arabic part of Maltese, and it's easier to learn Arabic than Maltese. I seriously hope it will help me learn Maltese. If not, I'm going to be pretty angry and feel cheated.
Now, most of the reasons people give to why others should learn Arabic are uninteresting to me. I am not Muslim nor will I ever be. I am not planning on living or traveling in Arabic speaking countries. Now, I live in an area with predominantly Syriacs or Assyrians, who speak mostly Arabic or Aramaic (Syryoyo), and understanding them would be really nice... because I'm pretty sure they are saying nasty things about non-Syriacs, including me. It would be nice to be proven wrong about that.
That there is a lot of idioms in Arabic - there's a lot of idioms in every language. Duh.
That the grammar is easy and everything builds on core words, sure. Nice. But that's not a reason to learn a language.
Now, Korean I find very interesting. The writing is simple, easy, logical and looks nice. It sounds... odd. Unfamiliar. The sounds, the way of speaking, the language itself, is unfamiliar, and intriguing. I find it difficult to learn because I can't find a handle... I suppose it's just to parrot sentences until they start making sense, and that doesn't feel good to me.
But, but... too much procrastinating here, already. My 15 minutes pause has long passed :-D Back to studying.
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