Tuesday 3 February 2009

Learn a new language

I just recently observed that the difference between a native speaker of a language (or a particular dialect of a language) and a person who has picked it up at a later stage is not of vocabulary or even of grammar - but of idioms. A native speaker has access to irrational (or what have, by now, come to be irrational) idioms.

Take for instance 'twinkle in one's eye' and 'stars in one's eyes'. Idioms for a native speaker are just a long word.

Among the things I'd like to do are -
a) Learn a new language - vocabulary, grammar, idioms, and all
b) Learn how to play a musical instrument
c) Learn how to swim
d) Be really really REALLY good at something... anything... anything useful.

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