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Category Archives: Language
Learning German with Hamlet
I am always impressed when someone manages to learn German. It’s not the easiest of languages – though not the hardest, either – and every 50 kilometers or so, it is pronounced in a completely different way. Even I, as … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Europe, Germany, Language, Travel
Tagged Patrick Leigh Fermor, Shakespeare
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One Hundred Years Ago, Belgium became the most Complicated Country in Europe – July 1921: Language Border between Wallonia and Flanders
Zur deutschen Fassung. The inability to form a new government quickly after an election is usually associated with failed states such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or the USA. However, the record for the longest time needed to form a government … Continue reading
Posted in Belgium, Germany, History, Language, Politics, World War I, World War II
Tagged elections, Louvain-la-Neuve
18 Comments
Post-Pandemic Plans
Zur deutschen Fassung. As a friend of alliterations, once the pandemic is over, I will go on pilgrimage to Petra, hitchhike to the Himalayas, walk to Waziristan, go to Giza, travel to Tirana and take the train to Tehran as … Continue reading
Posted in Language, Travel
14 Comments
Lost in Translation
I am not one to argue that you should only visit countries of which you speak the language. If I was, I wouldn’t have made it to 65 countries or so myself. But speaking the language does increase the experience. … Continue reading
For my Chinese readers
Writing a blog for an international audience is very complicated. People in California are never awake when I write in Europe. People in Australia and Argentina are reading it upside down. And in China, when you want to access my … Continue reading
In the Foreign Legion
Diesen spannenden Insider-Bericht gibt es auch auf Deutsch. A few years ago, the desire for education reared its nosy head again, remembered the high school from which I had graduated decades before, and was in deep and mournful regret that … Continue reading
A Chinese in Vienna
During some meeting of some committee of some sub-organization at the United Nations in Vienna, I got to know a young lady from China. Qian was doing an internship as a simultaneous interpreter for Mandarin and English. Simultaneous interpreters are … Continue reading
Flowery Warnings on the Flower Islands
Diesen Artikel gibt es natürlich auch auf Deutsch. Einfach hier klicken. The Azores are also known as the Flower Islands, probably because belladonna lilies, bougainvillea, hydrangea, crane flowers, agapanthus, goldenrods and hibiscus are everywhere. But the language is at least as … Continue reading
“How are you?”
Someone: How are you? Me: Confused. Someone: Oh. I am sorry to hear that. Me: No, that’s OK. I am studying philosophy. When I first went to Israel on a youth exchange program, I stayed with a family in a … Continue reading
Posted in Canada, Israel, Language, Life
25 Comments
Belgium goes into extra time
Those who are familiar with the weather in Belgium will understand why everyone here wants to leave for vacation as much as they can. That creates an enormous demand for house sitters and cat carers. Hence, immediately after house sitting … Continue reading
Posted in Belgium, Language, Politics, Travel
Tagged Antwerp, Brussels, Chastre, housesitting
2 Comments
The Happy Hermit 