I live in with family between two worlds, US and Europe where I create tools for language learning. If you found my site you probability share my passion to be a life long learner. Please explore my site and comment.
Have you ever dreamed in a foreign language? This is my personal experience with dreams and I am curious about yours.
My dream experience
I often dream in the Polish language as I have lived here for a while. My Polish is good but not perfect. When I dream at a subconscious level I am pretty pleased with myself when I am speaking Polish (although I am not aware it is a dream). Why? Because the native speakers in my dreams always understand what I say perfectly. Further, I understand them perfectly. In my dreams (both literally and figuratively), I am like a native speaker in this foreign language. Both in speaking and comprehension and I never need a dictionary.
However, when I recant a dream dialogue to my wife who is a native speaker she laughs. This is because the native speakers in my dreams were making the same grammatical mistakes that I make when I am awake. I wonder why. It takes the wind out of my sail a little as in my dream world I am equipment and people are charmed by my linguistic skills.
A dream is really a dialogue with yourself. Therefore, there is perfect comprehension of the spoken word.
Some people believe that you can tap into the collective unconsciousness and access information and even language information. For me that is a little more speculative. However, this much can be said. If you are dreaming in a foreign language then you are doing well.
Can you use dreams to learn a foreign language?
Can dreams help you learn a language?
To remember dreams keep a dream journal by your bed. When you wake up write down all your dreams even in sketch form. When I did this, I could remember several a night in detail and often stream of conciousness one leads into the other.
As you are drifting to sleep try to suggest to yourself to dream in your foreign language.
Read up on lucid dreaming and try to use this in language learning.
During the day start thinking in your foreign language, even change your inner dialogue or create dialogues in your mind in a foreign language.
The purpose of dreams or day dreams in a foreign language is not a grammar drill, school or exercises, so it does not matter if you are making mistakes. The idea is to get more of your brain online linguistically.
You are smarter than you think. Intelligence and ability is really teaching the brain to access more of the raw material which is latent and waiting for you to develop.
Let me know your thoughts about day dreams, dreams, lucid or deep or even fantasies in foreign language and your experiences. When does your imagination take you linguistically. Do you think imagination is a connection with a deeper reality? I think conscious cognitive thought is like an iceberg, only about ten percent of the mind is conscious and seen on the surface. The other 90% is something that is largely untapped for its potential.
I believe in the hard way to learn a language. I believe in doing such things as sitting down and either listening to the radio for a few hours a day in your target language or doing exercise in grammar books. I think there are many methods that will make studying easier to learn, such as music or travel or flashcards, but you have to approach it with persistence. In this post I will also tell you the easiest way to learn a language.
The hard way to learn a language
When I have a student tell me they are not making progress, I dump them with homework. I tell them to buy a book and do three chapters of grammar exercises a week and explain the ideas in the exercises to me. I also make them read a book in English and write papers on it. There is no way you will learn a language without learning that the responsibility rests on you. You are the one, not the teacher who is responsible for studying. Study every week for x number of hours and then go to class to practice. If you complain you are not good, ask yourself do you study five hours a day?
For most people they have the will and will take the hard way, but they do not have the time. Therefore it becomes a time management issue. Even for me I have not time to improve my Polish and I live in Poland. I know I have to go back to the old ways, the hard ways and make time and do it.
The easiest way to learn a language
My wife learned English just by speaking to me. It is an easier way then the above mentioned methods. She never studied English in school and spoke only a few words when we meet. I overloaded her with English until her brain hurt as I love to engage in conversation. Now she is fluent in English. I guess that can be called the easy way to learn a language.
If you are trying to learn a language on your own I would recommend tools to make it easier:
Make your own language flashcards and carry them with you. I have a box of several thousand words and phrases.
Download audio mp3s and use them. There are many places to go, such as the gutenburg.org. I am starting a free site with audio mp3s for language learning www.mp3languagelearning.com – If you send me files I can use them on the site.
If you religious read the entire Bible in your target language. By the time you finish you will speak the language
Buy a grammar book and do every exercises in the book and outline the rules
Practice with native speakers, that alone will help, if you are somewhere in the middle of Kansas try Internet chats.
I have notices women love to do grammar and book work while guys prefer conversation, ironically. Both are effective, but to work both need overload and work. This is why I believe in the hard way to learn a language. I think there are easy ways to learn a language, but you have to take those methods and apply them with will and determination. And again the easiest way to learn a language is fall in love.
A funny – correlation between language difficulty and women
There is a lot of attraction to learn the Polish language because Polish women are beautiful, I am just being honest. It is almost like the more challenging the language of a particular culture the more beautiful the women. It is almost like the more difficult the language the easier you will have it in life with regard to your wife. Think about it:
Polish, Russian and Czech women command a case based languages with pronunciation that is almost impossible. Yet they have a reputation of being wonderful wives. I would attest to this from first hand experience.
Arabic women are exotic and for western guys are perpetually out of reach because of cultural differences. Yet if you could access this language and culture you might be like Leonardo Dicaprio in that Middle Eastern movie.
Asian, Chinese and Japanese and Korean are slim and quiet and seem to stand in the shadows next to their men culturally. After feminism and man despairing in Western culture has gone amok, it is not bad to have an agreeable wife.
The reply in Polish is translated as ‘maybe because we speak such a difficult language.
In contrast I would say the Western European languages of English, Dutch, German have nice women, but perhaps I am too familiar with American and British women to have any ‘wow factor’. Of course this position is subjective and relative, however, I am curious if other expats and world travelers would agree. And if your an American girl do not take offense this is just for fun.
So you are adventurous and seek love and stories you will be able to recant when you are old and grey, you had better hone and tone your linguistic skills more than your body. Hit your local language lab or get some mp3s more than you pumping iron at the gym.
Do not believe me do your own survey of language tutors on YouTube and tell me which ones have the cordialter instructors.
Tell me the most difficult language and I will tell you where the beautiful women are hiding
Mr. Spock would say ‘fascinating’. Polish has beautiful girls we know this but do you know what obstacles face the student ? You want to see how many forms one Polish word might take? Well here it is Polish by a long way. This language is a linguistic nightmare, it is even harder than Chinese or Japanese (which have very little grammar) or Arabic (which has only three baby cases).
Please consider the exhibit below. It is only one word, but contains many forms.
This is clearly the most difficult language to learn
What are you kidding me? There are like over 100 forms, you can count them. This is one Polish word. It is the word ‘to read’. Every word in Polish must agree with the other words in the sentence, therefore, there are almost an infinite number of combinations in one sentence.
The pronunciation is very hard and people in this central European country speak very soft. I would say to learn the Polish language it is equivalent to learning several other European languages. This especially goes for English speakers.
The language can be studied and spoken but only if you have the right attitude. The right attitude is, you do not have to speak it perfectly to communicate, rather focus on vocabulary and you have to be patient.
Please like this post on Facebook as it helps spread the conversation about languages right now if you can.
The good news about being an expat and languages
Eventually all languages will go in your brain, even the most challenging. If you are an American or a Brit and you want to live abroad, I usually recommend Poland because of the high standard of living compared to the price index, the exotic factor that it is not somewhere like Canada, which is beautiful but the same as your own country, the warmth of the people welcoming you, and the attractive girls. However, to sweet talking girls in their native language, beyond the guttural slang and swear words primitives seem to parrot, it is a little more challenging. Eloquence in speech, partially with the opposite gender takes.
Check out my other posts on this site and please I need the help, just like this post.
What inspired you to get up this morning? What makes you tick during the day? Well, hmm, even though this is a language learning site, it is still my personal blog. The purpose of this post is to share with you some of my ‘other’ interests.
You can see what some of my other strange somewhat eccentric interests are. Most are about languages and love.
I know business professionals would cringe that I have mixed business and pleasure but I prefer to keep it real. I like real and sincere not commercial. I like unpretentious.
I have a few blogs on this site about my other interests. Claritaslux its more a site based on my personal experiences in life rather than some commercial site; even though I am writing innovate and professional language learning programs.
Some of my posts have created rather heated debates. Most are connected with language learning and a few are about crazy things like beauty and love and citizenship and me being an expat.
Hardest language to learn – This has almost 500 comments and is one of my personal favorite posts about languages, it is short and to the point but the best is to read other people’s input as to the most difficult language to learn.
EU citizenship – How to get an EU citizenship, how I did it and maybe you can too.
Amish language – The Amish sure have an interesting language, read all about it.
EU driver’s license – Living in the EU like I do is great (I get to practice my languages), however, if I want to get to point A to B I might need something else. I might need an EU driver’s license. Find out what the requirements are and if you need one and how to get one.
Best country to start a business – Where is the best place to start a business? If you said the US or Canada think again. Do not just read something in the economist magazine or something that some accounting firm like PWC write, take from someone who is in the trenches.
What is attractive on a girl – This part of my site is more for fun, yet the debates arround this whole section are perhaps the most intense. I started this part of my site because I am truly happy in love and marriage and wanted to share some insights, but it has taken on a life of its own.
Love phrases – If you want to know how to say I love you in French or Spanish or Italian, the this is the page to go to. I created a resource for love phrases in several languages.
I love you in Polish – My wife actually wrote this, she is Polish and it is pretty good for a none native speaker of English. In fact she never studied English, rather she just fell in love with me. Maybe this is the best way to learn a language.
How I learned a language – This is a great personal account of how one person learn a language from ground zero to fluency. The introduction I wrote is a little language but parts 2, 3 and 4 are worth reading if you have an interest in languages and how to really achieve your linguistic dream.
Slavic languages – My world is East of the Oder river. If you are curious about the Slavic world and its languages this is a must read.
This site has many tentacles. I hope that you will not only check out the individual posts, but also the related posts at the bottom of each posts, as there are many sections on this site that are valuable and are under appreciated.
Many people ask me why I live in Europe? Why do you live where you do? If it is because you were born in your country, wrong answer.
When you are 96 years old are you going to look back on your life and say you wish you had more adventures? I live in Krakow, Poland but was born in the US. I am not saying everything everyday is wonderful and super terrific, however, it is beautiful. Life in American is easy, life in Eastern Europe is beautiful. What do you want an easy life or a beautiful life?
I think if you ever get the chance to live abroad do it. I live in Europe because living in Europe in general I can experience so many things that I can not in the United States.
Day in the life of some expats in Europe
First here are some hots of what I did today living in Europe (sorry I left my good camera at home, maybe next time). I guarentee on a Tuesday afternoon in the USA you were not doing the same.
Life in Europe is beautiful
I know there are Middle Age fairs in the USA and reenactors etc. I know the USA has history, but Poland and espcially Krakow where I live has so much history, almost everyday I step out my door and there is something new. If you not in Krakow you feel like your missing something.
This is what it is like to life in Europe. What are you doing today?
Further in the USA everyone, myself included is so programmed to be a career warrior that smelling the roses means taking your laptop to Starbucks from time to time. No way. This is not my idea of living my life. people in Poland and in Europe in general take time to smell real roses and gather a few rose buds while they are at it. Perhaps it will change but Europe is an interesting place to live.
Life is fun living abroad
I think the split in European and American thinking came from the enlightenment. America took the pragmatic approach while Europe the Romantic lifestyle.
Sometimes you have to fight to survive as an Expat living in Eastern Europe
I am American and like all of us we for formatted like a hard disk to succeed and win, especially in business or on our Resume. In Europe it is quite OK to be poor. However, it is not OK if you do not take your two months of vacation in the summer.
Live a life of adventure
Life here also has a mystical side.
Life is a mysterious and beautiful when you are living the life you want
I hope you enjoyed some of these hots I took of the Medieval fair in Krakow I went to yesterday.
If you think living in Europe is about going to the pub and sitting in cafes you are wrong. If you think your life is about working for your resume , career or for your company you are lost. Companies will change you one way. Living in Europe will change you in another way. If you can ever pull yourself away from the Matrix and live as an abroad as an expat do it. Sometimes my days are harder than in the USA. But other days like when I stepped outside my door and spent the afternoon walking through living history, life is beautiful. The choice is yours. You can take the blue pill or the red pill. What choice are you making in your life?
I am a guy and I do not care what some woman’s magazine says is the most attractive color on a girl. I do not know even how to match hair color, skin tone with clothing colors. However, I can tell you one thing. What colors for women are the most attractive. I would say this is pretty universal so it applies if you are a blonde, red head or brunette. Why do I know? I am a guy.
I have read countless articles on the web about color and attraction. Most of these articles are recycled from Cosmopolitan magazine etc. Most of them are pure nonsense and they are written to take up space or from a girl’s view-point when looking at girls. Do you want to attract girls? Nope. If you want to know that guys like in terms of clothing color here it is.
Most flattering colors for women
If you disagree or do not think one color fits all think again. One palette works magic in terms of beauty and is universal in terms of matching hair and skin.
Red – the most attractive color for accent. Red lipstick and red shoes. Do not over do it and wear a red dress. I even question the use of a red purse. If you use red lipstick for men it goes right to the source. The best is a strong red. It goes right into their brain’s and spells attraction. Similarly red shoes, even if you are wearing jeans you will get noticed.
Black – no surprises here, look at the models, they mostly wear black. It makes you look thin and attractive to any many.
Transparent – yes girls that know who to wear semi transparent tops will get attention and you can wear a blue bra underneath for example.
Earth tones this is the best color for love and attraction for women. I am sorry with American girls that dress up everything is a bit too flashy for my taste. I remember when yellow was in a couple of years ago, ugh. Some girls wear purple pants because they read etherically it is optimal for arousing the brain of a male. Wrong all wrong. The best colors on women are these subtle earth tones. They work like a spell. They work better than a redhead with purple lipstick. Why? They invite guys to look at you and keep looking. Flashy striking colors give that wow for a moment, but then wear off. Or they have the adverse effect of gaining the man approach you like a bull. Not the desired effect. However, earth tones are programmed into a man’s brain to bring peace and happiness because man evolved in the forest. This is his natural biological programming. Earth colors are attractive colors for women and bring men to you.
Think about guys and video games. They get stimulated by all the color for a moment, but the reality is they do not want to stay there. And if they did, is that the guy you want to attract? Think about birds, the female bird used subtle or no color to attract the more flamboyant male.
Where I learned earth tones are the best color for women
I am an American living in Eastern Europe. In Eastern Europe women are really into earth colors and shades. I do not know why. Maybe it is connected with the weather, the sky being so gray or the forests and fields being so very green. However, the effect is this. Without the flashy ‘look at me’ styles and tones of the West, a Polish girl in jeans and some earthy colored tops attract more guys than any American girl.
Why earth colors are for girls who want love
A women who attracts men with colors and clothes with earth tones convey a message. She will get guys to take her more serious as her colors are more serious. She is not eye candy, but rather someone who a guy wants to look at and get to know. This princess is a diamond in the rough because the prospective male suitor took some time to hunt for notice her. This is all rooted in the deep-seated psychology connected the limbic part of the brain and emotions. She made him work to find her.
The purpose of this post is to objectively look at Rosetta stone reviews. The problem with reviews of any language program like Rosetta stone is the writers are not objective. I hope to not be partial or bias, when I offing my rating of this program.
Who writes opinions of Rosetta stone
There are three types of writers of reviews.
The first one is those promoting an array of language learning software companies, but does not make their own.
The second is a competitor of Rosetta Stone languages and trying to compare and contrast their product with the market leader.
There is a third category of people who are writing a guide of language learning products because they used it and they wanted to be useful to others. However, this category is the rarest.
I am in the second category. However, I am also in the third. I try to remain objective and clear on the pros and cons of this language course as I believe objectivity is the essence of intelligence and honesty is the best policy. If they create a better product, the onus is on me to improve mine rather than knock someone else. Further, at this juncture I do not sell any products yet as mine are being developed.
Pros of Rosetta stone
Easy to start using – you install and start using. Almost no learning curve to use the program.
Nice visual layout and good choice of colors, this keeps you interested.
Many level, like for example Rosetta Stone Spanish is a complete language course if you buy all the levels
I love the visual approach that can even be extended now to mobile. Who does not like to sit back and look at hots.
The idea is innovative
Many different OS and devices Rosetta Stone can be use on, I have yet to try to make it work on Linux, but will give it a try.
They are always adding more functionality and have recently included mp3 files.
Clear audio pronunciation of words and phrases with native speakers. Not all language programs use native speakers. For example, Transparent languages, which is a good company, but uses a Czech speaker for their Polish language course.
6 month return policy – most people will not do this, but it is nice policy from a respected company
Large Wall Street company (NYSE) whose ticker symbol is RTS if you want to buy the stock.
Cons of Rosetta Stone
Main Rosetta Stone review opinion – I have never known one person in my life, including myself that learned to speak or read a language with Rosetta Stone. I have taught languages for many years and know many who use the program, but none who have learned from using it. There might be some, but I have not met any. My friend George has Rosetta Latin and Spanish but despite spending over a grand, has made no forward progress. Perhaps it is because of sloth but maybe other reasons.
Program teaches no grammar and is confusing, maybe children can learn this way but adults think abstractly. If they were to learn this way they would need a lot of repetition.
Meaning of the images are unclear in some lessons but in others they are very interesting to look at
Written to teach English, not European or Asian languages that have a different grammar system. I tried the Polish course and it was really confusing. Poor design in terms of presenting a foreign translation of grammatical ideas so the learner can benefit.
Price is ridiculously high, I personally do not have the cash to pay for a the Rolex of language learning especially if I have not personally seen the results. Who has money like that, maybe in the 90s but now today?
Pure flashy marketing company with bright colors and eye candy but I doubt you will learn a language from it. They are masters at marketing and getting you to buy on an impulse with their colors. however, I have personally learned languages with flashcards but not with this linguistic software program, except some pronunciation as a very beginner.
Now as a large positive vote for Rosetta Stone languages, my competitor. Learning a foreign language with any program, language course or lessons is very hard work. The reason that Rosetta stone does not work might not be that the program is that bad, but people give up too soon. They pay the price and buy it on emotion but their commitment to learn their target foreign language is fleeting.
For example, my friend George did this. He paid 500 dollars for I think two levels of Spanish, now is not used. That is not Rosetta’s fault, they even offer a money back policy. I think the issue is, once you get past a few concrete nouns, abstract words and verbs really deflate many people’s motivation. Therefore, if you have will power and can afford the price, I think there is reasonable value with using Rosetta stone as long as you have the motivation to follow through and sit with it for an hour a day for six months. That is a very fair evaluation of Rosetta Stone. The free trial is not enough to apprise its effectiveness and make an informed decision, if it works or not.
My point is just do not pay and expect to learn, use it.
Rosetta Stone is rock solid in terms of programming, return policy and visual presentation but lacks in effectiveness – in my personal experience and opinion.
I do not want to end on a negative note. I have to say if you want to try anything by Fairfield Language Technologies here it is, I as a competitor am actually giving their site. I also make no money off of it, I provide it for you if you want to skip the ratings and got to rosettastone.com and reviews and go to their site. I would like to hear your experiences and ratings regarding this software, or any thoughts you might have. All positive feedback is very welcome as I want off this as a balanced analysis.
Do you want to know how to be attractive? This is a girls guide for looking good written by a man. I will do my best to give you a recipe for beauty.
Attraction is not a constant. At certain times in your life you will vary in attractiveness, depending on your ability to understand the ideals of beauty. Ugly in your teens or 20s often equates to being cordial the rest of your life. The key idea about if you want to know how to be attractive is as follows. Take a deep breath and relax. I can assure you one-hundred percent you are drop-dead gorgeous. I know this for a fact. You are a stunning dream in terms of physical look. I promise.
Why?
Evolution has brought your DNA this far.
God does not make mistakes.
I am a man of the world and I have never in my whole life seen a woman that was not beautiful. I mean that with all my heart.
If you have read my blog on love you already know what I have to say. However, in this post I will try to spell it out more clearly, from A to Z. If you do not like my opinion, tell me, but I am a guy, and I do not know you, therefore, I have no reason to lie. I do not promote any beauty products and I do not care if you listen to my advice, or believe it, I have no hidden agenda. I am sincere. I will tell you like it is. It is the way to be attractive to a man. Do not listen to all those lame beauty posts and claims by women magazine writers. They are wrong. Why they write such nonsense I have no idea. Here is how a girl can look good. I do not mean to shock you with my advice, but remember the fairy-tale about the ‘Emperors new clothes’? I will tell you how to look attractive.
The science of attraction is simple. The human body, through years of Divine directed evolution has been perfected to attract a mate. All you have to do is have an understanding of style and try to be skinny. But the first point is more important.
How to have great looking hair
Let start from on the top. Do not color or fry, perm or treat your hair in any way, unless there is a real need, like you are seventy years old all gray, then maybe.
Do not cut your hair. Let it grow natural and long. The best is to the small of your back, but certainly past your shoulders. I do not want to hear lame excuses it is too much work, you are a career woman, do you want to be beautiful or do you want to look whatever? I do not even like shoulder length hair. There is no rush for a guy when he sees a girl in a hair bob.
A bob is for your girlfriends to tell you, ‘oh that looks cute’. Are you going to date your girlfriends or do you want to be a princess and attract a prince? Maybe you do not have your ideal guy has something to do with you listen to your girlfriends and poor style advice?
Listen to me, I am a guy and happily married in Europe. I have no reason to tell you something other than the take it or leave it truth.
No short and sassy look. Men like long hair with a natural texture. I can not tell you how many girls give their beautiful hair the fried look.
Buy natural conditioners or make your own, or just natural soap. Do not spend too much money on hair products and nothing if you can with perfume. Natural is better, less is more. You do not need to wash you hair that often as it strips it of its natural oils, just once in a while.
Of course stay out of the sun and some sun tanning etc. Almost let zero sun touch your skin, think yourself a vampire or a classic English lady from the 18th century, pale and lithe. The sun destroys your skin like smoking does. This is so unattractive.
Take vitamins and eat right. Instead of spending money on hairdressers, conditioners that treats the surface, spend it on essential corpulentty acids and vitamins. Do the research yourself or ask me a question.
What is attractive on a girl comes from within not from a topical application, take care of your body from the inside out.
What is the most attractive color for women’s hair? Blond, brunette or red-head? None of the above. Natural. How do I know? I live in Eastern Europe and a lot of these students do not have the money to do the things Western American girls do, yet for some reason they look ten times better. Respect your natural color, I have heard mousey brown and dirty blond hair, guys really like, I do.
Do not obsess about body hair either. Hair on your chest maybe pluck it out, but do not stress about it. If you are going to the beach sure shave your legs, but we are mammals and mammals have hair. Do not feel you have to look like a child or angel to look good. Just the opposite. Men like women, with all their strange mammal scents and hair and imperfections, does this sound gross? It is not, do not be ashamed being a friendshipual creature who wants to attract a mate for love and children.
If you want to look good, lay off the perfumes that are in ever product. I rarely use deodorant and I am an athletic guy. I simply use natural soap, eat tons of yogurt.
Skin care how to look good
Try to give your facial skin a break from all perfume and make up also, maybe use some natural cosmetics, like from L’Occitane.
Want a cheap beauty treatment, take a bath with a honey mask. Just buy honey and read a book in the bath. really coat that honey on your face.
Let your skin breathe. Nothing looks unhigh as a women with makeup caked on. If you have a little acne, so what. Let your skin breathe and be clean. Guys do not mind girls with acne in my experience. Sound radical? I am a guy, why would I lie? If you have any other problem with your skin or face it is most likely in your mind. Really, I have seen girls with all kinds of skin problems but it did not affect them when if they want to attract a guy.
Spend money at a place like Whole foods or Bodyshop vitamin c 10% cream, rather than your off the shelf cream from some cosmetic company, even the best ones. I do no think they do anything. I have tried them all. But when I came back from the states and used some stuff I bought at Whole foods, people I make comments how my skin had changed. With any product to date by a cosmetic company, nothing has done anything.
If you wan to get crazy just try some red lipstick. Men like it.
Beauty diet – diet to look beautiful
Do not eat in restaurants or things in boxes and cans and bags. I live in Europe and I only buy from local farmers market or at least nothing in packages. I can not believe in the USA everyone is eating at restaurants and food in packages. In Europe, I almost never go out to eat and my wife cooks soap from scratch almost everyday. Take vitamins and eat a natural diet. You do not have to be a vegetarian, not at all, just no instant, prepared food.
Do not read too may diet books. They all say the same. I know I used to work in a few bookstores and on Saturday night when there were no customers I read them all. They say, be moderate, eat vegetable and fruits. I try not to eat mammals and junk food and only drink water or 100% juice. Besides that I like French, Italian , Polish, Japanese cooking. It is whatever you like as long as it is not junk.
Since I am not a girl I will never full understand why girls obsess over sweet, sticky, sugary things. I know it is connected to estrogen etc. That being said do no deny yourself all day, just be cool about your sweet fixations. Once in a while Eat natural ice cream. My wife makes it for us, or the good stuff you get in a shop, not brand X. Do not obsess over cookies, cakes and pies and all the things girls feed themselves with because they do not have a cordial guy around to rock their world and turn it upside down. Do not buy them or bring them in the house.
You want to eat junk, then do not blame me if you do not find your prince. Sweets are for your guy to buy you, not for you to buy for yourself. Do you understand that. If you have no guy, do not be chowing down on cakes alone. Wait until you have your prince and he takes you out for ice cream. A lot has been research about how to be enchanting and gorgeous based on scientific ratios for the body. For example this body of research suggests ratios for hip to waist and leg length, beautiful body. However, I think it comes down to being thin.
Fitness and beauty
It is simple, I do not have a car. When I was in the USA on vacation people said the store is very far away, like a 20 minute walk. Uh mm in Europe I walk like 45 one way to go to the shop I like and it is no big deal. I think you can either be a walker or an aerobics/gym slave, I prefer the former. And if you work out like 45 minutes on the treadmill or step class, it is nothing. Live an active lifestyle by walking.
The female body and attractiveness
Some guys like big chest and some like small, but most guys do not care. Noses some guys like little and small, but most guys like a little bigger, it looks ethnic. Do not worry what your body looks like. Look at Madonna, she has short legs but she made it one of her biggest assets.
Make your self perceived weakness and turn it into your trademark your point that guys will look at you and say, wow she does not look like every other girl on the street with a little nose that goes up. Dare to be yourself. You can look like whatever, as long as you are thin. If your corpulent, all bets are off. Keep your hip to waist ratio at about .8. If you have that, you will not look good you will be a beautiful woman. Guys like thin girls. Nothing more needs to be said.
What about meditation and all that for looking good
What about the mind-body thing and its affect on beauty and looking good? Yes it is true, after a certain age we are all responsible for the looks on our own face. But again, do not think about it, just live your life. I love yoga and it is a great workout. I have meditated on an off. However, I do not do these things now. You do not need to change your religion or read too many new age things to look good. Keep it simple. I am Catholic. I go to church and believe in the Bible and keep a positive attitude and smile. I forgive and forget. I thank God everyday for whatever God gives me. Keep it simple, be humble. If you have an issue with your faith in God, read Hans Kung’s book ‘Does God exist’. You do not have to change your life to be beautiful, just keep doing what you love to do, have faith and trust in the others and what you believed before all this neurotic existential doubt and worldly cynicism or political correctness, creeped in. Be a light for others in this world. Negativity makes you ugly.
Are you lonely and want to attract a guy
Travel to Europe or study languages. Your will go from a 4 to an 8 in terms of attractiveness. Men like girls who are smart and cultured. No money? No problem, work and save and go to Europe and rent a cheap flat. I did many times. One time I got a $100 dollar ticket to London, hitch hiked around Europe and lived on French bread, many months in Europe all-inclusive was about 500 dollars.
European guys like American girls. Would you not find it attractive is some French guy moved in next to you? Same goes for Europeans. I live in Eastern Europe, you do not have to go to over priced western Europe, Eastern Europe is more like Europe use to be.
What about clothes for looking good?
Tight jeans, designer white t-shirt sun glasses and long hair and a nice body (size 4 or 6 or maybe 8 at most). No guy will be able to resist you.
Dresses are always better than pants. Black clothes look great. Simple is better. If you do not like your legs because you are afraid you have spider veins, guys are not looking at your legs like this. If you are really worried wear black or white or orange stockings even fish net.
Simple clothe and thin body (not too thin, but lets say size 6, whatever your age is).
What attitude are men attracted to?
Humble and idealistic. Stop reading Jane Austen and live it. If you want a prince be a princess. Do not be sassy, aggressive or materialistic. Boring, clichés. Be humble. Tell a guy you love to cook. Learn to cook. Say your sorry all the time and mean it. I do. Don’t you want your partner to be unconditional in love and understanding? Than be the same. Be humble. If guys use you, God sees everything, just move on. Remember your goal is to attract a made not be hip and cool. Be a sweet loving humble beautiful princess. This is what is cordial.
If you like classical literature, travel and languages this increases your attractiveness. Brains is appealing. Women who are gossipy and hang out with the girls and talk about popular culture and small things is not appealing. Girls that are into classical things like art and ballet and literature are attractive to guys.
Girls night out is so unattractive for a man. A man wants a domestic girl just like a girl wants a man who is not partying with his buddies. Most, umm all the girls I know in Europe tell me straight out they are domestic. This is a big turn on for guys.
Humble, and idealistic religious but also slightly neurotic and artistic. I think the humble and idealistic part is the only important thing, everything else follows. Don’t you want a prince? Well get your nose out of those harlequin romances, because guys want a princess.
You can be slightly neurotic if you want, but if you start talking like you do not need a man or career is important to you than you have just turned off most guys. I am a guy, buzzing with testosterone and competitiveness, aggressiveness, intelligence and ambition, just buzzing with it, and I do not care about career. I love my family. I love my wife and daughter and just want to be with them and make them happy. Is there anything wrong with a woman wanting to make her husband happy. This should be your goal. This is attractive to a man.
How to look good
Be a skinny and thin girl to be attractive.
Wear tight jeans and designer t-shirts.
Grow your hair long and do not color or perm it.
Natural perfumes and cosmetics only and lightly,let your skin breath and your pheromones work.
Walk everywhere.
Do not eat prepared food.
Study languages and travel the world, make yourself interesting, this is attractive.
Do not be a corporate slave or worry about anything other than developing your mind and soul and finding your husband so you can have a family and stay with him and make him happy your whole life and never leave him. However, he must believe in love without limits like you and have saintly patience and humility also. Career women are so unattractive as are hopeless men who hang out with the guys. Be all or nothing with your love.
Be thin. I know I said this but if you want to look good be a skinny girl.
Have faith and trust in God.
If you take these to heart more or less you will be as attractive or more than any model or actress. Let me know what your reaction is to my post on how to be beautiful and attractive. It is more important to be attractive than beautiful. However with my ideas you will be both.
Slavonic Languages – the language of the Slavic peoples
Where did my interest in Slavic languages come from? I am something of an amateur Slavophile when it comes to languages. I’ve spent the past decade learning Polish (as I live in Poland and no longer participate in a formal language course, it’s more at the passive than active stage at this point) and have made numerous trips to other Slavic countries. What follows are some observations and a bit of background on Slavic tongues and their speakers.
Background of Slavic Languages
Slavic languages originated from one mother tongue known as Proto-Slavic, spoken previous to the 7th century. Old Church Slavonic was the first written Slavic language, codified in the 9th century by Cyril and Methodius, two missionaries who adapted the written language from a tongue spoken in modern-day Macedonia. Cyril and Methodius are revered in some countries in particular and one will see monuments to them and their work throughout the region.
Today Slavic languages are grouped into 3 geographical groups: Western Slavic, Eastern Slavic, and the Southern Slavic families. Western Slavic includes Polish, Czech, and Slovak. Eastern Slavic comprises Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarussian. Southern Slavic includes Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bosnian, Bulgarian, and Macedonian. There are also minor Slavic languages, such as Kashubian (spoken by a small minority of Poles in a small region south of Gdansk; the current prime minister, Donald Tusk, as it happens, is a native Kashub) or Rusyn in Ukraine.
Taken together they form a band spanning from the Adriatic Sea across Central/Eastern Europe through Asian Russia to the Sea of Japan. Russian, Belarussian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Bosnian, Macedonian and Serbian are the Slavic languages which use Cyrillic. Cyrillic is also used by some non-Slavic tongues, such as Moldovan and Mongolian.
Interestingly 2 languages of significance exist among this “sea of Slavs” that are not Slavic—Romanian (and by extension, Moldovan), a Romance language more closely related to French, etc, and Hungarian, a language only distantly related to any other. The Baltic countries as well interrupt the Slavic domination of the region, with Lithuanian and Latvian related to one another and sharing some elements with Slavic tongues, but forming their own language group, and Estonian, a language related to Finnish and distantly to Hungarian.
The Cyrillic alphabet, though it may look exotic and difficult to master on first look, is not as tough as it may seem. During a four-day trip to Bulgaria, I was basically able to get down the basics, to the point where I could read signs and pronounce words (not that I knew what they all meant, but a basic operational capacity in using the alphabet—helpful in train stations and stores). Previously I had been in Greece for a week, which did help a bit as some of the characters in the Greek alphabet are similar, but for the most part it is not too terribly difficult. On later trips to Ukraine, this capacity came back to me (and coupled with the fact that Ukraine has some similarities to Polish and that Polish is generally understood, particularly in Western Ukraine where I was traveling, I was able to operate fairly well).
Benefits of Learning a Slavic Language
It’s been my experience that if you get even one Slavic language under your belt, it allows you to operate and communicate in many countries and languages. This is most true within the geographical grouping (Polish speakers will find it easier to understand Czech or Slovak; Russian speakers likewise with Ukrainian and Belarussian). With just a little bit of on-the-fly tourist study, I am able to communicate pretty well in Czech or Slovak, using only a base amount of words in the local language and plugging gaps with Polish if need be. I don’t understand- “Nie rozumiem” in Polish, would be “Ne rozumím”* in Czech, “I don’t know”—“nie wiem” in Polish, “ne vim” in Czech, “large” or “great”- “wielki” in Polish, “veľký” in Slovak, etc.
Some words come out quite differently: train-‘pociag’ in Polish, ‘vlak’ in Czech, for example. But knowing one Slavic language helps you understand others. This is true even across groups—knowing Polish I am able to understand some Russian, an Eastern Slavic language. I recall on visiting Croatia, that the South Slavic tongue Croatian was surprisingly also understandable as well, at least to a degree.
The Slavic language speakers cover the most geographical area in the world.
Another benefit of learning a Slavonic language is the rich culture, overshadowed for ages by that of Western Europe. Slavic countries are responsible for very fine art, literature, advances in technology, science, etc. Chopin, Kafka, Mucha, Dostoevsky, Copernicus, Pushkin, and scores of other greats in the worlds of literature, music, art, and science hail from Slavic-speaking countries, and learning one of the languages can help contribute to your appreciation of them and their works. Adam Mickiewicz is a renowned poet in Poland (and held in high esteem by the Lithuanians as well, for that matter). Poles swear that English translations do not do him justice, however, and reading him in Polish is a must to appreciate the richness and depth of the language he used.
I also love Slavonic church music but this is another story.
Another reason to learn a Slavic language is the travel. For example the nature in Russia is almost unparalleled. The colors you see in Siberia have an other worldly quality. Knowing the Russian language will give you a passport to see such beauty.
Russian sky and birch trees; learning the Russian language will help your world travel to beautiful places like Siberia.
For those interested in traveling or even living in Europe, Slavic countries generally offer a much less expensive cost of living, especially when compared to their Western neighbors. While this doesn’t necessarily hold true for the largest cities (Moscow, Warsaw) comparatively one can live and travel much more cheaply in Slavic Countries than in, say, the United Kingdom or Italy.
Fun with Slavic Languages
Though there are similarities among tongues, there are also some often-amusing challenges that arise when comparing Slavic languages. While many words are similar, some words which seem to be the same, actually have different meanings. The most well-known among Poles and Czechs is probably the confusion over the verb “to look”. This verb in Polish is “szukac”, in the first person form it would be “szukam”, as in “Szukam policjanta” (I am looking for a policeman). But be careful when you are in the Czech Republic and thinking you are asking a person on the street an innocent question—“szukam” in Czech has a much different and more vulgar (friendshipual) meaning. The verb you want in Czech is “hledat”.
Another similar instance is found in Slovak—with Polish visitors to the country sometimes encountering the very funny “odchody” sign at stations—meaning “departures” in Slovak, but something like “excrement” or “feces” in Polish. Not a great image and one that gets at least a chuckle from Poles. “This way for feces”, Poles are advised and helpfully directed by an arrow on the sign. No thanks!
The accent and pronunciation differences can be interesting as well. Czechs, to my ears, have a sing-song pronunciation. It sounds like they are serenading you in short bursts, with words rising in tone or with drawn-out syllables. I find it quite charming, and is one reason why I consider Czech to be one of the more beautiful languages to listen to (more so than Polish, and also more so than the supposedly beautiful and much-lauded French). Russian, on the other hand, and Eastern Slavic languages, for that matter, tend to grate on my ears a bit. They consist of some drawn out sounds as well, but to my ears they seem to sound more “obnoxious” and exaggerated, for lack of a better description, especially in comparison to the lovely Czech tongue.
Another thing that Poles are well acquainted with is a Czech and Slovak pronunciation which sounds unusual to Polish ears—words may seem similar but pronounced in a funny way. Poles tend to say that Czechs sounds like Polish children or babies trying to pronounce Polish words. What is funny is that I have heard the same thing said by a Czech friend about Poles. I would tend to agree with the Poles on this one though—the much harsher and harder sounds of Polish are more difficult for children to pronounce at first, and are more likely to come out sounding like the soft tones of Czech. A simple comparison of the words for “thank you” shows this—“Dziekuje” in Polish, with the hard “dz” syllable, vs. the softer “dekuje” in Czech.
If you have questions about any Slavic language or have Slavic ancestry or a general interest in Eastern Europe I would love to hear from you.
Were you every exposed to a language when you were young, however, have thought that you have forgotten it? The reality is, your brain has some foundation already set. The purpose of this post is to convey some recent experiences I have had on my trip to the USA regarding language learning and the brain which will illustrate how, learning a language is like riding a bike.
Remembering a language from your childhood
My mother is almost 80 years old and she spoke Ukrainian as a child. Now she has not used the language for most of her life. For the last 30 years she claims she has forgotten the Ukrainian language completely. She has repeatedly said she does not even remember a word.
However, I am in the USA visiting her now with my family and when we speak Polish, which is a different language from Ukrainian, she can understand us perfectly. Not only does she remember everything, but at some level she can interpolate between two related languages, that is Polish and Ukrainian and come up with an understanding of our conversation.
This anecdotally confirms one of my beliefs that most memory problems are a retrieval problem. That is, memories are formed fairly easy and stay with us a lifetime, however, the issue is to call up the information when we need it in a meaningful way.
This is why again I think that language learning a us a little like riding a bike, once you have learned it you just need to get back in the saddle.
Learning a language as an adult and not forgetting it
I studied French for seven years however, have not used it in twenty. After being in Paris this week, it was not a big deal for me to understand what was being said. I do not think I could form a perfect French sentence, but with a little time in the country I am confident that I could speak French. Your brain does not forget what you have learned.
If you have been exposed to a language use it
If you have every been exposed to a language as an adult or a child, have the confidence to try to learn it. Do not be afraid of failing or you have forgotten it, learn it. What if you lived in say a Spanish area as a child but never spoke Spanish? Why not try to learn it? I think subconsciously your brain as picked up a lot. Your memory has almost infinite capacity to store and retrieve. It does not matter if your memory was formed as a child or as an adult. Your memory will be different for a language your learned a child more native, but that does not mean adult exposure is less useful.
If you calculate all the possible connections your memory has formed in your lifetime, you should be how shocked how rich you are in terms of neural connections. So much of your brain is latent just waiting for you to use it.
Many people as me should they use hypnosis to recall experiences or languages they were exposed to once. Sure if you want, but there is not need to. Just simply, reimmerse yourself again. If you herd Spanish as a child take a trip to Argentina. If your parents spoke Polish or Ukrainian or Russian, take a trip to Europe and try it out.
Here is a study that confirms my thesis.
Remembering a language from your childhood
Two researcher did a study of children who were exposed to languages when they were young, yet moved abroad in their childhood.
The results were very enlightening. Here is an external resources that validates the above:
Remembering childhood languages
Let me me know what you think of this idea or if you have every had a similar experience, I would be interested to hear about your exposure to a language as a child.
