I take interest and heart in many directions: animal rights, photography, recording personal history, gardening, flowers, music…. I study many of these seriously, on my own. In fact I have long proposed that “an expert” should not be seen as ONLY a person graduating with a diploma in a subect. Neither school nor university showed my potential correctly on pieces of paper! If I had children, I would consider home schooling seriously. Anything from not being an early bird, to an unfriendly or rigid teacher; made it awkward to pose questions. I limped through both and finished both. Something present peers would not know, is that one of my fields of ‘formal’ study is in foreign languages! I am an accomplished linguist and since the age of five months, I seemed to connect with language naturally.
It never matters to me which language music is in. When I visit another country, I think it’s rightful courtesy to greet hosts in their language; not expect them to acquiesce to ours. Breeching a message that needs to get across is different but a visitor should always make an effort to say “hello”, “good-bye”, and “thank-you” in the places they are visiting. I don’t want to see a world adapting everything into English across the board, or using only one country’s monetary currency. Those who think that is easier, aren’t thinking of the other option: to broaden ourselves with knowledge of other cultrues, instead of the mountain coming to us. Why not learn scatterings of education from many mountains? It’s a great deal of fun to learn how other people live and it’s so empowering, to speak secondary languages and beyond.
Since literature is my strongest hobby, or most regular activity; I ought to apply my multilingualism to it more often. I own an ample assortment of foreign language books, as well as translated works. Here is a reading challenge to facilitate that, along with one to boost and reward my too-seldom forays into non-fiction too. There is a lot of it I plan to read this year; many books about treasures, legends, very odd laws pertaining to Canada, and inventions made by us. I hope blog readers enjoy what comes out of this.
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I had fun with the titles, so the length evened out. I will at least reach “A Conversationalist” again but hope to strive for “Carolyn Is Trilingual“! :) This is how I did last year.
Simply A Beginner 01-03
A Conversationalist 04-06
Carolyn Is Trilingual 07-09
I Am A Top Linguist! 10-12
I succeeded at the third level! I call it “trilingual”, because that is what I am. :-) Happy new year 2016 and God bless everybody, always!
(1) “The Lost Steps” Alejo Carpentier 1953
(2) “Astrology For Cats” Traudl & Walter Reiner 1991
(3) “Aesop’s Fables” George Fyler Townsend 1846
(4) “The Setting Lake Sun” J.R. Léveillé 2001
(5) “The Four Musicians” Brothers Grimm 1819
(6) “Heidi” Johanna Spyri, D Marwood 1881
(7) “Der Stall Von Bethlehem” Jenny Tulip 1993 ****
(8) “No One Writes To The Colonel” Gabriel García Márquez 1961
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The same as last year, I will finish enough for “Dilettante” but hope to reach higher. It turns out it will be a breeze to read many serious books this year. I have been enjoying many of them already! I find Canadian short stories and trivia in abundance, which is an especially nice education for us.
Dilettante 01-05
Explorer 06-10
Seeker 11-15
Master 16-20
“Cats Know Best” Lesley Anne Ivory, Colin Eisler 1988
“Astrology For Cats” Traudl & Walter Reiner 1991
“Selected Poems: The Vision Tree” Phyllis Webb 1982
“Stars Near & Far” Robin Dexter 1996
“Unsung Heroes Of The Royal Canadian Air Force” Cynthia J. Faryon 2003
“You Can’t Do That In Canada!” Bev Spencer 2000
“Crazy Canadian Trivia” Pat Hancock 2000
“Canadian Disasters” René Schmidt 2006
“Dinosaur Hunters: Uncovering The Hidden Remains Of Canada’s Ancient Giants” Lisa Murphy-Lamb 2003
(10) “A Hill For Looking” Martha Brooks 1982
“Sonnets From The Portuguese” Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1850
“The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float” Farley Mowat 1969
“The Street” Mordecai Richler 1969
“Rescue Dogs: Crime & Rescue Canines In The Canadian Rockies” Dale Portman 2003
“Animal Heroes” Karleen Bradford 1995
“Weird British Columbia Places” Michelle Simms 2006
“Earth Witch” Anne Cameron 1982
“This Land Of Ours” P.J. Peters 1972
“White Horses And Shooting Stars” David Greer, Chum McLeod 1994
(20) “Aurore Of The Yukon” Keith Halliday 2006
“The Klondike Gold Rush: Photographs From 1896-1899” Graham Wilson 1997
“Haunted Canada: True Ghost Stories” Pat Hancock 2003
“Danse Macabre” Stephen King 1981
“Guide To Fiction Writing” Phyllis A. Whitney 1982
“The Life Story Of The Butterfly” Jilly MacLeod, Joanne Cowne 1996
“Haunted Harbours, Ghost Stories Of Old Nova Scotia” Steve Vernon 2006
“Bluenose Ghosts” Dr. Helen Creighton 1957
“The Easter Story” Heather Amery, Norman Young 1998
“Secrets & Mysteries Of The World” Sylvia Browne 2005
(30) “Jonah And A Very Big Fish” Sunny Griffin, Yacoba 1994
“Lost Treasures: True Stories Of Discovery” Larry Verstraete 2006
“Haunted Pets” Allan Zullo 1995
“Usborne True Stories, Ghosts” Paul Dowswell 2008
“Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew & The Women Who Created Her” Melanie Rehak 2005
“The Art Of Robert Bateman” Ramsay Derry 1981
“The Joy Of Cats” Jo Kittinger 1999
(37) “Der Stall Von Bethlehem” Jenny Tulip 1993
I blew the top off of this and reached thirty-seven books that are non-fictional. Wow! Hooray!
RIEDEL FASCINATION 