If you read a sentence that carries the same meaning but in different languages, the feeling you get is totally different!

Just get a copy of a book in English and a translated one in Chinese and you'll see what I mean..

English to me is formal.. Chinese seems closer while Korean is interesting and Japanese is still quite far from me.. Malay? I guess I'm not very well exposed to it since I've graduated from high school.. haha!

The same English book translated by a PRC and Taiwanese makes a huge difference as well.. the words they use, how the phrase the sentences and thus, it may give you a different interpretation..

Then there are so many words in different languages where there's no substitute of it in another language..

Eg. 含蓄 - can you find an exact substitute for this Chinese word in English?? no! bcoz of the cultural difference...
인사(하다) - no matter how close korean is to chinese but i still can't find a substitute of this korean word in Chinese..

that's why learning a language isn't easy.. it's not only about understanding the language itself but how they use words and phrase their sentences differently.. more importantly, you're actually learning their culture...

okay, too much of that! i've been watching korean dramas without subtitles and getting on quite well.. but my japanese? sigh.. still working along with the book...! i think i'm a part-time linguistic student..! but heyyyy, i just found out that working as a translator is NOT BAD AT ALL! =))

In order not to bore you all with words, here are some recent pics:

aren't they lovely? they are wooden roses 10 for a pound! they come in a bouquet nicely wrapped with scent as well!!! so we each got a bouquet when i went down to Broadmead (city centre shopping area) with Nicole and Annette last Saturday..

Needless to say, the pink one is mine.. the red one belongs to Nicole while the maroon/dark red one belongs to Annette... somehow, the way you choose ur colours, combination and the overall wrapping depends on ur personality?

Wonder if anyone is observant enough.. did you realize that this bouquet has 12flowers instead of 10?? and a white wrapper instead of a pink one in the above pic?? that's coz i dropped the first bouquet i bought so i went back to get another one and the seller gave me extra 2 flowers for free... they ran out of pink wraps as well so i got a white one with pink ribbon.. anyway, still satisfied =)

My favourite smoothie brand - Innocent! the bottle is so cute with the little knited winter hat.. Everytime a smoothie in a hat is sold, the company will give 50p to Age Concern to help provide older people with hot meals, blankets and advice on keeping their homes warm in winter.. how cool the idea is but i don't know what to do with that hat! it's so tiny i couldn't wear it! =p