Languages

Hi there! How are you my old chums? What a veritable thrill to see you all again. May I say, you are looking lovely this evening. Oh, thank you very much. That was me assuming the compliment was returned. No? Rude.

Today I want to give you some reasons, and more tips to learn another language.

Stepping out of the Matrix

I truly believe that when we learn another language, we learn another culture. But most importantly, we learn more about our own culture. Learning a foreign language opens your eyes to a new perspective. You see your language from outside and notice how difficult could be for other people. It is like Goethe said: 

Open new doors

Learning another skill opens the doors to new opportunities. It also makes you look interesting to other people. In Scotland, I had the opportunity to talk with a Korean girl in the hostel. She was in Edinburgh studying English, and I told her that I was studying Korean.We also talked about the stages of the learning process. We talked about how important it is to learn another language to make new friends and get a good job. Frank Smith said: "One language sets you in a corridor for language. Two languages open every door along the way."

Stages

These stages are something I found in article that I read long time ago.

Stage 1: Take Off

To take off, a plane needs to apply enough force to accelerate, it needs to lower the flaps to get enough lift at runway speeds, it needs to travel in a straight line in the right direction, and it needs to maintain constant acceleration for long enough to get off the ground.

Stage 2: Managing the Bumps

Once off the ground, things become a little easier. The flaps come in, the wheels go up, and you can start steering the plane in any direction you want. That said, the seat belt sign is still on. There is still a lot of work to be done before you are through the bumpy period below the clouds.

Language learning in this stage is about managing the bumps. Conversations won’t be smooth, they will feel awkward, but the more you can do in this bumpy period, the faster you will be through the turbulence.

Stage 3: Gaining Altitude

Now that the bumps and turbulence of the clouds are gone, the seat belt sign is off. You are free to move around the cabin. All you need to do now is simply continue to climb upwards until you reach cruising altitude.

Stage 4: Cruising

At the final stage of flight, you’ve reached cruising altitude. This is the easiest part of the journey. Now you can go anywhere you want.

I think it’s a nice and accurate metaphor.

Stay motivated and accomplish anything

I try to stay motivated by watching and listening native speakers talking. YouTube is amazing to find native speakers explaining the language. My favourite is Jini Channel. She is a Korean girl who lives in Buenos Aires and teaches Korean language in her Youtube channel. She was born in Seoul and moved to Argentina when she was 7. Jini gives amazing tips to learn the language. She also shares info about different Korean events in Buenos Aires.

Here you have a video of her giving tips to learn Korean. You can use these tips to any language you want. 

Have a great week :)

Links: https://www.fluentin3months.com/language-learning-stages/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3784tw3hE20Uz1ccbwgzjQ

Dreams do come true

Hello to you, and thanks for reading. This is exciting, isn't it? Well, come along then please. Settle. That's it. Here we are again in the excitement that is each other's company.The pleasure is all yours. Ha-ha! Good one, me. Had a good week? Lovely. Well, back to me. Now, previously in my life, I visited Scotland with my mother. It was a dream come true for me. I’ve been dreaming of going to Scotland since I was a kid. I spent 16 days visiting Edinburgh, Leith, Dean village, Perth, Callander, Fort Willams, Inverness and Glasgow.

Hogwarts

This trip was something I’ve been planning my whole life. The good thing is that I fulfilled more than one dream. First of all, I visited Hogwarts and Voldemort’s grave. As you know, I’m a big fan of Harry Potter, and I wanted to find all the places related to the story. Edinburgh is Harry Potter.

Near Victoria Street (Diagon Alley), you can find “The Elephant House.” This is the place where J.K Rowling wrote part of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” I had a delicious breakfast there.

 Another emotional moment for me was when I found Bobby Greyfriars. Bobby was a dog who spent 14 years next to the grave of its owner. As you know, this year a lost my dog, Lex. I spent 17 years with my dog, so it was important for me to meet Bobby.

 Ten minutes from Princes Street you can find Dean Village.

   

Glasgow is very different from Edinburgh. If I had to choose, I would pick Edinburgh. Glasgow is modern and full of people.

The Royal Mile, oh, here comes the tears. I am absolutely in love with The Royal Mile. In one extreme you have the castle, and one mile away you have Holyrood palace.

The castle must be one of the biggest attractions in Scotland. You can see how people used to live in it. The firing of the one o'clock gun is one of the coolest thing ever.

 We also visited Holyrood Palace, the official residence of The Queen in Scotland.

 Urquhart castle and Loch Ness in The Highlands
.

Nessie

Edinburgh must be the most magical place in the world.

Finally, the last day I decided to go to Arthur's seat. According to VisitScotland, Arthur's seat, an ancient volcano, sits 251 metres above sea level. I wanted to climb this volcano. It was hard, but I did it.

By the way, in Glasgow, I met my favourite singer, Joss Stone. Another reason to love Scotland. 

I would like to say that I didn't want to use maps to find the places that I love in Scotland. I just walked down the beautiful streets of Scotland, and I bumped into these amazing places. I was worried because the second week I couldn't find Bobby. I went to three different places to find Voldy's grave. Spoiler alert: I found all the places I wanted to visit. 

When I was going down Arthur's seat, I got lost, and I found a beautiful lake (or loch) full of ducks, and some amazing views of big old houses. It was amazing. One of the most beautiful moments of my life. 

I guess it's true what they say:"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself." 

One of my best friends, Victoria Diaz (Pini), sent me this:

I want to end this post by saying that I truly believe that there's nothing impossible if you really try it. So if you have a dream but at the same time you have doubts, let me tell you that's normal. Convince yourself that you can do it, and try it. What's more, the path to that dream is also enriching. So, fight for your dreams. This is the best advice a teacher gave me a long time ago.

"I have come to believe that coming true is not the only purpose of a dream. Its most important purpose is to get us in touch with where dreams come from, where passion comes from, where happiness comes from." Lisa Bu

Have a great weekend, folks :) 

Short Story

Hi, mates! Here you have our short story. Hope you like it :)

Reshaped Skies

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