Learning a new language isn’t easy. At least for me it’s not. Some people seem to be able to glance at a phrase book and be fluent in 30 days. Me, not so much, it can take years …. it can be tedious poring over phase books, listening to cassettes (see how old I am??), memorizing lines that will never come up in a conversation … you get the picture. But I love languages. And I’ve found that some of the best ways to learn (for me, anyways), can be found on the Internet; read newspapers, watch television broadcasts, listen to everyday life, the list goes on. And my favorite way to learn a foreign language …movies and tv series with sub-titles. This year, on Netflix alone, I’ve watched shows in Spanish, French, Icelandic, and Norwegian. And I have a list of shows that I’ll be watching later in German and Italian. Now, sometimes the dialogue is so fast that at first I only understand 50% of the spoken words … but the sub-titles and the visuals make everything clear … and the learning experience is extremely enjoyable. This year so far I’ve watched … in Spanish … Narcos (both Columbia and Mexico), El Chapo (great series, and we traveled to Sinaloa this past March), Money Heist (Casa di Papel – wow, wow, wow, wow, wow – can’t wait for season 4 next year), Gran Hotel (just started, but excellent series, kind of like the Spanish Downton Abbey) … in Icelandic … Trapped (two excellent seasons, and the scenery is spectacular) … in Norwegian (and English) … Lilyhammer (okay, the third time, but I love the show … hilarious with Steven Van Zandt) … in French … Family Business (first season, hilarious, can’t wait for season 2). I do about 2 hours a day learning languages plus watching these shows, and oh, yeah, my day job also … so it’s been a busy year so far.
“Parlez vous a humma, humma?” – Cheech and Chong fans will remember this from their ‘70’s comedy routines … or their 2018 animated movie.