So the last time I posted here it was New Year's of 2020. Since then a lot has happened that has made it hard for me to keep up my blogging. The main thing is that I am going back to College, studying Education in hopes of becoming a French Teacher. It turns out that going to school and working and being a husband and father all at the same time is, well... A lot. So let's catch up.
At the beginning of the year, I was focusing on Norwegian and maintaining French. Well, as of today I am back to that plan! However previous to that I was focusing on learning Icelandic. Why Icelandic? Well, I was planning to travel there with my good friend Seabolt from SeaboltSpeaks. Unfortunately, the trip didn't happen for perfectly mundane reasons. We think it is going to happen sometime, just not right now.
So, back to Norwegian and French. I love Icelandic. It's an amazing language and I want to learn it, but I am far enough in Norwegian I don't feel good about putting that aside for too long. I have taken a break from learning for a month now, and it's time to get back into it. As soon as I post this I am going to hit Duolingo and take some time to read "The Mystery of Nils", which you can find here.
I just learned from a friend that the show "Ragnarok" on Netflix has been scheduled for a second season. I have watched the first episode or two in Norwegian and it was really good! I will try and watch more of it for sure.
I am also going to get back into writing in my Norwegian bullet journal. I wrote the tweet you see below today, and though I checked online to make sure I had it right, it just popped out of my head like that, which tells me my Norwegian has not degraded too much during my break.
For French, I still practice writing and speaking pretty often. My kindle died so I have not been able to read the Goosebumps books like I want to. I could read them on my phone but that's not as easy as on the Paperwhite. However, my good friend Christelle is sending me a box of Goosebumps books in French and in print soon, so as soon as I get into those I will be happy. I have been reading a lot of books lately, though not for language learning. A friend of mine and I have started a podcast about horror and weird fiction, which you can find here.
I think one of the big lessons for me this year is that I should not beat myself up when life does not allow me to do as much as I want. This past year has been extremely difficult for the whole world. Treat yourself with some kindness and compassion. I really believe that all of us should concentrate on our mental health now, with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in some parts of the world and winding down in others, don't be afraid to seek out help if you find yourself unable to shake the blues. Talk to someone, a friend, a member of your family, or mental health professional. There is no shame in asking for help. Well, I think that is all the update for now. Hopefully, I will be able to write more here, but we'll see what life has to throw at me.
