Cheeky's Holistic Therapy Center Scribble

» biogardener - German spoken

German is spoken in the US all right, but when you speak it on the street, as I always did when I was traveling with my family, people simply stare, especially when they see little children speaking the language. And I did not find any churches in the US which are 100% German.

I learned French in 9 summer courses where I was totally immersed in the language and culture 100% of the time for 6 weeks at a time. Six of them were at Laval University in a suburb of Quebec City. The downtown is like an old French city. The people there accept me better than other Canadians learning French, because I speak French with a German accent. When you speak French with an English accent, they tend to speak English back to you. They never do that to me, because they think that I am from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France.

I live in a part of Winnipeg which is predominantly French, too. The street signs are either in French or bilingual.

TBW, in Winnipeg, we have optional bilingual schools for any language group which warrant it, German, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Polish, Portuguese, Urdu, etc. Half the subjects are taught in English and the other half in the target language. The children are perfectly fluent in both languages when they graduate. The children in French immersion are not doing that well in English, because they only get 1 hour of it a day, and that is not enough if they are to keep up with the others.

-- posted by biogardener

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» mastiffs2005 - Re: German spoken

In response to German spoken posted by biogardener:

Hi y'all I'm just checking in real quick before fixing the hubby some waffles He's been on vacation since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and we've just been busy as crazy trying to get chores and projects done around here! He goes back to work tomorrow, so I'll have more time to play again

Hope y'all are doing great!!!
Love & Hugs,
Dar

-- posted by mastiffs2005

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» biogardener - Accents

Someone asked a question which I forgot to answer as to the accent of people in South Dakota. Well, there is no one particular accent there, because there is so much tourism in the state that the people have developed a generic accent. In Minnesota and North Dakota just south of Manitoba, though, the people's accent is very different from those in Manitoba, and you can tell the moment you talk to a customs agent at the border going either way. The bulk of the population there comes from Scandinavia, mainly Sweden, and you can sure tell from their accent. Across the border in southern Manitoba, on the other hand, the bulk of the population is of German-Mennonite descent. They have an accent all their own because of their history. They originate in the Rhine valley of Holland and Germany. They fled to Eastern Germany because of religious persecution from other Protestants. Then many of them moved farther east when they were invited to settle the plains of what is now Ukraine, and from there they fled when all Germans there were persecuted. Manitoba guaranteed them that they would be able to educate their children in German, a promise which was soon forgotten. They did keep up the German language at home and church, though.

The Swedish-Americans south of the border, on the other hand no longer speak Swedish, but they sure retain a Swedish accent. I guess the language got washed away in the American melting pot.

-- posted by biogardener

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» plox - wholistic health

Interesting article, research is getting right down to the cellular nuts'n bolts of why worry kills you before your time. Ah, if there were only a way to reverse the damage!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6613721/

-- posted by plox

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» biogardener - Amen

I can say "Amen" to that. When I suffered posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of a serious car accident in which the drunken driver tried to kill me, I was in my forties, but looked as though I was 10 years younger. My appearance changed so drastically, that within months everyone considered me a senior, i.e. over 65. I knew what the mirror told me, but I also decided to test other people's perception of me. I paid for senior admission at the swimming pool and on the bus, and no one ever questioned my age. My apparent age doubled within a couple of years rather than in 30 years. That is pretty dramatic.

-- posted by biogardener

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» mastiffs2005 - Re: wholistic health

In response to wholistic health posted by plox:

Plox, that's a pretty interesting article!! I love that the way they recommended reducing stress at the end was meditation and yoga! Very cool Yep, reversing the damage - Reiki is the only thing I know that can do that - wonder if I should email those doctors and scientists? (and wonder what they'd think? LOL)

Love & Hugs,
Dar

-- posted by mastiffs2005

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» mastiffs2005 - Phil? Can you help?

In response to Re: wholistic health posted by DarCheek:

Hi Phil,

I've got a question over at SpiritWell on how do you find a church that is Liberal Christian - is there an answer to that??? Here's the thread...

http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/s...

Thanks!
Love & Hugs,
Dar

-- posted by mastiffs2005

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» biogardener - Other thread

Phil seems to be taking a break. In the meantime, Dan and I have been bouncing the question back and forth in the other thread.

Today is an interesting day for me. It is our annual Manitoba Legislature open house. All MLA (members of the legislative assembly) open their office doors for a couple of hours to anyone who cares to visit. All that time, invited choirs and bands perform on the large staircase flanked by two huge buffaloes, the animal emblems of Manitoba. Members of the Historical Society, dressed in costumes of the early days of the province, mingle with the crowd.

I usually manage to drop into every office and still hear a bit of every choir, but I have to hustle to get around.

-- posted by biogardener

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» mastiffs2005 - Re: Other thread

In response to Other thread posted by biogardener:

Thanks, Traute & Dan! I've been reading in, but have been too tired to post... just a teensy bit of a fibro flare, and I think it's worn my brain out It looks almost sunny outside today, so I'm going to go dig for a while and see if it doesn't heal me up some!

Your day sounds very interesting and a whole lot of fun, Traute! I hope you enjoy it!

Y'all have a wonderful day!
Love & Hugs,
Dar

-- posted by mastiffs2005

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» mastiffs2005 - My father-in-law...

In response to Re: Other thread posted by DarCheek:

Hi y'all! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm going to be moving my topics back over to the SuiteU community. Beginning tomorrow, I'm going to be staying with my father-in-law during the day. The doctors are letting him come home, but he's going to need a full-time nurse, so I'm the only choice my family has right now.

Stress tests came back with some damage to his heart from the heart attack. He's already had 2 open heart surgeries, so he's not a candidate for another one. They're going to put him on oxygen, and he's going to need care and supervision. This may take a few months until he is able to be on his own again.

I won't be able to check in as much, but I will drop by every 2-3 days as time permits. Please make yourselves at home here! I didn't want to retire my topics permanently because I hope to be back full-time by summer. Moving to the SuiteU COI means that I can write when I can and still keep my topics and keep in touch with all of you.

Take care, and I'll see you soon!
Love & Hugs,
Dar

-- posted by mastiffs2005

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions