I’m losing my proficiency in my languages. I realised that I have to think a bit harder when reaching for a complex Swahili word nowadays and, as for Somali, that is 30% gone. Four years in a strange place does that to you. My English has also been affected; somewhere along the way, I gave up and began freely speaking the local variety they speak here and, somehow, the fine line between my spoken Manglish grammar and English grammar got significantly blurred. Oh they’re going to hate me when I go to London…
On a related note, I decided that I was going to learn German and Italian!
As soon as I first get around to opening that Arabic phrasebook I bought two years ago…
I’m jealous that you have a proficiency for languages. I do not.
Most Kenyans, as you well know, speak 2 – 3 languages so it wasn’t too hard to pick up an additional one while here. I know someone who speaks fluent Spanish, Irish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Esperanto in addition to English, and is now picking up German and Catalan. Now THAT’S a polyglot!
I am still upset that you gave up on French so no comment here
*M*
I’ll take up French when you master Swahili. Deal?
DEAL
You don’t know what you’re in for, Mo…
Oh, dear…
i know this girl who has got some kind of pseudo polyglot thing going. she’s good at learning ACCENTS. And she gets them so spot on, that you’d think she knows the language!! Then she just learns a few random words in the said language, strings them together in-accent and you’d swear she’s speaking the language. it’s hilarious!! it’s even worse when poeple around her are oo-ing and aa-ing at her mastery of foregn language, and somebody who actually SPEAKS the said language is staring her down trying to kill her with the eyes…
Heey dude,
I answered your question over on my site and dude the level of insight in your question…..golf clap my friend, golf clap:
http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/1193/where-am-i-going-to-spend-eternity-my-favourite-website-and-my-favourite-movie/
(Crystal) Hahaha, that seems like a wonderful ’skill’ to have. I can just imagine how much fun she has with it.