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As a life coach, I help people make decisions that fit who they truly are and who they want to become
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A Lot Like Purple is my personal blog.
I'm the only person responsible for its content and the views and opinions expressed here are solely mines.
What I write doesn't represent my clients or any other group, organization or agency.

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Sunday, September 26, 2010

While dealing with (stupid) cultural stereotypes, repeat after me: I'm not Marlon Brando, you're not Marlon Brando

Apart from learning new words, the hardest thing for me while speaking German is to improve my pronunciation.
Italian and German are absolutely different from this point of view and Italian intonation is too sweet and melodic to fit well into German.

In Italian, there's no H at all, the vowels are often open, there's no 'ch' as in 'ich'.
I do phonetics exercises almost every day and I try very hard to speak properly, but my pronunciation is not perfect yet. But.


[Genial and stylish, even if he has nothing to do
with real Italian people and how they speak:
Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone
in The Godfather (1972) by Francis Coppola]

There's one thing I hate and find 100% idiot. When I meet new people and they discover I'm Italian, they start chanting two or three sentences in Italian by marking too many double consonants, overdoing intonation, and by gesturing in an exaggerated way, as if we were in a scene of The Godfather.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

How I'm learning German, one word at the time

German has a reputation for being a very difficult language to be learned as a foreign language.
Personally, I have not had too many problems while learning German grammar. My biggest problem is - still - how to increase my vocabulary.
In order to really learn the words and to use them effectively, you have to use them and to use them, you must already know them... a vicious circle which it's very difficult to escape from. At least for me.



I have also noticed that, if on a particular occasion, someone tells me a word I don't know yet and this word is perfect for describing the situation itself, I can learn it easily.
So today I learned a new word in German: Spinner. It can mean 'stupid, idiot, nutcase' and I guess I will remember it for a very long time.

PS. Thanks, Keegan!

Tags: Learning a language, Learning new words, Learning from experience

What to read next:
How to lose yourself in the mirror maze of a foreign language... 

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Friday, September 17, 2010

Tomorrow's the day: Hans Wurst Bio Vegan Restaurant's farewell concert, Feat. Mon Insomnie

Here we are. Tomorrow Hans Wurst will close for good with Mon Insomnie's concert (Praha/CZ). On Decks, DJ Joe le Taxi.
I do not know what time the concert starts, probably at 8 PM. 

[Mon Insomnie]

What I can tell you for sure is that tomorrow night Hans Wurst will remain open for the last time, until someone wants to celebrate.
I'll be there. How about you?

Tags: Hans Wurst Bio Vegan Restaurant, Vegan restaurants, Berlin, Mon Insomnie, Farewell

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Monday, September 13, 2010

My first book in German: "Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen"

I'm reading my first book in German, for my new German class: 'Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen' (lit. 'The taste of apple kernels'), a big bestseller in Germany.



Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen (Paperback)
by Katharina Hagena
Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2009
254 pp., ISBN 978-3462041491

I already read 'Der kleine Prinz' (engl. titl. 'The Little Prince') in German, but it 'doesn't matter', even if it's my favorite book.
To put it better, I already read 'The Little Prince' in Italian, English, and French so many times, so it doesn't matter because I know the text very well and reading a book I know so well it's obviously not as difficult as a book never read before.

I started today.
Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed for me.

Tags: Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen, Katharina Hagena, Literature, Learning German, Learning a language

Further information:
The Katharina Hagena's official website [in German]

What to read next:
A wonderful Google Doodle celebrates Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 110th birth anniversary

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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Mood: Accidentally in love (with Berlin)

Living 24/7 by speaking a foreign language it's very hard, sometimes.
You have to think in another language. To speak another language. To make yourself understandable while using another language.
Even if you're not sure you're saying something in the right way or even if you're sure you're having a misunderstanding. You simply don't have another choice, you have to.

[A courtyard in Berlin, Kreuzberg]

Once in a while all this is just too much. And it hurts. And when I have the impression that living while being lost in translation the whole time is too hard for me and I can't take it anymore, I just take a walk through the streets of Berlin and everything makes sense again.

Since centuries, writers, poets, songwriters and filmmakers talk about falling in love with a city, a place, a street. I'm deeply in love with Berlin.

Tags: Being an expat, Culture shock, Living in Berlin, Being in love, German language, Learning a foreign language, 

What to read next:

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