Enduring Plum

1. Which languages do you know? How did you learn them (e.g. natively, from classes, by immersion)? I know it doesn't really count, but I can speak and sing in fluent Double Dog Latin; Double Dog Latin is a fake language I learned because my mom's band sings a certain swing number that has several line sung very quickly in it— not easy! Seriously, though, I know a bit of Danish because my father is a legal alien for whom English is a third language and I'm learning American Sign Language at Delgado Community College.

2. Which language would you most like to learn? Why? I'd love to learn Danish, because it's a huge part of my heritage, but I'll probably learn French in addition to ASL, because my slight speech impediment makes faking a French accent surprisingly easy for me and because it's a language that's comparatively easy for me to remember.

3. Have you visited any places where you did not know the predominant language? If so, which ones? Was it hard to manage? Yes, I've visited many countries where I was just an ignorant gringo! I've been to Costa Rica, Holland, France, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany. I'd say Belgium, too, but really I only passed through on a train, so it doesn't really count. Sadly, of all those countries only three of them stamped my passport: Costa Rica, Denmark, and Germany.

4. Which language do you most enjoy hearing, seeing, or expressing? Why? Definitely American Sign Language, but I also love the musical, lilting sounds of Danish and the uniqueness of Portuguese; I love American Sign Language because it's an intensely expressive, beautiful language that doesn't garner the respect or admiration it so richly deserves.

5. Which languages, other than the one(s) you know, are you exposed to your daily life? Danish, because my father speaks it, and American Sign Language, because I take classes and practice my fingerspelling and signing constantly.