New Members' Thread

[cstashikani]

Hi!
Gaia Name: cstashikani
Age: 19
Location: USA
Languages spoken: English
Languages Learning: Japanese (almost done with my first year at university ^_^)

I'm a language enthusiast. Always on the lookout for good language-learning resources. Actually just got a book for Italian. The languages I really want to learn aside from the Japanese I am studying at my university right now are Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, German, and Arabic. In the fall I will also start learning Spanish in school. I hope for many more, but these are what I will be focusing on first.  

[AJKline]

Hi there!

Gaia Name: AJKline
Real Name: Aoífe Jean. Call me AJ.
Age: 20 years, 21 in June.
Location: United States, west coast.
Languages spoken: English (native), French (fluent)
Languages Learning: Spanish, American Sign Language, Italian, German

I love learning languages. I have a great love for words, and have been reading English language dictionaries since my early years. My friends sweetly tease that I have a word for nearly everything.

If you want a French teacher, I am your gal! Someday, I would love to be a full-time English and/or French tutor or private teacher. I don't think I have the disposition to handle a full class.  

[socialdeviance13]

*Gaia Name: my online handle is socialdeviance13

Real Name: my current Japanese teacher has seen fit to name me Rouketsu-kun, which means wolf blood, after my Native American heritage clan name.
*
Age: I'm 22 going on 12, so i apologize for any odities and/or randominidalitiness.

*Location: American - born a Yankee, raised a rebel

*Languages spoken: i obviously know English (though maybe not so obvious, given the state of our country's education...) and American Sign Language.

*Languages learning: i am currently learning Japanese, though previously french. Sorry, to all you Frogs, but french is not for me. I WAS studying madarin chinese, italian, German, ancient Hebrew, and ancient greek from various family members/friends, but i have forgotten basically all of that. I used to be fluent in Spanish, janese, ad Latin as a child, but again, i have forgotten basically all of that.

I suppose i would consider myself an anthropologist. I thoroughly enjoy studying other cultures, though i cannot bring myself to be a scientist in this matter; i have this Ned to help people, so objectivity is basically null and void for me. Because i would love to go to all of these foreign places and experience them for myself, i would need the languages to help me get around.

I've also found that languages have a culture all their own, or at least are a direct derivative of the cultures they were founded in. My teacher recently explained to me the literal meaning of Adios and Adieu - to god, or, in my opinion, go with god. Religions also fascinate me, especially since i have grown up in a strict Christian home and can discover for myself what all of these wonderful stories entail, where they come from, their similarities, etc.

And of course, there's nothing sexier than a man who can speak another language, right?  

[airgid90arrakis]

...Errr *peek around the corner timidly* This guild here still...breathing? *blinks*  

[AJKline]

airgid90arrakis

...Errr *peek around the corner timidly* This guild here still...breathing? *blinks*

I suppose I can't speak for everyone, but I'm still here biggrin  

[airgid90arrakis]

AJKline

I suppose I can't speak for everyone, but I'm still here biggrin

*smile shyly* errr hi~ heart I've been wondering when this guild would take off... I've been pretty hyped about learning a new tongue or two.
 

[AJKline]

airgid90arrakis

*smile shyly* errr hi~ heart I've been wondering when this guild would take off... I've been pretty hyped about learning a new tongue or two.

Hiya! If we can get more members, I'm sure we'll have a full guild on our hands. What are you thinking of learning?  

[airgid90arrakis]

AJKline

Hiya! If we can get more members, I'm sure we'll have a full guild on our hands. What are you thinking of learning?

...OH! emotion_kirakira Most anything if I can manage, since I want to go on a global backpacking trip around the world in a few years *fingers crossed* emotion_yatta
 

[AJKline]

airgid90arrakis

...OH! emotion_kirakira Most anything if I can manage, since I want to go on a global backpacking trip around the world in a few years *fingers crossed* emotion_yatta

Oooh. Sounds like fun! What languages do you already know? I'm gearing up to teach French here soon, if you'd like to learn that.  

[airgid90arrakis]

AJKline

Oooh. Sounds like fun! What languages do you already know? I'm gearing up to teach French here soon, if you'd like to learn that.

...Well, I normally speak English--Filipino--Visayan... As well as pretty decent Fookien and Mandarin 3nodding I know just the teensiest bit of Nihonggo and Hangul/ Hanja (though I have managed to learn whole songs without understanding even a syllable of what I'm hollering at the top of me lungs) rofl But of course, I find French romantic and very passionate but not aggressive redface
 

[AJKline]

airgid90arrakis

...Well, I normally speak English--Filipino--Visayan... As well as pretty decent Fookien and Mandarin 3nodding I know just the teensiest bit of Nihonggo and Hangul/ Hanja (though I have managed to learn whole songs without understanding even a syllable of what I'm hollering at the top of me lungs) rofl But of course, I find French romantic and very passionate but not aggressive redface

Wooow! You're quite the polyglot already smile Well, we are here to help you. French is a gorgeous language, I adore it. If you want to learn, let me know! I'd be glad to help.  

[airgid90arrakis]

AJKline

Wooow! You're quite the polyglot already smile Well, we are here to help you. French is a gorgeous language, I adore it. If you want to learn, let me know! I'd be glad to help.

redface Well, not really--I guess it just comes from being of a different nationality in a country that's still quite hero-worshipping yet another country xd Oh yes--I'd love to be in any of your classes 4laugh That is, if it's alright? emotion_kirakira
 

[AJKline]

airgid90arrakis

redface Well, not really--I guess it just comes from being of a different nationality in a country that's still quite hero-worshipping yet another country xd Oh yes--I'd love to be in any of your classes 4laugh That is, if it's alright? emotion_kirakira

Of course biggrin I just need to actually put together the French teaching thread xD
I don't have a lesson rubric, so it's slow going right now. You're certainly welcome to join any class you like here!  

[airgid90arrakis]

AJKline

Of course biggrin I just need to actually put together the French teaching thread xD
I don't have a lesson rubric, so it's slow going right now. You're certainly welcome to join any class you like here!

...I'd be elated to be one of your students, m'amselle! emotion_bigheart Any and only French I know would be thanks to Madeline emotion_facepalm  

[StrawberryShizu]

Gaia Name: Moonlepsy
Real Name: Bella (middle name)
Age: 23
Location: Caribbean
Languages spoken: Italian (L1); Spanish, English (L2)
Languages Learning: none atm


Hello, everyone. It's good to know there are small groups like these in Gaia Online. I've always been interested in how humans perceive, process, and produce language, especially through sounds (phonology/phonetics) and discourse strategies (implications, social constructs,metaphors etc.) It made me realize orthography and other traditional aspects were almost useless when analyzing spectrograms, frequencies, intonation patterns, and intensity. Although I have a structural/generative formation, I also have a pragmatic-ethnographic perspective of language. I don't think they're opposites as many people do, I think they complement each other.

As for languages spoken, that is a hard question. Do we really know 2 languages (L1, L2) or do we know 2 first languages (2 L1)? When I read that for the first time I was mind-blown, but as I kept reading and acquiring new information, I understood clearly that I have 2 L1s and a second language (L2.) And yeah, I took some language classes (Latin, Ancient Greek, Portuguese), but that doesn't mean I fully understand them.

BTW, I'm a grad student (Linguistics, MA.) Trying to apply for UC Berkeley so I can major in Linguistics (PhD) and specialize in Morphology/Acoustic Phonetics.

Hope to stay around~