Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I can barely wait for Shakira's new single... let alone her album.

*breathes* That's okay... good things are worth waiting for... especially for time periods like say, 4 years... I'll be okay...

Hmm, apparently that anxiousness translated to some... extra informacion personal on my Spanish test. I wonder what Antonio would say.

Short write-up on some personal information... name, nationality, languages, home phone, mobile phone number, address, profession, email etc.

Yo me llamo Constance Lim, soy Singapurense. Hablo ingles, chino y un poco espanol, soy estudiante, estudio Teatro y Psicologia. (closest I can find for Applied Drama and Psychology, here it is Theatre and Psychology)

So far so good....

Until Spanish started taking the form of English.

Mi direccion es ... calle ... bloque ... #...

Mi numero de telefono es 6*******, telefono movil es 8*******.

Mi correo electronico es ... @hotmail.com.


Just takes a little concentration and common sense to figure this out.

I wonder how I'll fare. Tsk. I wonder what my classmates wrote. Let's just say everyone was really unprepared.

I still can't believe I wrote something for the "Etc." part of the question.

Me gusta musica latina, porque Shakira es la mejor cantante.

(very rudimentary Spanish, but you have to start somewhere, right? besides, it is personal information... made public)

So... if we were to go with the direct translation, it would be "I like latin music, because Shakira is the best singer"

Praise the Lord! I've mastered a very small portion of the vast language!

Am really starting to love Spanish class beyond Spanish itself. At least the people I sit near to ;)

Oh gosh I think we're so gonna remember each other for freezing in Spanish class, laughing at our incompetence in catching the voice recordings, laughing at each other, trying to help each other out and usually ending up nowhere and getting scolded by Antonio for not asking him in the first place, watch each other get sleepy (class is in the evening), making the most noise in class, then ranting after class and getting to know more about other schools in SP.

Lovely even distribution, we've got people from every school.

Sucks to think we'd only be seeing each other for 2 sems.

Oh well...


English is somehow identical to Spanish. It's strange how I love English as a language, but sometimes all the rules just throw me off and I can't be bothered by the linguistical gymnastics, and I end up thinking "It's not gonna matter unless I actually study it in uni. End of story", yet at other random times, say a hot afternoon, I'd be pondering

"If I know today, what I had known yesterday..."

"If I had known today, what I knew yesterday..."

"If I knew today, what I have known yesterday..."

Shit, I can't remember the right combination. So tell me, if you've read the book and have a photographic memory or happen to have a stronger basis in grammar than I do.


Okay, so English is like having a usual pb and j sandwich, but Spanish is like having it with the condiments on the outside.

Very foreign and exotic, well duh.

It's exciting to get your fingers sticky, but at other times it's frustrating.

For example, por ejemplo,

English: What is the email address of The Sun?

Spanish: Que direccion de correo electronico tiene El Sol?

Direct translation: What email address it has The Sun?

See? (sans marks and upside-down question marks)

It is very tempting to write it as "Que tiene correo electronico de El Sol?"

It would probably confuse a Spanish speaker, just like how the direct translation makes us think of how foreigners are delightfully inadequate in the ways of English, you can actually tell there are quirks in their speech.

I don't have much longer to rely on direct translation.

On the other hand, I'm so glad all that time of listening to Shakira and noting the similarities between English and Spanish in her lyrics paid off. So yeah, I'm not entirely clueless. That's how I can roughly understand what Antonio's saying.


Some of us take Spanish for the practicality.

I just enjoy the language.

It's a world beyond mine, one that is possibly more romantic, passionate and dramatic. There's so much imagery so clearly expressed, that it'd sound corny in English, hence the poetry in my writing. It is influenced by something I don't exactly understand. I'm a stranger sitting tentatively in bated breath, on my host's couch.

Here I go again.

It is perhaps the most beautiful cultural clash I've experienced.

So until I'm trilingual, barely (it'd be Chinese that I'll be struggling with), I'd like to document this journey to the best of my ability.


As for students taking Spanish as a foreign language,

if you have the patience, this is for you:

http://desdecuba.com/generaciony/

and in ingles,

http://desdecuba.com/generationy/

With exposure, you'll get the hang of it. Afterall, it is identical to English.


Helps to learn through song too.

http://www.shakiramedia.com/video/detail/862

Estoy Aqui. That's where I learnt how to say "I'm here". So don't be lost when Antonio asks you if you know the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_oBpmiJ7tc&feature=related

Inevitable. With English translation, and a live performance. Listenable singers are those with the vocal chops. Preferably multi-talented too.

There will be words that we've already learnt.


Who would I see at the end of our 2 semesters?

identity-finder, half-thinker, thought-translater, life-pacer, adversary-fighter, grown-wiser, subtle-humour, nail-biter, indulgent-appreciator, pragmatic-dreamer, irony-murdered, unglamourous-puss, rocket-bunny

october 1st, sixteen, libran, singapore, tutor, christian, student, daughter, sister, friend, writer, artist, teenager, life, love

corny in a paradigm where sense and non sequiturs go together, taking it in like vanilla ice cream on a banana split, or sand on a boot. whichever goes.

Adelina Anjelica Cassandra Clarissa Daniel Esther E-von Geraldine Hairil HongWei Huiyi Jasmin Jasmine Jay Joseph Kenneth Marlyna Mythili Nadrah Samuel Sharon Sisi Shawn Stephanie Szeyuan Tivona YongQuan SHAKIRA Bare Feet JSS ELDDS

intricate-archiver

credit-or