Happy New Year!!!

[heleentje]

Also, present time, because my family is weird and only gives presents at new year's eve:

Lots of DVD's:
- Kung-fu Panda
- WALL-E
- Ice Age (Chinese version, I can't believe they managed to track those down!)
- Lion King (Also Chinese version)

Also:
- New iPod, 'cause my old one decided to give out on me
- WALL-E mug to go with the DVD ^^
- New pencil and marker, I needed them desperately

Probably getting more tomorrow, but it won't be as interesting.

Happy new year to all of you!

Comments

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Wow...that sounds awesome. ^o^

Good thing I am bilingual, so I don't have to learn pronunciation
Good thing that your university is one of the best. ^^
It would be even harder, I'd assume, if your university wasn't ranked the best in that regard.

GIVE US. WHERE IS IT?!

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

You're bilingual? Awesome! (Which languages?)

Oh definitely, there's another university in Belgium that teaches the same classes, but they're not as good.

THERE MUST BE MONEY! OURS!

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Yes, I sure am. And thanks. ^^
English and Chinese, actually. You probably would never guess that from the conversation. XDDD

Hmm...interesting.
I do think that education does really matter when you're learning anything. *lives in America so knows of the talent in Europe as opposed to the...people here*

I forgot how much money was given out for the Nobel Prize though. Do you remember the number?

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Nope, never would've guessed ;) When did you start learning them? From birth or later on?

(We sure learn enough languages here, Chinese is my 8th, to be perfectly honest ^^)

A lot... don't know how much but definitely enough for both of us ^^

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Not that early, I think. I was sent to language school early on, so that's how I learned the language {so I'm not sure how much that makes me bilingual}

(Wow...8th?! So are you fluent in the others? That's...amazing...o__o)

I remember that it was just 1 million. XD

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

I think it does... Most people here count themselves as multilingual once htey know more than one language.

I'm not fluent in all of them ^^ I'm fluent in three (Dutch, English, French), have some knowledge of three others (Spanish, German, Chinese) and I know how to understand the last two (Latin and Greek, but those might not actually count)

1 million euro or dollar? It's still enough though ^^

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Hmm...that's true, I guess. I'm almost fluent in Chinese in terms of speaking since I learned it when I was young, but I can't really comprehend a lot. =__=;;

Oh, I see. That's awesome. ^^

Dollars, probably. Or Euro. I dont' really remember.

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Is your family from China or...?

Heh, I usually qualify 'being fluent in a language' as 'being able to write an interesting story in it'. And my Chinese definitely isn't at that level yet xD Writing is my weakest point, actually, I don't have a good memory for characters.

Euros preferably ;) Too lazy to look it up though

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

My immediate family isn't from China. XD

Oh, wow, that's an interesting criterion. <3~~~!
Same here. The characters are hard to memorize.

Same here. Euros are better than the US dollar.

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Sorry, totally late reply :/

So, which part of your family is? And where are they from? (If you want to tell, of course. Just curious ^^)

My main problem is pronunciation really (especially for English and French) I just don't get to actually speak other languages as much as I'd like to :(

And they're worth more right now ^^

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

It's totally okay! ^o^

I'd like to leave it at "It's complicated" since part of my family is from Asia {probably China, maybe?} and part of my family is from the Netherlands (I think). So I'm not really sure. ^^''

Oh, ah, ha, yes, I have that problem as well. I also have a problem with learning new grammar too (especially for formal situations) since I'm usually used to hearing more casual {e.g. "Tu" vs "Vous" in French.}

That's very true. It's 10 million Swedish Kroner, but I'm not sure how much that is. o__o

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a complicated history, you've really got international genes ^^
And the Netherlands? If you ever go there, make sure to pay a visit to the country a bit more to the south ;)

English is 'till thusfar the only language I've come across that doesn't have a formal form, it actually confused me so much when I started learning it (and still kinda does, to be honest)

It sounds like a lot ^^ Which is good :p

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

That is sure true. ^^
I sure will. =D That's your country, right? ;D

Formal form? That is true. It certainly is a weird language, with a lot of exceptions here and there. {that shouldn't be much of a problem later. ^^}

Yep! XD

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Yup, good 'ol Belgium ^^ Come visit us, it's close by!
Every language is weird xD I got used to it. (Tip: Don't try to leanr Dutch unless you're a masochist. English and Chinese are both ridiculously simple in comparison)

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure, I will. >D Which city should I go to first in Belgium?
That is sure true. xD {Really? Wow...that sounds like Dutch is really hard to learn. x.x English = simple sound very very scary. x.x But thanks for the tip. =D}

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Huh, tough question. Antwerp and Ghent are closest to the Dutch border (but that doesn't mean much), Brussels is the capital... Heh, I live inbetween Antwerp and Brussels ^^
Dutch and English resemble each other quite a bit, but I still think Dutch is harder to learn. We have a lot of weird rules and particles that are hard to use, but invaluable when you want to construct a correct sentence (bit like 了 in Chinese)

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...oh, I see. ^^
Well, which place would have more of the culture preserved? I'd like to see remnants of history when I go to cities. ^^

I've heard that before, and that sounds...like it's really weird. @__@
{Yep, but then you can avoid 了 by using something more informal like the word for tooth with a mouth before it. can't type Chinese on my computer. ^^''}

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I think you'd be best off with Ghent or Bruges then.

You mean 呀? Heh, I have no idea how to use it, and I don't think we're allowed to either xD; We need to learn the correct way and all that...

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Sorry for replying so late. ^^''
My e-mail box got spammed so I didn't realize you replied. ^^

Oh, okay, I'll keep that in mind, and if I ever go, I'll tell you. =D

Yep, that's exactly the word I mean.
It...sometimes signifies annoyance. ^^''
So you'd probably be better off not using it. I know how to express annoyance alright in Chinese. It often annoys others even. XD;;;

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

Hee, no problem ^^

Don't forget! :p

Oh, that's interesting to know! I'll have to pay attention to my Chinese friends then, see if they ever use it (if it's directed at me I'll at least know that I'm being annoying :p)

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

I will surely not! >D

However, that word can also be used in a non-annoying way, so don't always think that you're annoying. XD;;

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

I'll keep that in mind then ;) And when our teachers start doing it I can at least tell everyone to shut up ^^

[johanaire.livejournal.com]

Ah, ha, but then again, probably you can use it differently, so I'd still keep that in mind if I were you. ^^

[heleentje.livejournal.com]

I will! I could always ask them, of course, but maybe that's a bit blunt ^^