Learning The Ways of Belgium! I know that I promised to write in this more often, but getting a visa for another country is hard work! I have spent the last two weeks in a "socialization course" that I was required to take to keep my legal status in Belgium. The course was a "mixed bag," as we say in American English; it contained both useful and interesting information, as well as information that was not so helpful. :) I did learn many interesting things about the Belgian courts, Belgian social customs, Belgians laws, and Belgian history! I find this country very fascinating. I think that my favorite thing to learn in this class was about Belgian history, and the Belgian kings. Because the United States (my home country) has never had a monarchy, it was a different history than my own country. I was surprised when I learned that the Belgian royal family began in Germany, and not in Belgium (the first Belgian king was a German man, and he didn't even want the job!). But, much like the United States during the Civil War era, Belgium has two different cultures struggling to live together: the Walloons (in the south part of Belgium) and the Flemish (in the north part of Belgium). Though there is definitely a German culture in Belgium as well, it is far, far smaller than the other two groups. There is a constant battle between the more French-speaking culture and the Dutch-speaking culture, and the way that this affects politics and infrastructure in the country is very interesting to me. I am excited to be back from my classes though, and I am happy to be working with my students again! ================================================ As promised, I wanted to give an interesting English "tidbit" in each of my notebook entries. Here it is! This one is nice and short. Many new English speakers make a few of the same sound-related mistakes time and again. So I thought I would pick out one tough sound, and hopefully you can practice on your own! "Th" This sound is very difficult to master, because not many languages use it like English does. Even Germanic language speakers have trouble, and English comes from old German! Remember: *Don't confuse "t" (which is a short, hard sound that stops) with "th" (which is much softer and does not stop as abruptly). *Don't use a "z" sound. They are not the same! The "z" sound is made with your tongue behind your teeth. "Th" is made with your tongue between your teeth.

Time to learn Dutch! Hello italki community! After a very long wait, I'm finally read to start with my Dutch. My boyfriend and his family are helping me learn. It seems like I'm starting a little late, considering I've already moved to Belgium, but better late than never! Right now, my biggest problem is my pronunciation. I have a lot of trouble with my "r" sounds, especially. I learned Spanish in high school, and I roll my "r's" like a good Spanish student. But, the Dutch/Flemish "r" is just not the same. I can't make that sound to save my life! My boyfriend is being very patient with me though, and hopefully I'll start to understand. The toughest word I've learned so far is "to write" in the "they" form: schrijven. Yikes! I now know exactly what it feels like to be just beginning a new language, and I really hope that I can apply all that I'm learning about challenges and frustration to my teaching. I know it's tough, guys, but we can do it! ===================================================================== I promised a grammar tip with each of my entries, and this week is no exception. Since I am learning determiners in Dutch right now, I thought I'd give a tip about "a" vs. "an" vs. "the" this time. When do we use these determiners? "A"- we use "a" when we want to signal that there is one of something. Also, it's not the *only* one of that thing. And, to make things a little more confusing, we only use "a" if the thing we combine it with starts with a consonant or sometimes a "u". Here are some examples: 1) I wrote a book last year. 2) There's a bus that goes to that neighborhood. 3) Have you thought about going to a university? "An"- we use "an" in the same way we use "a." The only difference is that we use "an" for things that begin with vowels (a, e, i, o, or sometimes a "u"). Some more examples: 1) Do you have an apple I could eat? 2) You must think I'm an idiot! 3) I gave my friend an ultimatum: stop calling me names or we can't be friends! "The"- we use "the" when we want to signal that we are talking about one of something, and we know it is the *only* one of something (at least in our close area). Just a few more examples: 1) Do you know the way to the store? (we assume there is ONE right way, and only ONE appropriate store) 2) Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower? 3) Turn the computer off! Cheers! Dani