So if you have any knowledge at all of the Spanish language (I'll get to Romanian in a moment...) you know that all nouns fall under either masculine or feminine. Thus, the house is "la casa," the white house is "la casa blanca," and the car is "el carro," the black car is "el carro negro," etc. So depending on if the noun is masculine or feminine the article is either "el" or "la," with the exception of very few words like "agua (el agua)," "mano (la mano)," etc. To make the nouns plural you simply add an "s" on to the end of the article and the noun and the adjective if there is one. Easy.
Well, Romanian also has masculine and feminine, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE NEUTRAL. There are different articles for masculine, feminine (not anything compared to "el" and "la") and they are not just converted in to plural by adding an "s" at the end of the words. To throw another wrench in the deal, if the noun is a singular neutral noun, it uses a masculine article. If the noun is a plural neutral noun, it uses a feminine article. Don't even ask me for examples. That would involve me having to walk to the other room and try and decipher my notes from yesterday's lesson. Maybe once (if) I master it I'll give examples.
Throw in definite and in-definite ("a dog" vs. "the dog"), and my head about exploded.
It's ok, though. Both of my teachers have told me that I'm learning very quickly, that I'm the only Spanish-speaker trying to learn Romanian that their language institute has ever had, and that I have perfect pronunciation.
On another note, Monday I got my first realization of living alone (to answer your question, Amanda, yes, I'll be living by myself permanently from what I understand but sometimes I might have company for a bit...). See, I had gone down to the store to buy a few groceries and picked up the only jar of salsa they had. When I went to open it later on that evening, I COULDN'T GET IT OPEN. And there was no one here to open it for me!! So I just put it back in the fridge and hoped someone would be coming over soon that could get it opened. Fortunately, on Tuesday after my big trip to IKEA, someone came over and I remembered to ask her to help me open it. What a blessing.
The Salsa is not Pace's, or from any amazing Mexican restaurant in Texas, but it works.
Ok. Enough for now. Sorry for the long post, I just don't have anyone to talk to :).
Love y'all!
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6 comments:
Now my head is about to explode too. So what is the Romanian word for pluscuamperfecto? That's always fun. No roomie = more blogging = happy readers!
I remember those days! Hang in there, it will be over with before you know it!
Today I prayed that God would let your brain slow enough to grasp concepts and hear all the sounds. I pray that God will give you the gift of tongues. The tongue of a new language!
Love you and I'm praying for you.
Aunt Viola
Make your own salsa in a blender. That way you don't have to complain about either the salsa, or about trying to open it.
When I found out you were going to Romania, my first thought was "oh, she'll have no problem picking up Romanian." It sounds like you're doing okay.... you're like me with the exactness of everything, but at least you're well on your way to being understood. I would totally make IKEA a language lesson, but I'm a big nerd.
oh girl, i remember leaving Tx and really missing the tex mex and yummy salsa too, but at least it gives you a new appreciation for it! You will master the native tongue...i will be praying for that. love, L
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