Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Calling all non-english natives!
- Thread starter SaraP
- Start date
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Over at the Suggestion Box thread, Sianshan posted a cool idea, but for that I need your help. Please contribute the appropriate dates to this thread. I'm going to sticky it too, and from then on it will be easier to get the ball rolling.
Thanks a lot.
Over at the Suggestion Box thread, Sianshan posted a cool idea, but for that I need your help. Please contribute the appropriate dates to this thread. I'm going to sticky it too, and from then on it will be easier to get the ball rolling.
Thanks a lot.
I live in California for the moment but was born in Hong Kong China. English is my second language, but I am much better at English then I'll ever be in Cantonese Chinese. I can only speak it.
Sara you do come with bgreat initiatives for the UN Forum! I've just joined so while this is a very late post from when you first started this, I'm adding another nationality.
I am from Singapore but I now live in paradise (Bali). My parents are from India but iw as raised by a Cantonese nanny (the greatest influence in my life). So, Indian outside, Chinese inside, living in Indonesia.
I am from Singapore but I now live in paradise (Bali). My parents are from India but iw as raised by a Cantonese nanny (the greatest influence in my life). So, Indian outside, Chinese inside, living in Indonesia.
I'm Shireen, born in India, raised all over the country ( Dad was a fighter pilot in the Air Force), currently living in New Delhi. India is frankly magical if you're a writer. So many stories, set in such diverse settings with different value sets. Its like an adrenaline shot to the creative faculty of the mind. Amazing, spicy cuisine, Architectural marvels, Diverse geographical environs - beaches, mountains, deserts, rivers, plains, all this and so much more is India.
English is actually more my natural language than Hindi, which is pretty tough to master. In fact very few people can even speak pure Hindi. Cartoons, movies and books...if I'd not been a geeky kid, there'd be no way I'd know English.
I'm new to AW, but so far I've been made to feel welcome and have read some really nice posts on a number of thought-provoking, fun and even plain ol' silly topics. This is definitely the place for me.
English is actually more my natural language than Hindi, which is pretty tough to master. In fact very few people can even speak pure Hindi. Cartoons, movies and books...if I'd not been a geeky kid, there'd be no way I'd know English.
I'm new to AW, but so far I've been made to feel welcome and have read some really nice posts on a number of thought-provoking, fun and even plain ol' silly topics
. This is definitely the place for me.
- Joined
- May 14, 2005
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- A Small Town in Germany
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As a hopelessly addicted Indiaphile I have to agree! All of my published novels are set in or partly in India and I can't wait for my next visit. I even want to retire there. Fantastic country.
Thank you for the welcome Sara!
@Aruna : Interesting, cosmopolitan life you have there. Hope to read some of your work soon!
@Aruna : Interesting, cosmopolitan life you have there. Hope to read some of your work soon!
Thank you for the welcome Sara. Once again, your United Nations forum is fabulous. Some really interesting people around and I think the multi-cultural backgrounds of the members add much colour and a certain spirit to AW as a whole. Also their worldliness to is often noticeable in some of the posts. I personally find it refreshing.
Well, I'm Anna, born 1983 in Israel, moved to Germany in 1984, same or next year to Poland, 1986 or so to Ireland, then in 1988 or 89 to Germany, then in 1998 to Belgium and from there, I moved back to Israel at last, last December
I speak English (fluent), German (mother), French (fluent), Dutch (fluent), Japanese (very damn decent) and learning Hebrew.
My country is, in my eyes, striking in the following: first off, our people are not polite. They are noisy and use swear words. But they're inyourface and frank, which can be hurtful but better than a knife in the back. We're hot-tempered and warm-hearted, prone to queue-jump or out-park you but there when you really, really need us. No dumb standing by gaping.
The Israeli is very practical and dry, so the humor of movies like Zohan isn't so obvious to the non-Israeli. Strangely, I always "got" Israelis despite having lived abroad all my life.
We always have nice weather and countless cats everywhere. We have charming neighbors. And hot stuff in the army. Girls with guns wherever you look! And jews. Jews are funny.
I speak English (fluent), German (mother), French (fluent), Dutch (fluent), Japanese (very damn decent) and learning Hebrew.
My country is, in my eyes, striking in the following: first off, our people are not polite. They are noisy and use swear words. But they're inyourface and frank, which can be hurtful but better than a knife in the back. We're hot-tempered and warm-hearted, prone to queue-jump or out-park you but there when you really, really need us. No dumb standing by gaping.
The Israeli is very practical and dry, so the humor of movies like Zohan isn't so obvious to the non-Israeli. Strangely, I always "got" Israelis despite having lived abroad all my life.
We always have nice weather and countless cats everywhere. We have charming neighbors. And hot stuff in the army. Girls with guns wherever you look! And jews. Jews are funny.
Liosse de Velishaf
Banned
Oh, Japanese, huh?
Any particular reason, since Japan doesn't show up on your list of countries?
Any particular reason, since Japan doesn't show up on your list of countries?
- Joined
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- Dendermonde, Belgium
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Hi, I'm Nickie (or Nicole) and I live an work in Dendermonde, Belgium. People tend to know not a lot about this country. Suffice it to say that we don't have a quarrel with our fellow Belgian who speak French, but that most of us feel they are not the same in mind and culture.
My town, Dendermonde, is a medieval one and was given a town charter by my predecessor Count Robrecht de Bethune, Earl of Flanders (don't get any ideas, my forefather was born on the wrong side of the blanket). We have a lot of traditions, one of which is the famous Horse Bayard. It is a wooden horse, made in the 15th century and portrayed the legend of Bayard and the four sons of Aymon, lord of Dendermonde. Apparently, all boys could ride the horse simultaneously. So the wooden horse is a huge structure and very heavy. It needs 12 strong men to carry it along (which happens every ten years, 2010 being the last time). Four brothers dressed in armour sit on top of it.
I write my novels in English because I felt that I'd have more opportunity of getting published in English-speaking parts. In Belgium you have to write crime in order to get published. Other genres just don't sell.
I found AW because an online friend mentioned it, and think it offers great advice for young writers.
Nickie
My town, Dendermonde, is a medieval one and was given a town charter by my predecessor Count Robrecht de Bethune, Earl of Flanders (don't get any ideas, my forefather was born on the wrong side of the blanket). We have a lot of traditions, one of which is the famous Horse Bayard. It is a wooden horse, made in the 15th century and portrayed the legend of Bayard and the four sons of Aymon, lord of Dendermonde. Apparently, all boys could ride the horse simultaneously. So the wooden horse is a huge structure and very heavy. It needs 12 strong men to carry it along (which happens every ten years, 2010 being the last time). Four brothers dressed in armour sit on top of it.
I write my novels in English because I felt that I'd have more opportunity of getting published in English-speaking parts. In Belgium you have to write crime in order to get published. Other genres just don't sell.
I found AW because an online friend mentioned it, and think it offers great advice for young writers.
Nickie
As I've lost my post in the outage, I think I'll have to introduce myself again.
Hi, everyone, I'm Andreea, yes, double 'e-s', and I'm from Romania. What I love about my country, except its beauty, it's the inventivity and resourcefulness of its people.
One journalist once said as a joke: "we live in Romania and that takes up all of our time." It's soo true. You cannot get bored here.
I adore AW. It's a great comunity.
Hi, everyone, I'm Andreea, yes, double 'e-s', and I'm from Romania. What I love about my country, except its beauty, it's the inventivity and resourcefulness of its people.
One journalist once said as a joke: "we live in Romania and that takes up all of our time." It's soo true. You cannot get bored here.
I adore AW. It's a great comunity.
Ah, Romanian! All of the Romanians I know are Transilvanian, but that's certainly Romanian, eh? I'm afraid I could only greet you in Hungarian, but I do love trying to read Romanian. I love you guys and your culture
My WIP includes strigoi (dunno the plural offhand), among others, btw
My WIP includes strigoi (dunno the plural offhand), among others, btw
Ah, Romanian! All of the Romanians I know are Transilvanian, but that's certainly Romanian, eh? I'm afraid I could only greet you in Hungarian, but I do love trying to read Romanian. I love you guys and your culture
My WIP includes strigoi (dunno the plural offhand), among others, btw
Thanks! Yeap, Transilvania is a part of Romania. I'm afraid I don't speak a word of Hungarian.
Strigoi is accepted term for both singular and plural. We have few nouns that are solely used for either singular (milk-lapte for example) or plural (fish eggs- icre). And few others, like strigoi, that can be used as both.
Hello
I am Sameer born in India, raised up in Qatar, studying in Dubai and planning to move to the US.
About Qatar, well it's a tiny country in the middle east, filled with a large expat community from all around the world. Before we had to associate ourselves with Dubai in order to give an idea about our geographic location, however that changed after we won the bidding rights to world cup 2022. So glad for that!
Anyways even though i am form India i was raised with the English language to break the language barriers among the Arabs, Indians and Westerners here. This is why i write, read, watch, listen, do everything English (the language of course). Life here is similar to that in Dubai except for the major developments.
Why i love AW? Because it is one of the best forums for writers to hang out, so how i could not?
I am Sameer born in India, raised up in Qatar, studying in Dubai and planning to move to the US.
About Qatar, well it's a tiny country in the middle east, filled with a large expat community from all around the world. Before we had to associate ourselves with Dubai in order to give an idea about our geographic location, however that changed after we won the bidding rights to world cup 2022. So glad for that!
Anyways even though i am form India i was raised with the English language to break the language barriers among the Arabs, Indians and Westerners here. This is why i write, read, watch, listen, do everything English (the language of course). Life here is similar to that in Dubai except for the major developments.
Why i love AW? Because it is one of the best forums for writers to hang out, so how i could not?
I'm from Puerto Rico, la isla del encanto, but I've been living in OZ for 20 years and before that I lived in the U.S. I went to France on a student exchange program- French was my major at uni. Unfortunately I've forgotten most of it.
I live in Oz and I like it very much, but Puerto Rico will always be my home.
I live in Oz and I like it very much, but Puerto Rico will always be my home.
What a wonderful thread! Thank you!
I see that the last entry is from July, so here I am now breaking the two months silence.
Like Eddyz and Andreea I am Romanian ( joined the R. thread where I said hello), born and raised there, living in the States for more than 22 years. Yeah, it's been that long, I can't even believe it myself! New York is my home now, working in the City at a big university, and living in the suburbs (according to the purists, I'm not even considered a new-yorker, but who cares, really?)
I was raised bi-lingual (Romanian and French), learned Russian in high-school and a little English picked up along the way, until I hit the customs at JFK airport when the guy at the desk wished me good luck in my new life - I knew then that without learning the language well, I'll never have any luck at all. So I went back to college here for a master degree and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
My WIP is a challenge I gladly embraced, knowing that I will never get published (wrong side of everything, age, language, ferocious competition, you name it). And yet, one dreams!
As you can see from the info below my avatar, I joined AW in 2006, the best literary forum so far. I love it here for a couple of reasons: I could post silly questions and get answers. I critiqued excerpts from other people WIP's (don't hate me!) I was critiqued (my piece shredded to pieces, thank you, thank you!) I learned about grammar and about the writing process more than in any other place, and learned from critiquing. I learned about authors I've never heard before. I love the people here for their erudition, words of encouragement, humor ... for their willingness to share their knowledge and experience (thank you Uncle Jim, Maestrowork and all the others) with newbies. For everything. This is my school, I should say, my international school.
Adagio
you all
I see that the last entry is from July, so here I am now breaking the two months silence.
Like Eddyz and Andreea I am Romanian ( joined the R. thread where I said hello), born and raised there, living in the States for more than 22 years. Yeah, it's been that long, I can't even believe it myself! New York is my home now, working in the City at a big university, and living in the suburbs (according to the purists, I'm not even considered a new-yorker, but who cares, really?)
I was raised bi-lingual (Romanian and French), learned Russian in high-school and a little English picked up along the way, until I hit the customs at JFK airport when the guy at the desk wished me good luck in my new life - I knew then that without learning the language well, I'll never have any luck at all. So I went back to college here for a master degree and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
My WIP is a challenge I gladly embraced, knowing that I will never get published (wrong side of everything, age, language, ferocious competition, you name it). And yet, one dreams!
As you can see from the info below my avatar, I joined AW in 2006, the best literary forum so far. I love it here for a couple of reasons: I could post silly questions and get answers. I critiqued excerpts from other people WIP's (don't hate me!) I was critiqued (my piece shredded to pieces, thank you, thank you!) I learned about grammar and about the writing process more than in any other place, and learned from critiquing. I learned about authors I've never heard before. I love the people here for their erudition, words of encouragement, humor ... for their willingness to share their knowledge and experience (thank you Uncle Jim, Maestrowork and all the others) with newbies. For everything. This is my school, I should say, my international school.
Adagio
you all