Second Chances
Viewing comments for Chapter 5 "Rom-English"how live gives you lemonade
6 total reviews
Comment from estory
I think your little essay captures the experience of many immigrants trying to adapt and integrate into the new society they are in, but also trying to keep their traditions, and culture, intact within themselves. estory
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2023
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I think your little essay captures the experience of many immigrants trying to adapt and integrate into the new society they are in, but also trying to keep their traditions, and culture, intact within themselves. estory
Comment Written 15-Jun-2022
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2023
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Thank you so much and so sorry for my delay
Comment from Jannypan (Jan)
You made a valid point, Iza. Your language is part of your heritage.
I don't believe you'll ever lost it 100%, nor should you. I don't have the answer. However, I do know you have made great progress since I've known you here on FS. Your writing in English has improved greatly.
Respectfully, Jan
May I suggest ~
Here I am after twelve years in this new brave world still wondering about my achievements. Today(,) I realized that my English, bad or good, stared(started) to replace my Romanian. Frequently, I find myself wondering what word to use in a conversation with my ethnic friends, and I realized that I am out of words.
I(I've) become something that[ delete that ]I thought will never happen to me, but now I suffer from the same disease as my other friends[ delete that are] that are working in Italy and[ delete and start sentence Their ] their sentences are 90 % Italian and 10[ 10% ) Romanian. When did I notice this change? Well... how about yesterday. I am ashamed of forgetting my mother tongue.
I guess not living in a place for a long time, and not reading or[ writing ] writings in that language ... you start to forget. More often(,) you find yourself trying to speak and having that word in your head, but when it comes to let it free in the world[ world, it's translated ] is the translation in English.
I wonder how many of you are dealing with this dilemma and how well are you taking the rolling of the eyes from the people who never stepped out of their porch(,) aka country. I got what I deserved! That
'rolling" it's [is ] a well-deserved punch in my face, for my own judgement towards the Romanian[ Romanians [ living in Italy. They at least have a good excuse(,) because Italian is so close to Romanian. On the other hand, English is not! So, how I can get rid of my Rom-English?
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You made a valid point, Iza. Your language is part of your heritage.
I don't believe you'll ever lost it 100%, nor should you. I don't have the answer. However, I do know you have made great progress since I've known you here on FS. Your writing in English has improved greatly.
Respectfully, Jan
May I suggest ~
Here I am after twelve years in this new brave world still wondering about my achievements. Today(,) I realized that my English, bad or good, stared(started) to replace my Romanian. Frequently, I find myself wondering what word to use in a conversation with my ethnic friends, and I realized that I am out of words.
I(I've) become something that[ delete that ]I thought will never happen to me, but now I suffer from the same disease as my other friends[ delete that are] that are working in Italy and[ delete and start sentence Their ] their sentences are 90 % Italian and 10[ 10% ) Romanian. When did I notice this change? Well... how about yesterday. I am ashamed of forgetting my mother tongue.
I guess not living in a place for a long time, and not reading or[ writing ] writings in that language ... you start to forget. More often(,) you find yourself trying to speak and having that word in your head, but when it comes to let it free in the world[ world, it's translated ] is the translation in English.
I wonder how many of you are dealing with this dilemma and how well are you taking the rolling of the eyes from the people who never stepped out of their porch(,) aka country. I got what I deserved! That
'rolling" it's [is ] a well-deserved punch in my face, for my own judgement towards the Romanian[ Romanians [ living in Italy. They at least have a good excuse(,) because Italian is so close to Romanian. On the other hand, English is not! So, how I can get rid of my Rom-English?
Comment Written 14-Jun-2022
Comment from Dawn Munro
First, let me answer the question you pose at the end of this eye-opening piece -- I would not accept eye-rolling, period. I would call them on it, just as you have done with this excellent essay. Next -- I think one of the most difficult things we must do is to learn to be accepting and forgiving of OURSELVES
Now, my suggestions: (the corrections are in brackets)
"I become something I thought (would) never happen..." verb tenses must match "thought" and "will" -- it's confusing because you start with present tense ("become") but the match is needed for "thought", and not for "become".
Well...(H)ow about yesterday(?) -- always a capital following an ellipses, and a question mark is needed (because it is a question, not a statement).
"... More often you find yourself trying to speak and having (the right) word in your head, but when it comes to let(ting) it (go) free in the world(,) it (becomes the English translation.)
"... other friends (who) are working..." -- 'that' is for inanimate objects mainly
"...not reading or (writing)--no "s"
"I wonder how many of you are dealing with this dilemma(,) and (how well you receive) the rolling of eyes from people who never stepped (off) their porch (to visit or live in another) country."
"They(,) at least(,) have a good excuse because Italian is so close to Romanian. On the other hand, English is not! So, how I can get rid of my Rom-English?
This should have been a contest entry! With some tweaking, it's most worthy!
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First, let me answer the question you pose at the end of this eye-opening piece -- I would not accept eye-rolling, period. I would call them on it, just as you have done with this excellent essay. Next -- I think one of the most difficult things we must do is to learn to be accepting and forgiving of OURSELVES
Now, my suggestions: (the corrections are in brackets)
"I become something I thought (would) never happen..." verb tenses must match "thought" and "will" -- it's confusing because you start with present tense ("become") but the match is needed for "thought", and not for "become".
Well...(H)ow about yesterday(?) -- always a capital following an ellipses, and a question mark is needed (because it is a question, not a statement).
"... More often you find yourself trying to speak and having (the right) word in your head, but when it comes to let(ting) it (go) free in the world(,) it (becomes the English translation.)
"... other friends (who) are working..." -- 'that' is for inanimate objects mainly
"...not reading or (writing)--no "s"
"I wonder how many of you are dealing with this dilemma(,) and (how well you receive) the rolling of eyes from people who never stepped (off) their porch (to visit or live in another) country."
"They(,) at least(,) have a good excuse because Italian is so close to Romanian. On the other hand, English is not! So, how I can get rid of my Rom-English?
This should have been a contest entry! With some tweaking, it's most worthy!
Comment Written 14-Jun-2022
Comment from royowen
Being mono lingual, with a little German and French I don't, my dear wife is fluent in German, French and English, I know Rumanian is derived from Latin, so it doesn't surprise the Rumanian and Italian are related, but I admire your English Iza, you've done, well done well, blessings Roy
Typo : star(t)ed to replace 2: Reading or writing(s)
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Being mono lingual, with a little German and French I don't, my dear wife is fluent in German, French and English, I know Rumanian is derived from Latin, so it doesn't surprise the Rumanian and Italian are related, but I admire your English Iza, you've done, well done well, blessings Roy
Typo : star(t)ed to replace 2: Reading or writing(s)
Comment Written 13-Jun-2022
Comment from BethShelby
I've heard English is a hard language to learn so I glad I grew up with. No one who only knows one language has no business rolling their eyes as some one who is bi-lingual and forgets a word of either language now and then. You have my deep admiration.
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I've heard English is a hard language to learn so I glad I grew up with. No one who only knows one language has no business rolling their eyes as some one who is bi-lingual and forgets a word of either language now and then. You have my deep admiration.
Comment Written 13-Jun-2022
Comment from lyenochka
Hahaha! Don't worry! It happens to all of us. Besides, sometimes my husband and I purposely mix up Hebrew and Russian and Korean - just for fun. We're certain no one else can understand us! It's a beautiful thing that your brain is adapting and it shows resilience! Embrace the Romlish!
stared to replace my Romanian. (started)
get ride of my Rom-English? (rid)
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Hahaha! Don't worry! It happens to all of us. Besides, sometimes my husband and I purposely mix up Hebrew and Russian and Korean - just for fun. We're certain no one else can understand us! It's a beautiful thing that your brain is adapting and it shows resilience! Embrace the Romlish!
stared to replace my Romanian. (started)
get ride of my Rom-English? (rid)
Comment Written 13-Jun-2022