Seeing Cyrillic

Stole this pic from my older sister's blog.  I thought it was cool how it looks like Bulgarian in the reflection: NORTH > НТЯОИ.  Not saying it means anything, just looks like Cyrillic.

The Sounds of Danish

I've been all into the show Borgen lately, which is a Danish political drama.  This evening while catching up on an episode my mom said, "That's a very unpleasant language.  It sounds like they're about to throw up at any moment."  :D  I don't think Danish sounds *that bad.*  It kind of reminds me of a cross between French, German and English. 

Watching that show and hearing all that Danish makes me want to try harder at mastering Norwegian pronunciation, as well as become more confident with that pesky pitch accent thing.  You know, that up-and-down sing-songy lilt of the Scandinavian languages.  Danish doesn't have this feature, but Norwegian and Swedish do.

Anyway, it's a good show and easy to get caught up in.  It went on for three seasons, and I'm about done with the first.  I just wish there was an equally good show in Norwegian that I could watch.

Sistah Robi

I used to love singing along to Robi Kahakalau (still do.)  It made me feel like I could speak Hawaiian, which I think is a really pretty language.  Not saying I'm necessarily good at it - sometimes I stumble over those bursts of short words and the glottal stops throw me off on occasion, but it's fun to try.

The only reason I know what she's saying is because the lyrics are translated in the CD liner notes.  I don't really know the connection between the English and the Hawaiian, just the overall message of the song.

During my early years of language learning, I considered studying Hawaiian, but there wasn't much material to work with, so instead I came to consider Hawaiian (and Tahitian) strictly to be enjoyed through music.  :)

  
"Himene Tatarahapa" ~ Repent Hymn [Tahitian]

The First Few

Here are some basic expressions in Lithuanian.  This woman has many other videos dedicated to teaching Lithuanian, so be sure to check them out.  :)

I Love You

My older sister posted this on her blog.  It says "I love you" in 12 languages.

Let's see if we can figure out what they are...

1. Kuv hlub koj. - Hmong

2. S'agapo. - Greek

3. Negligevapse. - Inuit

4. Take a wild guess!  :)

5. Szeretlek. - Hungarian

6. Te amo. - Spanish

7. Jeg elsker dig. - Danish

8. Je t'aime. - French

9. Mo ni fe. - Yoruba

10. Yes kez sirumen. - Armenian

11. Ne mohotatse. - Cheyenne

12. Wo ai ni. - Mandarin

If I were to make my own, not using the above languages or languages I'm learning, I think I would include (thanks to Omniglot)...

1. Basque - Maite zaitut.

2. Turkish - Seni seviyorum.

3. Greenlandic - Asavakkit.

4. Swahili - Ninakupenda.

5. Guaraní - Rojhayhû.

6. German - Ich liebe dich.

7. Vietnamese - Em yêu anh.

8. Catalan - T'estimo.

9. Korean - Sarang hae.

10. Sioux - Techihhila.

11. Albanian - Të dua.

12. Elmer Fuddish - I wuv you. ;) 

What languages would you use?  It's kind of fun deciding.

Thanks a Lunch

Had Valentine's lunch at the local Chinese buffet today, and the old guy sitting nearby was teaching his granddaughter how to say "thank you" in Dutch and Chinese (Mandarin.)  Just a little language moment for the day.  :)

2-4-1

Learning Norwegian?  Like to make jewelry?  Lissie Design is a blog I learned about through a bead magazine I subscribe to.  The author is a jewelry designer from Stavanger.  I like her style and the fact she posts in both English and Norwegian.

Norwegian may not be the most difficult language - at least not the written form, but seeing it along with English is helpful.