Large Item #2 charged to credit card: Korean language learning software from Rosetta Stone. It seemed unwise to pass up their Father's Day discount offer since they have a 6-month "no questions asked" return policy, so I guess I'm going to learn a third language! I just hope my latent Spanish knowledge will return one day if I ever get another chance to use it regularly.
Among the first details my brother got excited about when I told him I had decided to pursue this path was, "And Korean's not a tonal language!! Yeahh!" One of my personal favorite skills that he gained from his recent schooling in Mississippi is a new and deeper appreciation for language acquisition and grammar. Haha. :) Oh, I just used a smiley. I guess this is going to be a smiley-friendly 'blog, or at least not prejudiced entirely against them. The tone here is still a work in progress.
Conveniently, Korean writing primarily uses an "alphabet" system, though it does borrow some Chinese characters in specialized writing. It's cool though; several of the "letters" are shaped to somewhat represent the way the mouth is shaped to make that sound. The letter symbols are grouped by syllables, so if syllables gave you nightmares in elementary school, you may be in for some torture if you try to learn Korean. And enough with the linguistics lesson for now. With free overnight shipping, Rosetta Stone will provide many hours of language learning starting very soon.
On a reference note, I found an interesting webpage, Omniglot, which seems to provide a decent overview. I'm feel like I'm so in over my head though...! I know, get used to it! If I can actually start to pick up the basics though, think how helpful that skill could be! I could navigate to bathrooms and complain about the weather with the locals! Oh, other applications might exist too, I suppose.
Language learning will certainly provide more of a challenge in my late twenties than it did in my late teens, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
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