I reached a new milestone today: I had my first
unprompted thought in Albanian. The thought may have been only one word, but still... it was in response to a conversation in English, and it came to me before the English word!
...and yes, I did feel the need to document something this exciting on the blog! ;-)
Showing posts with label Albanian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albanian. Show all posts
08 February 2011
20 October 2010
Albanian?
"What language do they speak in Albania?" is one of the most common questions I am asked next to: "where is Albania?" and "when are you leaving?"
Yes, you guessed right, Albanian! The dominant and official language is Albanian, a revised and merged form of the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, but with a bigger influence of Tosk as compared to the Gheg. Now, if that last sentence made any sense to you please send me a message and explain.
What I gather is that Albanian is the last living language of it's type - meaning there are no other languages around today that are similar. This will make learning the language quite the adventure. And if for no other reason, you should continue to follow my blog to read about the wonderful stories that are "lost in translation" while I'm living in Albania. My favorite word thus far is: "gjashtëmbëdhjetë." Take a try. How would you pronounce it? It is the number 16...and to my ear it is pronounced: jesh-movie-et. How'd ya do?
I am afraid that all of my English, the 8 years of Spanish, and one semester of Greek I took in school will be of no help as I try to learn this new language. But what the heck... I'm always up for an adventure! :-D
Yes, you guessed right, Albanian! The dominant and official language is Albanian, a revised and merged form of the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, but with a bigger influence of Tosk as compared to the Gheg. Now, if that last sentence made any sense to you please send me a message and explain.
What I gather is that Albanian is the last living language of it's type - meaning there are no other languages around today that are similar. This will make learning the language quite the adventure. And if for no other reason, you should continue to follow my blog to read about the wonderful stories that are "lost in translation" while I'm living in Albania. My favorite word thus far is: "gjashtëmbëdhjetë." Take a try. How would you pronounce it? It is the number 16...and to my ear it is pronounced: jesh-movie-et. How'd ya do?
I am afraid that all of my English, the 8 years of Spanish, and one semester of Greek I took in school will be of no help as I try to learn this new language. But what the heck... I'm always up for an adventure! :-D
5 Signs I know Albanian is Going to Be Hard to Learn
By: Katie Hawkins
- They don’t have a Rosetta Stone program for Albanian.
- Albanian restaurants with waiters/waitresses to practice with are few and far between.
- "No" is universal in almost every language and yes, I picked one of the few languages in which "no" doesn't mean no (jo-pronounced yo-means no).
- I bust out laughing when I hear the pronunciation of words because I have no idea how to move my mouth to get those sounds out.
- It takes me 5 minutes to say anything resembling the word, 15 minutes to say anything resembling a short phrase, and we just won’t even think about full sentences yet...
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