I guess that some one like Yutaka would, right now, move nearby Mar - a - Lago and live there without any language barrier, whereas I’d have a hard time if right now, I’m forced to move to Saint Petersburg with my 463 known words in Russian.
How do you feel folks, linguistically, if today you were forced to move to where your target language is the only one spoken other there?
I would say “Was für ein Glücksfall!”
I would move in next to Yutaka and ask Yutaka to translate for me. If I was shipped to Rio de Janeiro it would be a few months before I could even order a meal.
Was für ein Glücksfall = What a stroke of luck
Would you do well somewhere in Germany as well, Yutaka?
But 9579 known portuguese words is a very good score, scgrant176!
I suppose, I would do best in Spanish since it is the one that I have studied the longest, have fairly comprehensive understanding of grammar and all that jazz. I think I would do pretty well in (northern) Italy (I say northern Italy because I don’t like the south that much (no offense)) as well. I could use my Spanish knowledge to fast track in Italian.
Same goes with French but I suspect that I would feel very anxious being forced to use French. I think it also would depend on where in France I would move. I would prefer Normandie and Alsace to the south of France and south of France to Paris.
In German (lots of similar words to my native tongue) I would have a large vocabulary but I have been lazy with the grammar so I think I would struggle. Vienna seems like a nice place to live if I’d had my pick where to live in Europe.
Yes, but I find words a lagging indicator for wisdom. Tchau.
That’s impressive, @Swedishfinngermanophile - so many options!
“your native language is Swedish right?”
Yep, that’s right which widens the net even further since Norwegian and Danish are a lot easier to learn. Although the Danish is bloody mental in terms of letters that are not pronounced. I have a hard time getting past that, I remember when I started learning French one of my main concerns was pronunciation because of letters being dropped and so on.
I am glad that I did not start with Danish otherwise I might have stopped learning languages altogether (hehehe). Speaking of Danish I must revoke my statement about Vienna being my preferred city to live at. Copenhagen takes the prize with being a (moderately sized) global city close to Europe and similar culture to that of Scandinavia and Finland.
Do your homework before moving into a retirement community
Do you know what “memory care” mean?
Memory care is a department or area with trained medical staff that provide assessments and exercises for elderly people to cope with memory loss. They perform tests of memory loss and assign exercises to help maintain memory, i.e., crossword puzzles, card games, writing down lists, keeping items in an organized manner, etc.
It seems like the topic has strayed a bit. But, hey, while we’re here, anyone who hasn’t seen this video of Dr. Krashen talking about postponing cognitive decline should take a look. Then follow the links to other videos of him – he has a very engaging style, and I would have liked to have had more professors like him. Krashen on delaying senility through reading, bilingualism, and...coffee! - YouTube
I enjoy reading English novels over several cups of coffee every day.
I am now reading The Human Factor by Graham Greene.
I would do great. Depending on how long I was there, I would head northward into the C-Levels for sure.
However, I don’t think I’d want to be surrounded by all those Spanish people. I would truly have to be “forced” or enticed with big money, and hopefully not have it be too long. 