Day After Tomorrow, Languages, Other Talking Books…

The day after tomorrow can’t get here soon enough. I have scheduled 4 solid days off starting on Thursday and I am somewhat like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. Four glorious days of not having to keep track of anything, not having to drive everywhere, potentially being able to sleep in (though I’m not sure that will happen since my internal alarm clock is set pretty solidly), the opportunity to blog multiple time in a day if I feel like it, and four days of just being Mieke, not worker Mieke, not making it happen Mieke, not Super Woman Mieke. Its going to be amazing. 🙂

I’ve been listening to the language programs the I checked out and downloaded onto my computer then my phone. So far, I have sampled Arabic, Greek, Gaelic, and Hindi. I have no intention of trying to learn them all at the same time. That would be ridiculous, and I don’t think I would be very proficient at any of them that way. I’m just trying to decide which one I want to learn first.

It is said that Arabic is one of the harder languages for English speakers to learn. From listening to the first two lessons, I can see it is one that will probably take a little time and a lot of practice to really get good at. That’s ok. I have the time to do that while I’m cleaning.

I’ve asked my daughter if she would be willing to learn some of the languages I’m going to be learning. She agreed, as long as I am willing to learn Japanese, the language she is most interested. Sure! Why not? The reason I asked her to learn the languages too is so that I have someone I can practice speaking with. If I don’t have someone to practice speaking the language with, chances are I will not retain any of them for very long and a few of the languages I’m interested in would make it hard to find someone to practice with due to the lack of availability. Who do you know that speaks Hindi? Gaelic? I know no one.

After I started downloading these language learners and other talking books, I came to realize that the micro SD card in my phone was going to fill up fast. What did I do about that? Headed to Amazon Smile (a portion of all my purchases go to the charity of my choice, which happens to be the World Wildlife Fund) and ordered a bigger micro SD for my phone. My phone currently holds a 8 gig micro SD. I found a 16 gig one for about $3 on Amazon. It came yesterday. Let the downloading begin!!!

One of the audiobooks/talking books that I had put on hold was ready for me at the library, yesterday. This one is called Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Ph.D., Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., and Steve J. Martin. I find the topic of human behavior quite fascinating and I believe this will be along that line with a direct theme. There are definitely some great benefits to being able to persuade people into being able to see your point of view. There is a part of me that thinks of persuasion as partially manipulative, but I am hoping to have a better understanding of the concept by the end of this ‘book’ so that it may not see it that way. I know not all persuasion is manipulative. There is definitely good persuasion. I guess I have experienced too much ‘persuasion’ being used as a form of manipulation along my path. I want to be able to take away my negative perception of persuasion.

I re-listened to The 5 Love Languages yesterday. It’s almost time for it to go back to the library and felt I really needed to listen to it, again. I feel I have a better grasp on all of the concepts provided in the ‘book,’ now.

Lance listened to The 5 Love Languages the other day and it really affected him. We talked about it that night. He was stirred up by the book, and it left him feeling a little out of sorts in some ways. He isn’t sure of what his primary love language is, which is ok. He will figure that out. We will figure that out. He asked me what my primary love language is and I have to admit that was an easy one for me: touch. Hugs, cuddling, a random kiss on the forehead, holding my hand, a pat on the rear, an unexpected caress of my arm…these things really fill up my love tank. Touch is not my only love language, but it is the most important one to me. I think everyone even thinking about a relationship should read/listen to this book. In the short time since both Lance and I listened to it, we seem to be connecting better than we have for quite some time.

While I was at the library, yesterday, I hopped on the library catalogue computer and put a load of other audiobooks on hold. Many of them are on spirituality. It is a topic that has always interested me. No, not religion, really, though I do find theological subjects quite interesting, as well. A few of the audiobooks I put on hold are about different world religions. I’m interested in learning more to have a better understanding. There are also some books on human behavior that I put on hold. I’m excited to listen to all of these. Expanding my knowledge and understanding is always exciting to me.