Konger, Skytingen og Barneboker

Norsk Amerikas Konger   Norse America's Kings

   I dag på norskebordet snakket vi om norske konger i Amerika.  Klokka 14, sondag, 25. januar, Bemidji Sønner av Norge skal møte på Calvary Luthern Church, 2508 Washington Av SE, Bemidji.  Robert Johnson og Janey Westin, forfatterne av boken "The Last Norse Kings of America", kommer og snakker om sin bok på møtet.   Boken er over pre-Colombiansk norske skrivningen i Amerika  Alle er velkommen til å komme.  For informasjon om boken, klikk på denne nettsiden . 

     Today at the Norwegian table we talked about Norwegian kings in America.  At 2 pm on Sunday, January 25th, the Bemidji Sons of Norway will meet at Calvary Lutheran Church, 2508 Washington Av SE, Bemidji.  Robert Johnson and Janey Westin, authors of the book, "The Last Norse Kings of America." will speak at the meeting about their book.  The book discusses pre-Columbian Norse writings in America.  All are welcome.  For information about the book, click on "denne nettsiden" above.

Skole Skytingen   School Shootings

     Også snakket vi om en artikkel siste søndag i Minneapolis avisen skrevet av våre venn, John Egelhof. Han skrev om sine erfaringer med skytingen på Red Lake School i 2005, og hans meninger om gevaers rettigheter i Amerika. Det er en utmerket artikkel. De forbinder seg våre amerikanske arv sammen med sunn fornuft. Man kan lese denne artikkelen på denne nettsiden.

     We also talked about an article in last Sunday's Minneapolis Star-Tribune written by our friend, John Egelhof.  He wrote of his experience with the Red Lake School shooting in 2005, and his feelings about gun rights in America.  It was an outstanding article.  It connects our American heritage together with common sense.  You can read this article by clicking "denne nettsiden" in the preceding paragraph.

Vangsgutane  The Boys from Vangen

     Endelig, begynte vi å lese en bok, "Vangsgutane", av Lief Halse. Det er en barnebok, ikke så vanskelig for oss gamle folk som prøver å lære seg norsk. Igjen, vil dette amazon lenken fortelle mer om denne boken.

     Finally, we began to read a book, "The Boys From Vangen" by Lief Halse.  It's a children's book, not so difficult for of us old folks who are trying to learn Norwegian.  Again, clicking on "dette amazon lenken" above will tell more about this book.

Starting Ojibwe

     For the past 14 years I've lived in Northern Minnesota, not 20 miles from 2 different bands of Ojibwe, and yet I know so little of the Ojibwe language, culture and history.  I wasted too many opportunities to learn about this culture.  That will change.
     For the last week I've been reviewing the site, ojibwelanguage.blogspot.com,  a site I mentioned previously when I wrote about the Ojibwe language tables in Bemidji.  I've also reviewed a grammar site at "short notes on ojibwe grammar."  I don't understand much of it yet, but it will make more sense after I've learned more words and phrases.
     Today I ordered the book pictured above, "Everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask" by Anton Treuer.  I know the title sounds a little hoaky, but I read the excerpts on amazon.com, and I  have a great respect for Dr. Treuer.  He is a professor of Ojibwe language and culture here at our local college, and a leader in the Ojibwe community.
     I've also ordered the Pimsleur CD's for the first 10 Ojibwe lessons.  I used Pimsleur's Turkish CD's when I was learning Turkish, and it gave me some basic vocabulary, basic phrases, and help with pronunciation.
     While I'm waiting for these to arrive, I'll be continuing to review the Ojibwe language blogspot, and scouring the internet for other resources.
     After I've completed the first 10 Pimsleur lessons, and whatever else I find on the internet, I plan to start attending one of the Ojibwe conversation tables here in Bemidji, and use whatever other resources I encounter along the way.  Hopefully, within 2 or 3 months I'll have an initial acquaintance with the language and culture, and a richer relationship with the Ojibwe community here in Northern Minnesota.
     If you have any comments or suggestions for me, please write in the "comments below, or send me an email.

Happy Holidays

     From December 24 through January 1, none of the Bemidji language tables will be meeting.  We will resume meeting on January 2.  Have a happy holiday season!

La Journée des Accions de Graces Chez Nous. Thanksgiving Day at our House

     Aujourd’hui, a la table de français, j’ai eu besoin de me venter de ma famille et la fête des acciôns de graces chez nous.  Amber, ma femme, a fait les preparaciôns avant de la journée, mais, maleursement, elle etait malade la matin de la journée.  Ça matin-la presque toute la famille est arrivée, et s'est restée beaucoup des choses à faire.  Je suis allé a la chambre d’Amber, elle m’a dit les direcciôns.  Je suis retourné à la cuisine, et j’ai dit les direcciôns a la famille, et tous ont fait les direcciôns.  Nous nous avons repiter beaucoup de fois.  Il y avait 12 personnes dans la cuisine, enfants et petits-enfants, et tous etaient trés ocupés. Tout la famille se divertit et chaqu’un avait une parte de la preparaciôn, et le repas était fantastique.  Heureusement, Amber a la chance de parler avec la famille, et la prochain jour elle a recouvert.  Toujours c’était beaucoup de manger, et elle pouvait manger le bon repas.  Quelle bonne fête nous avons eu!  Merci pour la joie de famille.

     Today at the French table, I had to brag about my family and the Thanksgiving celebration at our house.  Amber made preparations before the day, but sadly she was ill that morning.  Almost all the family arrived that morning, and much remained to be done.  I went to Amber's room, she told me what to do.  I returned to the kitchen and passed the directions on to the family, and they all followed the directions.  We repeated that many times.  There were 12 people in the kitchen, children and grandchildren, and everyone was very busy.  Everyone had a good time, and everyone had a part in the preparation.  and the meal was excellent.  Fortuneatly, Amber had a chance to talk with the family, and she recovered the next day.  There were still plenty of left-overs, and she was able to have a great meal.  What a great holiday we had!  Thanks for the joy of family.

Bindestrek-Amerikanere, Hyphenated-Americans

 Carl Schurz, tysk-amerikansk statsmann    

foto  tak til de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz   



på norsk

I dag, på  norskebordet, vi lest litt om norsk jul skikker.  Etterpa snakket vi om aktivitetene til andre bindestrek-amerikanere; dansk-amerikanere, svensk-amerikanere; og den innsats de har gjørt  i amerikansk kultur.

Det brakt til sinn mitt et sitat fra Carl Schurz, en nittende århundre tysk-amerikansk statsmann.

"Jeg har alltid vaert i favør  av en sunn amerikanisering, men det betyr ikke at en komplett negasjon av vår  tyske arv.  Det betyr at vår  karakter bør ta på  seg det beste av det som er amerikansk, og kombinere det med det beste av det som er tysk.  Ved a gjøre dette, kan vi best tjene det amerikanske folk og sivilisasjon deres."

Så  mange bindestrek-amerikanere har brakt til oss det beste av sin hjemlige kultur, blande dem med amerikansk kultur å gjøre en perfektere nasjon.  Takk til alle de modige innvandrere som har beriket oss i fortiden, og til dem som i dag hjelper oss a bygge en bedre Amerika i fremtiden.

English

Today at the Norwegian table, we read a little about Norwegian Christmas customs.  Afterwards, we talked about the activities of hyphenated-Americans; Danish-Americans, Swedish-Americans; and the contributions they made to American culture.

It brought to my mind a quote from Carl Schurz, a nineteenth century German-American statesman.

"I have always been in favor of a healthy Americanization, but that does not mean a complete disavowal of our German heritage.  It means that our character should take on the best of that which is American, and combine it with the best of that which is German.  By doing this, we can best serve the American people and their civilization."

So many hyphenated-Americans have brought to us the best of their homeland cultures, mixing them with American culture, to make a more perfect nation.  Thank you to all those brave immigrants who have enriched us in the past, and to those who today help us to build a better America in the future.

3 week report, san1 xing1qi1 de bao4gao4, 三 星期 的 报告, tre uke melding

     Three weeks ago, I wrote that I would study Chinese and Norwegian every day, and would write something every week.  I didn't do it.  I went to the Chinese and Norwegian conversation tables every week, but I didn't study every day.  Today I change my habits.

Pinyin

     San1 xing1qi1 qian2, wo3 xie3 le wo3 mei3 tian1 xue3 Zhong1wen2, Nuo2wei1yu3, mei3 qing1xi1 wo3 xie3 yi1dian3.  Wo3 bu2 zuo4le.  Wo3 mei3 qing1qi1 qu4 zai4 Zhong1wen2 he Nuo2wei1yu3 shuo1hua4 de zhou1zi, dan4shi4 mei3 tian1 bu4 xue2xi.  Jin1tian1 wo3 gai3bian4 wo3 de xi2guan4.

Chinese

      三 兴起前，我 写了 每天 我 学 中文，挪威语; 每星期 我 写 一点. 我 不 做了.  我 每星期 去 在 中文 和 挪威语 说话 的 桌子, 但是 每天 不 学习.  今天 我 改变我 的 习惯.

Norwegian

     For tre uken, skrivet jai skal jai hver dagen studere kinesisk og norsk, og hver uke skal jai noe skrive.  Jai har ikke gjore det.  Hver uke gjoret jai  til kineserebord og norskebord, men studier jai ikke hver dag.  Idag skal jai forandre vanen min.

     (Being a student, I know there are many errors in my Chinese and Norwegian writing.  I won't feel bad if you would like to correct any or all of my errors.  You may do so in the comments section below, or by e-mail at bemidjidavid@gmail.com.)

After a year, what next?

     A year and a week ago I wrote the first post on this blog.  I created this blog to be a source of information on the current schedule of language tables and resources available in the Bemidji area.  My secondary reason was to give me an incentive to write in the languages I am studying, to help me develop my understanding of these languages.
     Although I've not added any new languages to my "survival" list, nor have I brought any of my "survival" languages up to the "pretty good" level, I've made small progress in most of them.  Participating in language tables does help one maintain current skills in that language, but without significant outside study, improvement is very slow.
     For that reason, I've decided to concentrate on Mandarin Chinese and Norwegian for the next four months.  I will do something in these two languages every day, and write about some mundane aspect of my life in these two languages every week.  By the end of December, I hope to have survival skills in Norwegian, and speak "pretty good" Mandarin Chinese.  Look for the first written report in these two languages by next Thursday, August 30.
     I will continue to spend some time each week to maintain my Spanish and other survival languages, and of course if I get a surprise opportunity to visit some distant corner of this globe, all bets are off, and I'll concentrate on the language and culture of that area.  Questions, comments or suggestions? click on "comments" below.