André ([info]n_true) wrote,
@ 2005-01-14 16:18:00
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Current mood: pensive
Entry tags:english

I, André...
Random Facts About Me:


  1. I hate it when my feet make noise when I am walking.

  2. I can eat with chopsticks.

  3. I dislike the use of idiomatic expressions in speech. The more straight forward one speaks, the better.

  4. I hate Sushi. But maybe I haven't found the good one yet.

  5. I have attempted to learn Lojban three times, but I failed each time.

  6. I cannot work/read/write/talk when listening to music. So I seldom have music on at home.

  7. I learned to write the Arabic script back in 6th grade.

  8. I guess that about at least 90% of my friends are female. Yet I never had a girlfriend before.

  9. I once had a continuous phone call of 14½ hours.

  10. I cannot remember the birthdates of my parents.

  11. I can tell the abbreviations for each element of the periodic system and vice-versa.

  12. I tend to think that my English is fluent and that I'm almost perfect in it, although that's wrong (as you can see).

  13. I plan to go to Spanish lessons again during the semester holidays when the 10d has school again.

  14. I have very shaky hands; therefore I have a very small handwriting and I adore thin fineliners.

  15. I have never been to Poland, but I'd like to.

  16. I only dreamed about Star Trek three or four times in my life. Although I am a big fan of it.

  17. I can name all 50 US states and their capitals.

  18. I eat nutella with a spoon on a daily base.

  19. I dislike drinking alcohol, tea, water, cocoa and beverages with gas.

  20. I am actually considering writing my Magisterarbeit in Linguistics about the Saxon dialect around Leipzig.

  21. I am the only person I know who never moved from their birth house.

  22. I can bend my fingers more than 90° upward.

  23. I almost never ever get mad at anyone.

  24. I collect foreign language newspapers, dictionares, coins, and the translation of "forty-seven".

  25. I had had a disease named "Kawasaki Syndrome" when I was in 2nd grade.

  26. I never cried when one of my relative died. And I already lost 3 or 4 of them.

  27. I also never had a crush on any celebrity. Neither of film, TV now music.

  28. I know pi (π) up to 26 decimal places.

  29. I didn't have to do military service due to my epilepsy. And I'm glad about that.

  30. I used to have an invisible friend when I was a small child. If I remember right, he didn't have a name.

  31. I have no contact to anyone from my kindergarten or elementary school anymore.

  32. I have a grandmother who held Saxony's quickness record in stenography.

  33. I was just asked by my mother if I wanted more pocket money. Currently it's 50€ a month.

  34. I have a fat cat, his name is Moritz and he's already 9 years old.

  35. I hate seeing people using ` or ´ instead of ' for the apostrophe. I also hate misplaced apostrophes.

  36. I even more hate it when people replace ß with ss where it's not allowed.

  37. I like people who have a constructive obsessions and hobbies (my languages, Danaé's Egyptology, etc.)

  38. I have to admit that [info]joschi is really cute. *g*

  39. I start running out of facts now...

  40. I consider Vietnamese a very ugly sounding language. Its ơ and ư are making me sick.

  41. I am afraid of summer chafers (Junikäfer) and May beetles. I panick when I see one.

  42. I don't mind having nothing to do, if I can listen to music and/or watch people.

  43. I like the idea of reviving Latin as a spoken language. It's not more difficult than others.

  44. I keep my watch on my wrist when I go to sleep.

  45. I cannot lie; almost. Honestly, it's very hard for me not to say the truth.

  46. I am quite slim (58kg @ 178cm), although I eat a lot of fastfood and sweets and chocolate.

  47. I intend to end this list with point 47. Hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment or post the same thing in your journal.




(30 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]linnapaw
2005-01-14 07:27 am UTC (link)
daily basis, June bugs, but you are quite fluent in English. :) I was just lurking about Wikipedia, and I was astounded that the Latin Wikipedia is so big!

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[info]n_true
2005-01-14 07:35 am UTC (link)
I found "summer chafers", "May beetles" as well as "June bugs" on dict.leo.org, so I decided for those two. ;)

Do you think one can consider onself fluent when one can speak without having to translate in mind, although one still does do some mistakes?

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[info]timwi
2005-01-14 07:38 am UTC (link)
Maybe you could say that if you can, then you're fluent, but in an abberation of English? :-)

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[info]timwi
2005-01-14 07:39 am UTC (link)
OK, that should have been aberration... :)

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[info]n_true
2005-01-14 08:05 am UTC (link)
Hah! :D

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[info]linnapaw
2005-01-14 08:55 am UTC (link)
I don't know, but in the Midwest of the US, I always heard them referred to as Mayflies and June Bugs. :)

I think that not having to translate in one's head is a big part of it. However, when I started German, my teacher did his best to prevent us from just trying to translate English, so strangely enough, for me, until the last couple of years, translating was extremely difficult for me because there were just so many things I understood simply AS German, and although I understood them completely, finding the right concepts in English was difficult.

This made Russian with my Professor from St. Petersburg very difficult as well, because he was a big proponent of translations as a major method of teaching.

I think one really becomes fluent when one can use the language at such a level as to be able to talk about just about anything... There may still be mistakes there, but at least there is a fairly high level of vocabulary and comprehension. I consider myself fairly fluent in German... I know, I still make a fair number of mistakes, but unless it's legal-speak, you can drag me into just about any situation, and I can understand what's going on and react/converse to what the situation is. Sometimes I think in German, and sometimes I find mysely "inventing" words as I need them (and most of them are real words -- I just take vocabulary and change the words according to rules of the German language to make them serve my purpose). Heh. I've even found myself trying to explain theology in German (which is killer!) But in any case, maybe the key to being fluent is that you master over the language, rather than the language mastering you. :)

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[info]zinear
2005-01-14 12:06 pm UTC (link)
The mind takes language and proceeds to speak it as it will. Language changes, and often mistakes are naturally-occurring. If you listen to young Americans speak English, you'll hear many so-called mistakes; but, it is merely the language's changing.

(As [info]linnapaw said: it is one's mastery over the language and not vice versa.) =)

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[info]timwi
2005-01-14 07:37 am UTC (link)
Hehe. Mi ne skribis LJ-enskribon dum longtempo, do mi ne certas ĉu mi devus ankaŭ fari tian liston, sed kiam mi havos la tempon, mi pensos pri tiu! :-)

(Mi ĵus instalis mia universala klavararanĝaĵon sur mia labora komputilo. :-))

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[info]amuzulo
2005-01-14 08:08 am UTC (link)
Can you name all the countries and their capitals too? ;-)

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[info]n_true
2005-01-14 08:25 am UTC (link)
Nearly all countries but not all their capitals. :)

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[info]amuzulo
2005-01-14 08:55 am UTC (link)
How about in Europe? =)

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[info]timwi
2005-01-16 01:33 pm UTC (link)
I think I can name the capitals of pretty much all EU countries and vice-versa, but I might not be able to produce a complete list off the top of my head.

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[info]n_true
2005-01-16 01:44 pm UTC (link)
Same *might* go for me... well, no, not for all European countries, but for most of them.

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[info]amuzulo
2005-01-16 01:54 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I think I could do the EU countries too. I asked about Europe!! :-) Oh wait, the new EU... well, yeah. heh

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[info]n_true
2005-01-14 08:50 am UTC (link)
Nearly all countries but not all their capitals. :)

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[info]ralesk
2005-01-14 08:38 am UTC (link)
21. Neither have I :)

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[info]joschi
2005-01-14 09:42 am UTC (link)
ebenso :)

und, andre, du bist schon ein komischer vogel :D

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[info]elitegrunt
2005-01-14 10:24 am UTC (link)
Sorry that this comment is long, but I'm bored and thought your post was really interesting.

# I hate it when my feet make noise when I am walking.
If you can also climb walls and kill people with your bare hands, you'd make a good ninja.

# I am the only person I know who never moved from their birth house.
That makes me feel downright nomadic.

# I tend to think that my English is fluent and that I'm almost perfect in it, although that's wrong (as you can see).
You are definitely very, very fluent. You make an occasional mistake, but otherwise you write just like a native speaker.

# I didn't have to do military service due to my epilepsy. And I'm glad about that.
I'm glad that in the event of a draft I can more easily be a conscientious objector because I go to a Quaker college.

# I like the idea of reviving Latin as a spoken language. It's not more difficult than others.
I support this idea, but I would need to relearn a lot of words to do it successfully.

# I am actually considering writing my Magisterarbeit in Linguistics about the Saxon dialect around Leipzig.
I somehow see myself trying to combine ideas from my two Hauptfäche, Deutsch und Informatik in my senior thesis. I'm wondering how I'm going to accomplish that.

# I even more hate it when people replace ß with ss where it's not allowed.
I hope that doesn't apply to foreigners...

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[info]zinear
2005-01-14 12:07 pm UTC (link)
># I am the only person I know who never moved from their birth house.
>That makes me feel downright nomadic.

It does have a rustic touch, doesn't it? Midwifery is not nearly as common as used to be.

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[info]enigman
2005-01-16 09:28 am UTC (link)
i doubt he was actaully born in that house, i think he just never moved...

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[info]n_true
2005-01-16 10:58 am UTC (link)
That's what I meant of course. :P

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[info]zinear
2005-01-14 12:11 pm UTC (link)
> 14. I once had a continuous phone call of 14½ hours.
Didn't that hurt your ears?

> 19. I dislike drinking alcohol, tea, water, cocoa and beverages with gas.
So, primarily, you drink water and juice?

> 22. I can bend my fingers more than 90° upward.
Can you bend them much sideways? If so, you really should play the piano.

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[info]ubykhlives
2005-01-15 11:11 pm UTC (link)
I am the only person I know who never moved from their birth house.

Not the only person anymore... I came home from hospital to this house, and I'm still living in it - after nearly 21 and a half years.

I like the idea of reviving Latin as a spoken language. It's not more difficult than others.

I wish I had a bit more Latin so I could justify buying Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis. :) I don't think any language should stay dead so long as there are people alive who are willing to speak it.

Feel free to comment or post the same thing in your journal.

I think you're going to find out some very bizarre stuff about me when I do...

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I feel like answering in a very detailed way, so bear with me
[info]zwirbel
2005-01-16 03:05 am UTC (link)
# I hate it when my feet make noise when I am walking.
dito ;) well, the times I have bells attached to my boots would be an exception. I love that noise.

I guess that about at least 90% of my friends are female. Yet I never had a girlfriend before.
about 95% of my friends are female - and, contrary to you, I had a girlfriend once ;) (although I'm now living with my boyfriend...)

# I tend to think that my English is fluent and that I'm almost perfect in it, although that's wrong (as you can see).
you name it.

I have very shaky hands; therefore I have a very small handwriting and I adore thin fineliners.
actually, I'd noticed your hands shaking last thursday... it was a strange feeling to realize that they really were shaking. I'd thought I was mistaken.

# I almost never ever get mad at anyone.
dito, but when I do...

I was just asked by my mother if I wanted more pocket money. Currently it's 50€ a month.
the most I ever got was 20 €...

I hate seeing people using ` or ´ instead of ' for the apostrophe. I also hate misplaced apostrophes.
misplaced apostrophes = the evil from hell. if I ever see another one again, I will chose the path of a criminal and destroy all those horrible shop-signs... (e. g. "Gabi's Moden" - no, I didn't look what I've written.)

I even more hate it when people replace ß with ss where it's not allowed.
we are of one kind.

I like people who have a constructive obsessions and hobbies (my languages, Danaé's Egyptology, etc.)
does writing and occasionally performing poetry count?

# I like the idea of reviving Latin as a spoken language. It's not more difficult than others.
yeah, but how to pronunciate it? there'd be another war.

I cannot lie; almost. Honestly, it's very hard for me not to say the truth.
it is very hard. I can sympathize.

well, enough of that.

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Re: I feel like answering in a very detailed way, so bear with me
[info]n_true
2005-01-16 04:16 am UTC (link)
About the apostrophes:
One of the worst things I've seen is a sign in the Goethestraße saying "Ticket´s hier". Almost as bad is the backside of a hotel in Leipzig which in huge blue letters reads "HOTEL GARAGE". Without the hyphen one could think it's the hotel's name. :S

About poetry:
Yes, I indeed thought of you. I know that a lot of people (including some of my friends) write 'poems' but their style is... well... not-present I'd say (although I don't know much about poetry). Your's is much more often an interesting read. :)

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about writing
[info]zwirbel
2005-01-16 05:25 am UTC (link)
I admit that I do feel somewhat proud of my writings but a) I know people much better than me and b) you should have seen how I started ;)

I guess the most profound change from writing poems (step one) to truly writing is that you do not accept the products of your creativity as is, but try to revamp them and show them to peolpe who can and will give constructive criticism (step two).

The third step would be to become aware of the messages you want to forward, the style you prefer, and to find what you believe makes you special and your writings actually worth reading.

I place myself somewhere between step two and three, but I have long ago realized that I will ever be something like a true writer - I lack ambition.

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Re: about writing
[info]zwirbel
2005-01-16 05:28 am UTC (link)
I place myself somewhere between step two and three, but I have long ago realized that I will ever be something like a true writer - I lack ambition.

I meant Never. What's it called? Freudian mistake?

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Re: about writing
[info]n_true
2005-01-16 10:53 am UTC (link)
Hehe, I think so (although I didn't even notice). :>

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la listo
[info]kunar
2005-01-21 08:05 am UTC (link)
"I have never been to Poland, but I'd like to."

Same mi kaj mia frato. Bonŝance, ke IJK 2005 atendas nin...

"I dislike drinking alcohol, tea, water, cocoa and beverages with gas."

Mi scivolemas, kion vi trinkas kutime, precipe dum Esperanto-renkontiĝoj.

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Re: la listo
[info]n_true
2005-01-21 02:42 pm UTC (link)
Mi ankoraû ne certas cxu mi venos al la IJK, cxi-jare... mi ankoraû devas pripensi tion.

Kaj kutime mi trinkas orangxsukon, multvitaminsukon aû lakton (tial mi ekzemple atendis la matenmangxon, hehe).
Ah, cetere, la sola alkohola t/drinkajxo kiun mi sxatas sxajnas esti absinto! Enhavas multe da alkoholo, sed tute ne gustas tielmaniere... plie kvazaû eûkalipta bonbono. Mmmh... :)

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