The Asylum

2 years on, anything is still possible!

2012-08-28T02:01:00.001+02:00

Hey guys, it's been too long since my last post.
I have been busy making tremendous changes in my life. I moved overseas, for one, and got married to my boyfriend after over 7 years of long-distance relationship.
I got a great job in an international organization, and we moved overseas again when it was time for my new job to start.
It was hard at first, but it is very rewarding.
And I also just decided to give minimalism a try.
You can check my blog out on the topic: http://thehumbleminimalist.blogspot.com/
Drop a comment and let me know what you've been up to and most importantly if the future is what you had imagined it would be!

2010 - anything is possible

2010-03-08T23:39:00.002+01:00

Hello again after so long.

So as I told you I graduated from interpreting school a couple of months ago, then I moved out, and to top it off, I got a good job offer with a kick-ass starting salary!
And I am still with my bf 6.5 years later, soon to end the long distance part of our relationship.

I have a feeling this year my life is starting and anything is possible.

I hope I am right.

2009-12-31T15:46:00.000+01:00

Good God, two years already? Well at least I accomplished stuff and got out of the interpreter school with a degree! That's something!!
See you guys again in 5 years maybe!! haha

reading

2007-04-29T22:16:00.000+02:00

AHHH, so much to read....!

Drama

2007-04-26T01:26:00.000+02:00

Recently I started watching a lot of Asian series. I really enjoy it, and it seems to be the big thing these days. Of course I should do my homework instead, but who knows I might become a specialist in Asian studies?

Also I started a new book, "This pen for hire" by Laura Levine, hopefully it'll be good.
Ah, so many things I started a year or two ago and I should finish reading!

But as the French expression goes "petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid" so I guess I'll do everything, just one thing at a time!

Interpreting school ahoy

2006-12-08T12:52:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted in a long time but here I am right before the end of the year, with all the things that happened between my last post and now. I finally got in the Interpreter school I wanted, and I have lots to read. Right now I am doing a research on NATO. Have any tips to read faster? ^^;

read online

2006-05-14T17:15:00.000+02:00

remember how i wrote a post about how the internet is better than paper? well i got news for you guys! if you read slowly (like me!) then try to read more stuff online, like newspaper articles etc! i noticed i read faster now because since the web page seems small, the article seems short, whereas really it's like 5 normal book pages or something! you should give it a try!

New books

2006-04-03T01:13:00.000+02:00

I started 2 new books:

"Who are we, America's great debate", by Samuel Huntington (ISBN: 0-684-86669-2)

"Le nouveau nationalisme américain", by Anatol Lieven (British guy who knows French politics and is trying to analyze American politics - pretty interesting so far) (ISBN: 2-07-031975-X)

I also started reading Le Monde Diplomatique and there is an interesting article about Colombia and Ingrid de Bétancourt who's held hostage by the FARCs in April's issue.

Of course, to read the whole article you have to buy it, but here is a link to Le Monde Dipomatique in case you want to read excerpts:

in French: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/

in English: http://mondediplo.com/

Spanish edition: http://www.monde-diplomatique.es/isum/

Chilian edition: http://www.lemondediplomatique.cl/

Italian edition: http://www.ilmanifesto.it/MondeDiplo/ (i think the link is broken)

German edition: http://www.monde-diplomatique.de/pm/.home

Hmm and also here is a link to Le Monde (daily newspaper): http://www.lemonde.fr

Artemio Cruz - FINISHED!!

2006-03-29T00:24:00.000+02:00

At last I finished "La Muerte de Artemio Cruz"!! I read the end in French because it was faster than Spanish!! I should have finished it a month ago lol! I can be such a procrastinator XD

English Phonetics

2006-03-25T21:18:00.000+01:00

Here is a good book for French speakers who want to learn English phonetics:

"Règles et exercices de prononciation anglaise", by Lionel Guierre (Ed. Armand Colin Longman)

ISBN: 2-86644-078-1

La Muerte de Artemio Cruz, Part II

2006-03-20T00:57:00.000+01:00

Yeah well, March 20, still got 100pp to go... I shall finish it but i wanna do other stuff... sometimes it's hard to concentrate... that's why i haven't read it yet... But ya I'll read now and tomorrow, and hopefully finish it before Wednesday! Since tomorrow I have no class due to the riots here in France (yeah they blocked the schools...)

Hmm so I'll let you guys know what happens! I have loads to read! I also have "Windows on the world" by Frédéric Beigbeder to finish! A friend lent it to me a long time ago XD

OK reading! Hehe :D

Done with Chomsky

2006-03-17T23:37:00.000+01:00

OMG I am done with Chomsky's book! w007!

Hegemony or Survival

2006-03-17T16:08:00.000+01:00

I have been reading Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival since October. It was so boring at first that I didn't feel like reading it but I had to get some knowledge and I had to start somewhere!

I finished the book a few days ago and just have 10 pages left (the author's Afterword). I am planning on finishing it this weekend! I will let you guys know if I made it!

La Muerte de Artemio Cruz

2006-03-08T01:40:00.000+01:00

Recently I have been reading a book called "La Muerte de Artemio Cruz", by Carlos Fuentes. It's in Spanish, so it's a little hard for me to read it quickly, because there are so many words I don't know, and also because of the author's writing style! In this book, you don't know who speaks, or what's going on, you have to guess many things.

Not long ago I had found an interesting blog called "a book a week", where the guy said he would post the book he intends to read during the week... I wanted to do that too, but I failed! I have been reading Chomsky since October and still have about 50 pages or so to read from that book! Been on Atemio Cruz for like 3 weeks and haven't finished it (I must say the lack of interest didn't help lol, plus I was busy doing other important things).

I have a friend who studied English so hard that he is now fluent and writes like a native! That's impressive, because when I met him, although he could speak English, he made mistakes he doesn't seem to make anymore... I am kinda jealous... I see everyone around me make progress, and I feel like I don't... Well, ya I speak English fluently but I mean apart from that? <.< Can't rest on my laurels now, can I?

Time flies, and I feel like I have time to do nothing... Man gotta finish that book this week!!!

Kk, gonna read! *reads*

Songs to learn languages!

2006-02-06T22:06:00.000+01:00

One of the best ways to learn languages is to learn songs, because you know them by heart, and you learn bit by bit what the vocab means and depending on the song, you might learn useful or funny vocabulary that'll make you feel like going on learning. It's good practice, and it's good for your accent too.

Well, anyway, just thought I would share that thought with you!

2006-01-24T19:14:00.000+01:00

Buongiorno a tutti quanti!!! [test]

Links

2006-01-22T00:33:00.000+01:00

Here is a cool site (online dictionary): www.wordreference.com

Here is another one I just discovered: www.englishforums.com

Japanese - English Dictionary with examples.

2006-01-21T20:07:00.000+01:00

Hi, everyone.
I found a new website for learning Japanese.
This one is a dictionary that also gives you example sentences!!!!!!!!
Check it out!

http://japanese-to-english.online-dictionary.biz

Heisig

2006-01-21T05:48:00.000+01:00

Hi, everyone.
For everyone struggling with Japanese kanji, I found an interesting site on the internet.

Heisig Method

For some kanji, it gives you the real historic meaning behind why the kanji are drawn a certain way. But a lot of the time the stories are fake to help you learn the kanji. So, for anyone looking for better insight into kanji, I suggest giving that site a good read.

Enjoy!

Yahoo! groups

2006-01-20T12:25:00.000+01:00

I have found some interesting YAHOO! groups to learn languages. Some are associations that meet in cafés, some are just people who want to learn english, and some are unknown to me because i didn't click their link lol.

well anyway, I think it's a good idea to go to an online group and see what they suggest, because different people have different methods.

Japanese

2006-01-20T12:21:00.000+01:00

So like I said, Joel is going to join this blog. We are both learning Japanese, so I expect him to post about his experience, and his improvement. If you want to explain some things on here, honey, you can!

Well, Joel and I met because we were both learning Japanese, so I guess it is fair for us to talk about languages here, since it is partly why we are together today.

Joel's joining!!!!

2006-01-20T02:52:00.000+01:00

Joel is going to join this blog I think. It's cool to have a common blog, although he doesn't post much...

Well anyway! that's all for today folks!

Rest is important

2006-01-20T02:22:00.000+01:00

In an email, a friend told me this, and I think she is right: in order to work efficiently, you need to rest well so your brain can work at its best. And you also need to get rid of stress so you can focus better.

Technical words

2006-01-20T01:04:00.000+01:00

Wanting to be an interpreter, I have to know all sorts of technical terms.... Yet it is strange to think that words such as asbestos, that I know in French, are still unknown to me (at least some of those words) in English...

Well anyway, so I looked up "Asbestos" on Google, to see what explanation I would find, and I got the word "Mesothelioma" as the first link/result.

Then I looked it up for more precise info, and I now have a definition!

The generic name "asbestos" belongs to a group of minerals called "asbestiform" minerals. Asbestos is a fibrous material which is mined from serpentine rock. Basically, rock was mined and crushed. When the rock was crushed, fibrous stands of asbestos were extracted from the rock. The strands were put in bags and shipped to manufacturing facilities where the asbestos was used as an ingredient in insulation and other materials. The three most commonly used forms of asbestos in product manufacturing were chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite.

as for mesothelioma, it is a malignant tumor of the covering of the lung or the lining of the pleural and abdominal cavities, often associated with exposure to asbestos. (i.e. form of asbestos cancer)

well, now i have to learn it by heart O.O *dies* imagine me translating that type of stuff into french lol XD <.<

2006-01-11T16:56:00.000+01:00

For the people who need to learn legal vocab, I recommand Ally McBeal (original version is way funnier than the french version by the way, cuz the puns are sometimes not translatable)