Tabarnak

Let it go
I generally got through Quebec well with my French. Montréal is basically bilingual anyway, It felt like the mishmash we speak in the office. People speak mostly French to me, but switch over to English fast once they realize I can’t follow. Young people are easier, and have less of a Quebecois accent. There’s also lots […] Read More

Lost in (no)translation

Let it go
I make slow progress in saying more than three words in Japanese…. Basically I can say arigato, arigato gozaimasu (the more polite form – I just discovered there is actually a ‘u’ at the end) and konichiwa. It probably won’t go much further than that. I want to include please, till the end of the […] Read More

Learning Spanish

Let it go
I learned Spanish in school, in 1990-1991, in an afternoon course of two hours a week. I remember having so much fun in this weird ‘language laboratory’, as it was called. Equipped with the latest 70s audio technology, so we could listen in to Spanish texts, repeat them and the teacher could hear and correct […] Read More

Back to life

Let it go
After some more rest, some Brazilian medicine in form of a high octane Caipirinha made by Mauricio, followed by a highly camp movie about Liberace at the film festival (Michael Douglas is hilarious!) and a good night’s sleep…. I’m back in business, more or less. Breakfast this time at another new favorite spot (I might have […] Read More