Kasia's Language Logs

In my previous blog posts, I've often focused on the connection between language and music, as I have always been fascinated by it. Every day, I continue to listen to new songs in different languages, whether they are in Polish, Spanish, or a language I have no understanding in. A language may be strictly a form of communication between two people, but to someone else, that conversation may be a song or something that catches their ear. Yesterday, while I was struggling to find the motivation to start my Spanish homework (as we all are because of this quarantine), my brother sent me a playlist. He usually includes a variety of songs on his Spotify playlist and a lot of these songs are actually in different languages (if you like French music, listen to Christine and the Queens). I opened the playlist on Spotify and pressed shuffle. While I was trying to type in Spanish, the song that suddenly started playing caught my attention. It opened up with a beautiful harp and flute solo,

For this week in class, we were assigned to come up with potential topics for Project 3. For my exploratory writing, here is what I came up with: Although I do not have a clear and specific topic yet, in this project I want to discuss the importance of multilingualism and the benefits it provides. I want to take ideas from my previous research paper, not necessarily discuss heritage language loss, but how it is easy to be afraid to embrace your foreign culture in the United States due to discrimination and judgment. As a child, I never wanted to be Polish and whenever someone in my family asked what my nationality was, I would yell that I’m American. I feel that this topic would allow me to include my experience with battling between my American and Polish culture and finding a balance between the two. I would also be able to effectively use Polish throughout the paper. In addition to Polish, I’ve also learned Spanish and Latin throughout my education. I don’t think I will use Latin

In the article "Can a Foreign Language Enhance Your Writing?", Sarah Baughman discusses several benefits that come with knowing a foreign language. She begins the article by discussing Vladimir Nabokov and his English novel Lolita. Although English wasn't his first language, he was able to craft a well written novel that is considered a classic. I actually started reading Lolita for a book report in high school. The story is very unusual, but very well written, including a lot of imagery and detail. I never finished the book though due to procrastination. Baughman states that the knowledge of multiple languages allowed Nabokov to "write more creatively". I agree with her point here, especially when it comes to grammar. Each language has different grammar structures and rules. For instance in English, adjectives come before the noun, such in the phrase "the black cat". However, in Spanish, the phrase would translate into "el gato negro", a