Salve!

I read the Hobbit when it first came out.  Yeah, I'm that old.  One of the things that happened was a longing to have someone to speak Elvish with.  My best friend at the time, Franny Cohen, did do the work to learn how to write the runes.  I never did.

I don't know why.  I grew up in a household of languages.  My dad, born of American missionaries in Angola, grew up speaking Ovimbundu, Portuguese and English.  My mother, a graduate of Girl's High School in Philadelphia, spoke French and had some smattering of Russian.  So, to recap, five languages before I was 8.  What did I get out of that? 

I speak decent English. 

I also have a fascination with languages in general.  I've attempted--Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Welsh.  What do I get out of this?  I'm not sure.  I got to use my antique and very rusty Spanish when I traveled to Mexico that one time.  Surprised even me!  I felt like Brendan Fraser in Bedazzled  "O s((t. I speak Spanish!" 

German was a resolution to learn the grammar needed for declined? Is that the word for making declensions?  Anyway, languages that use word endings where English uses prepositions to give a shortish answer.  Russian uses more than German does.

So, does Latin.  And now that I really do want to settle down and learn another language, I'm settling on Latin.  Hence the titular greeting.  As it turns out learning Latin is not such a dead thing as one might suppose.  Homeschoolers are including it in their curricula.  Curriculae? Curriculum?  Sheesh.  I already know too much to feel confident writing even in English.

Anyway.. not a dead language.  Winnie Ille Pu.  Harrius Potter et Philosofi Lapis.  There are several online resources for listening to Latin being read.  I'm going to leave that till next time. All of this is leading to something and I need a while to figure out where, exactly. 

Give me some help?  Do you have a favorite language? One that you love to hear? Wish you could understand?  what other one do you speak other than your native language?  Do you read spec fic in other language?  An inquiring mind wants to know.