If I could visit any countries I wanted…

…my top five choices, as of this very second, would be:

(in no particular order)

• Peru
• Nepal
• Slovenia
• Iran
• Hong Kong (not a country, I know, but it’s hard to know what to call it)

the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

I love accents. I love hearing the different ways people say the same thing, and I love being able to determine which part of the world someone is from based on the way they speak (a moment of pride from last quarter was when my math professor revealed that he was Australian, not British, which I had been sure of all along). Recently, using my favorite internet timesuck StumbleUpon, I came across this archive of accents. Men and women of varying ages from different countries recite the same short paragraph (in English), and you can listen to each one. There is a phonetic transcription alongside most recordings, but the symbols have always been difficult for me to understand.

Fascinating!

Italia and Slovenija

A fan of the numbered list, I keep several in my book, one being the cliche “Things To Do Before I Die”. One of these things is a popular one: to become fluent in another language. I’ve been taking Spanish for several years as preparation for studying abroad in another country, but I recently found out that I’ve taken too much–I have disqualified myself from the programs in Spanish speaking countries that I am otherwise eligible for. Determined to study abroad, I looked at my other options and have tentatively decided on Siena, Italy. If I can’t learn Spanish, may as well learn Italian, right?! I was disappointed at first, but it’s hard to be disappointed when you realize that you’re probably going to live in Italy in a few months.

I don’t know any Italian beyond ciao, arrivederci, buongiorno, spaghetti, mozzarella, etc. Studying Italian intensively should be interesting…!

I’ll be able to explore other countries too, including Slovenia, a small country between Croatia and Austria that I am strangely obsessed with. I don’t remember how I learned about it, but the instant I did I felt a connection. Feast your eyes on Slovenia:

Here we have Lake Bled, with the massive Alps in the background.

The Capital, Ljubljana (pronounced Yoobl-Yana as far as I can tell…)

I’m a sucker for impressive mountain ranges.

Since I have yet to visit Slovenia (or any country besides the United States, for that matter) I cannot know much about it. But the pictures sure speak to me.

P.S. Slovenia has its own language. I can’t imagine it’s the most useful language in the world, but it’d be interesting to learn.