(no subject)

[icarus]

I owe responses to comments on my random Buddhist rant, but you guys are too deep for me on a Friday night.

Good news though. The financial aid fiasco is (knock wood) over. Done. Finito.

I called the school and they were mystified, two people said there was no record of a problem (yes, I've learned to call and get confirmation from at least two separate voices). They researched it, and said, "It must be someone goofed and then fixed whatever they did in the system."

*kisses entire financial aid department* Thank goodness. You know, I've really grown to like these guys?

This coming Wednesday I'll be sitting in a chair, scribbling notes and studying Sanskrit at 9:30am. As I quietly hyperventilated over what a difficult language I was about to tackle (harder than Latin, easier than Chinese) someone told me, "Yeah. But the nice thing about dead languages is you don't have to learn how to speak it."

Of course, the speaking is usually the easy part, because spoken language is like music. Imitate it like a child learning Do Re Mi and you'll pick it up very quickly.

Memorizing zillions of declensions-? I think I'm in trouble. *starts doing Manjusri mantras as my only hope*

Comments

[blackletter]

I advise you to say the declensions out loud. Turn it into a chant. It worked wonders for Greek. (Which I've heard is pretty much like Sanskrit in terms of difficulty. But since I don't know Sanskrit or Chinese...all I can say it that Greek's *definitely* harder than Latin.)

I had my Latin students chant the irregular verbs in class, too. It seemed to work well for them. Even the less studious students remembered their irregular verb forms.

/unasked for advice

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Wonderful advice. I will do exactly that. *nods* *files this away under words of wisdom*

I've learned that if you sing immediately before studying spoken language (learning a song by listening) -- you'll pick up the intonation much more quickly.

Icarus

[emeraldjay.livejournal.com]

I'll agree on chanting Latin declensions. My Latin teacher had us chant the endings for male nouns, versions of me and you; just about everything really. I can still remember much of what I learned 13 years later.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Cool. *nods*

Also, Fred? Love the icon.

Icarus

[emeraldjay.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I stole it from someone on my f-list who got it from someone... repeat ad infinitum