menee

[cimorene]

Learning new things is fun, but if this is the fast beginners' Finnish I shudder to think what the slow one is like. We typically spend about half again as long practicing each new thingy as I feel we should before introducing the next new concept. I regularly want to beat my head repeatedly on the desk until it drowns out the sounds of maddeningly persistent incomprehension.

I've tried knitting in class a bit, but I don't want to overdo it because I know it can seem rude to, you know, make evident that I'm as bored as I actually am. And I don't want to hurt the teacher's feelings. She's very good as well as very sweet and I think she's actually doing a pretty good job considering how slow the slow people in our class are.

It sort of reminds me of actually being in elementary school, except if I'd tried to not act bored then I'd have driven myself crazy, so I just read an average 1 novel per day instead. (Actually, I couldn't get away with reading the whole time, on reflection, so that must mean I am getting more new information than I did in elementary school. At least that's something.)

But on the plus side, I am making steady progress towards friendly acquaintanceship with various classmates. Not A++ progress or anything, and not much progress compared to how my less introverted classmates are doing, but I don't think I've given anyone the impression that I'm a compulsive hermit. I'm not even the shyest person there.

Comments

[guinevere33.livejournal.com]

You're extremely smart, and have always been fast picking up new languages and accents. I can imagine that being in a public class that's forced to go at the rate of the slowest learner is probably about as fun as having bamboo shoved under your fingernails.

Are you advanced enough that you could bring books in Finnish to the class? That way, you'd at least be on topic when you got bored with the lecture. Either that or you could just bring "Lord of the Rings" and use the Elvish as an excuse ;)

[cimorene]

My reading level is on a par with Baby's First Cardboard Book. I can say that things are in or on something sometimes, but not relative clauses or past tense. And my vocabulary is still pretty small. If only I had access to a preschool library! :/

Luckily I do have access to an e-reader which I surreptitiously read in English on sometimes. But not too often - I don't want to lose the thread in case it becomes my turn to write "I DO NOT SPEAK RUSSIAN" or "DO Y'ALL COOK FOOD OFTEN?" on the board. :s

[cimorene]

PS. Last night I dreamt that you and me and Wax and my dad were looking in a warehouse full of random crazy-person's-attic type crap for a sword on instruction from your dad and mom, but instead we found two bengal kittens which ran away and then we spent the rest of the dream chasing them through the random crap and trying to catch them.