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Actually, I love to learn languages, as long as I don't have one of three things happen (they have in the past, that's why I know of these three specifically):

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1. The teacher doesn't "bitch me out" for using the "wrong" dialect (I took less than a sememster of Hebrew here, and I was using Ashkenazit [which I'm used to] instead of Sephardit. She told me that Ashkenazit is a dead dialect so I HAVE to use Sephardit since it's the "official" dialect. :p)

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2. The textbooks aren't over 25% "wrong" (Russian class from 1984-1985. Close to 95 % of the words and phrases aren't used in Russia, but we [meaning the students] paid $85 for the textbooks. The professor didn't like the exasperated tirade I went through. I'll e-mail the general contents of the tirade if you're interested.)

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3. The people I encounter are willing/able to understand that I really don't know much of their language, but am willing to learn within reason (Holiday Folk Fair, an ethnic festival here in Milwaukee, is a GREAT place to encounter people who actually speak the different languages and eat stuff that they probably eat "over there" [I would kill for a good falafel, spanakopita or buffalo/venison sandwich on Navajo fry bread during the festival].) :)

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There's an old saying: "Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought it back to life." I'm the cat that curiosity killed when it comes to languages and similar information.

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btw, the first two words in my signature (after my name) is my name translated into Gaelic. If you would like, I'll try to translate yours into Gaelic (but it'll take some time.) I'm currently trying to translate mine into Japanese. :blush:
Phyllis (aka Sidhe Uaine or Gaia Euphoria)