All Things Foreign

Wow Joan and I was grumbling about Welsh verbs earlier.

Favourite language and cuisine Italian. Speak French pretty fluently, fed up with French cuisine (stuck in time warp imo). Favourite foreign destination UK and Spain (to see my children and grandchildren).

I speak, with varying degrees of accuracy, several European languages but am only fluent enough in two to think in them. However, I have noticed unconscious physical changes when speaking in another language. I always stand or sit very straight when talking German and my voice, which is already quite low-toned, drops about an octave when speaking Spanish. As for Italian – I always flail my arms about when talking, to the detriment of nearby wine glasses, but Italian turns me into a veritable windmill.

Food. I love it all. Country, it has to be France. I think they have it all. Favorite place in France, the alps.

I'm just thinking how blessed we are to live within easy striking distance of mainland Europe, which seems to be the favourite area of most people. Why is it then, that so many of our young people head off for Australasia?

German language, has guts and feeling, none of this smooth alliterative French and Italian froth

Indian Cuisine, not local curry house cuisine, but beautiful freshly cooked vegetarian food, using the best ingredients.

Iceland, specifically, the Blue Lagoon. Heaven on earth, especially in the winter.

Agree with you about German, I like it but not as much as the Latin based languages. My late mother spoke it almost fluently and thought it was quite beautiful, she said Hitler damaged the image of the language because he worked himself up into such a frothing frenzy he gave the impression that the language couldn't be spoken without showering all in his immediate range in spit.

America.
Vietnamese food
Love them both !

Hello Nonu! Welcome back!

Ana , to you

As someone whose family language is German I was pleased to hear that so many GNetters liked it as a language. I was always drawn to it. I find it easy to pronounce it fits my throat and voice somehow.

I did it for 2 years at grammar school and dropped it to take an Art'O' level
Later I was able to build on it and now am absolutely bilingual. The only thing that floors me now are letters of condolence. It is difficult to hit the right note. I have few examples in my computer and use them.

I do like some German food, DH makes a lovely warm Bavarian potato salad, and it goes perfectly with pork or sausages.
I like the sound of the Italian language, and like their food but it if you look what the Italians have on their plates, I realise that mine is an European taste.
What I most like about Germany is the abundance of cultural events even in a small town like mine. If you want to listen to a bit of Bavarian beergarten music and atmosphere then try UTube

Morgens halb zehn in wunderschönen Bayern - dann passierte DAS

I really like the parts of the US I've been to and I think I could actually contemplate living there if I couldn't stay here. My favourite country is the UK, for the scenery, the people, the democratic system of government, history and traditions, radio and TV, art galleries, museums.......I very much like Japan but have to admit I find the written language difficult. Public transport is clean and completely reliable, people offering a service do so cheerfully and efficiently, people are pleasant and polite and the country has a lot in common with the UK in terms of history and tradition.

I am fluent in French, and with my classical languages, they means I can have a go at most Romance languages. I can get the gist of some German because of my very hazy Anglo Saxon, but that's about it.

We have travelled extensively in the States, and I do love the country for its sheer variety, but my heart is in Africa - South Africa and Burkina Faso are all I have visited so far, and I hope to go back to SA when the knee is fixed! And this country is so special too; we have lived in many parts of it during the time with the army. Where I live now, in Devon, is lovely. Wet, but lovely.

I love Indian and Italian food - as a vegetarian there are lots of choices for me.

Italian is the most beautiful language in the world, in my opinion. Most words end in a vowel which gives it the lovely musical quality. I can speak enough to make myself understood, but would love to be fluent. I watch Italian t.v and have been to classes, also love Italian music.
It's hard to get a bad meal in Italy as long as you avoid places with a tourist menu and eat where the locals do, so it is my favourite cuisine.
Favourite destination at the moment is USA to visit our girls, but we do love Italy and Sicily which are very easy to get to from our home in Malta.

French language so lilting and romantic
French cuisine
Two favourite cities - Venice - been 4 times couldn't believe I was actually
there the first time, it's wonderful. Watching people
dancing to the orchestras in St Marks Square at night,
magical
And Seville - been a few times - so pretty and such a lovely, laid back lifestyle with all the Tapas bars and wonderful cathedral
Also love Amalfi coast and Lakes Garda and Como

My favourite language is Russian and favourite destination is St.Petersburg.It is steeped in history and there is so much to see there.
I don't like Russian food though. My favourite has to be Mexican.

Italian, Italian and Italian for me. As my husband's family is Italian I may be biased of course Wonderful scenery, wonderful food and the best coffee in the world.

I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to visit some of the countries everyone is talking about. I am (sadly) not well travelled. I always thought that having my children very young would pay off in the long run and that in my forties and fifties I would have time to myself. Sadly not to be as now I have the younger and the older generations to look after.

I would love to join in though, by adding that my favorite food is Italian and/or Spanish Tapas (I love picking at little bits rather than having one huge meal) I would dearly love to visit Italy and the only language I speak fluently is English (although I have surprised myself with how much French I can actually remember from school) .

You're not the only one, gillybob. I'm almost ashamed to admit that last summer was the first time I'd ventured from theses shores. My late DH wouldn't travel outside the UK - it took me 37 years to get him as far as Scotland! And I have always been terrified of flying. Last year I bit the bullet and flew for the first time; to Italy. Now I wish I could afford to travel more.

I agree, not everyone is lucky enough to go abroad and then lucky enough to see the 'real' side of the country they are visiting. The main advantage is to see the UK more clearly. You appreciate your home country and also see its faults. You see things better done in some countries, but you experience very often how things should NOT be done!
One thing is certain living in a foreign country, fully integrated is not at all like being a tourist. You suffer a lot of homesickness in the beginning and things like Butcher's shops are a minefield. Finding your way through the school system, knowing what is expected from Kindergarten parents etc. its a continuous battle sometimes.
DH was then a practising catholic and as the time approached for DD1's first communion I just made HIM go to the parents evening with his note book and pencil. Well he went and came home with one thing written down.
If its cold then the girls should wear white tights!
The rest remained a mystery, but I got through that as well.

I speak (reasonably) fluent French and Spanish. I have always absolutely loved the sound of French, right back from my schooldays when I couldn't understand a word of it. I really like the French people too, who I have always found so helpful and friendly, despite their reputation. And France is so vast and varied that I think anyone would be hard pushed not to find a place there that they loved.
That said, I've only ever visited France and Spain, so I don't have a lot of places to choose a favourite from.

Recently I've been trying to teach myself Russian, but I have to admit that I am finding that hard-going. I'm not sure if that's because it's more complicated than French and Spanish, or because of my age - I suspect a combination of the two.
I have only met three Russian people (DS2's partner, her mother and her grandma) and they are all lovely, and they have prepared some delicious Russian food for us on a couple of occasions!

I can think of individual dishes from lots of countries that I like, but I don't really have a favourite foreign cuisine.

Absent:

What you said about the physical / vocal changes that we adopt when speaking other languages is something that I have noticed too!

In French, I become higher pitched, especially at the end of sentences, while in Spanish my voice becomes more gravelly, more throaty. As for waving the arms around, when I returned to England after 8 months in Gran Canaria, for quite a while I had to sit on my hands when talking to people. It was the only way I could control them (the hands, that is, not the people!)

No such changes yet when trying to speak Russian, though it's very early days. One thing I have discovered (sorry to stray off-topic) is that I can't drive the car and attempt to speak Russian at the same time - I find myself waiting at green lights and totally oblivious to speed limits. Not to be recommended. My brain clearly isn't big enough to do those two things at the same time, even though I never had that problem with French or Spanish.

Just needed to add that our trips to Africa were all to do with either irrigation/ other water projects / educational volunteers funded by Rotary. We were assessing the outcomes, which were excellent. (And yes, we paid our own fares.)

Can understand French and get by speaking it. Same with Italian. Italian is probably my favourite. I love Italy as a country and their food is wonderful. But I also love French, Indian and Arabic cuisine.

Language has to be Greek, have trouble with it but just about get by as long as no technical terms are used, followed closely by French. Food has to be French & Cypriot (in itself a mixture of Greek, Lebanese, Ottoman and Arabic) very tasty and diverse. Favourite destination has to be anywhere that offers a degree of culture, antiquity and history, preferably classical.