Old Dog, New Trick

On a recent trip to Italy I realized that there was only one thing missing that could have enhanced what was truly a fabulous experience:  being able to speak the language.  It was a bit of a last minute trip (if last minute translates to booked it six weeks ahead) so I didn't have much hope of becoming fluent in Italian before I went (unless fluent translates to smiling and nodding at everything that is said.)

Then I discovered the Pimsleur Language Programs on CD at my local library.  I was getting really really good at saying, "I don't understand Italian" (in Italian, of course) but before I knew it, six weeks were up and I was on a plane heading to bella Italia, resigned to smile and nod my way across the country.

Things are going to be different this time.  I've got over eight months to study, I've got my Pimsleur Spanish CD's, and according to the box, "At the completion of these lessons you will be able to comfortably understand and speak Spanish with native speakers."  The user manual touts it as "the world's most effective method for teaching foreign languages."  High praise indeed.  The manual also disses the way we were all taught language in school.  Apparently low marks in school are no barometer for language aptitude and good marks probably means that what you learned will likely prove useless in the real world.  Now they tell us.

But I do have a smidge of French to fall back on which I'm hoping will help with the Spanish.  Because here's an interesting comparison I hit on:  if 1 = 100% similar and 0 = well...0% similar, then English is only .27% similar to French and 0% similar to Spanish and Italian, while French and Spanish are .75% similar, Spanish and Italian are .82% similar and French and Italian are .89% similar.  So the way I figure, I learn Spanish, I'll also be able to get by in Italian.

'Cause a return trip there is definitely on my list...you know the one I'm talking about.


Book Review:  Reading Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box got me thinking about that age old question of genetics vs environment.  Not that Hill's book is about either of those things, far from it.  But Hill being the spawn of Stephen King makes me wonder if he can write like he does because his father can write like he does, or if it comes from growing up in a storytelling family. Look at pro athletes whose kids end up pro as well -- do their kids have the skill because they share DNA or because they were encouraged to excel?  Does musicality run in families because of genetics or exposure?

But back to the book.  It goes from zero to sixty in the first few pages and the accelerator stays pushed to the mat to the very end.  Sometimes I had to put it down just to get a break from the constant tension.  Hill created a pretty unlikeable fellow in his main character, Judas Coyne, and then made me root for him right from the get go.  That's talent.  If you like genre fiction, are willing to suspend belief to get caught up in the story, then this could be the book for you.  As for me, I think I've found an author whose work I'm going to follow for a very long time.