Learning Dutch: Beginnings

September 29, 2017September 29, 2017Richard A. 6 Comments

Back in August, I attended a conference in Montreal which was all about polyglots and languages: Langfest. So many attendees at the conference had name-tags that said which languages they spoke or were learning to speak. Most people had 3 or more; several were even on their 7th or 8th language! While I was there, I started thinking on what my next language would be. Italian or Portuguese are obvious choices since they are so close to French and Spanish; they’d likely be relatively easier to learn. But they don’t inspire in me a strong desire to learn them right now. Then there was a quick presentation on Icelandic, which seems interesting! It’d be quite a challenge to learn it, though. So, I left the conference without a chosen language, and decided to think on it for a little bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Automattic’s Grand Meetup, where all of my colleagues from around the world gather for 1 week of work and socializing. You can see some of my friend’s posts here: Lisa, Stephen, Kathryn, Ryan. While I was there, I chatted a bit with Ines, a colleague from the Netherlands. And that’s when it hit me: Dutch!

So I’ve started looking for Dutch courses in Montreal. I’m not finding any, though. I asked on Twitter for help, and another one of my colleagues, Mark, said this:

But….. WHY?

— Mark Senff (@Senff) September 30, 2017

Great question, Mark! Here’s why I’ve settled on Dutch:

I want to learn a 4th language as a personal challenge, but I also don’t want something TOO hard so that I don’t get discouraged along the way; I can try a hard one for my 5th. 🙂
Dutch is close to English in many ways (written and spoken) which might make learning it a bit easier, but different enough that it will still require a lot of work and practice to get right. It feels like a good balance.
I love flying KLM and have been through AMS-Schiphol airport a few times; maybe one day I’ll actually get to visit Amsterdam too! It’d be great to have at least a fair grasp of the language if I do.
I’d like Automattic’s Grand Meetup to be in Europe one year, and Amsterdam would be a GREAT location for flights. Look at this!

Screen Shot 2017-09-29 at 10.13.02 PM.png

From http://www.flightconnections.com/ ; all the direct flights to AMS!

So, those are the reasons! My motivation doesn’t have any deep meaning behind it or anything; I just want to see if I can do it!

So, my first step is to get some books & CDs from the library. I will also watch videos online. For example, I’ve started watching these:

They’re good, but I need more structure to learn.I’d love to be in a class and learn along with other people. To that end, I signed up on a site called Multilingual Cafe, and hope that a class will open at some point. If you’re in Montreal and also want to learn Dutch, sign up for a group session! (Thanks to Isabelle for the link!)

Once I have a book or two, I’m going to try to do at least 30 minutes a day of practicing, reading, and watching videos. It isn’t much, but since I don’t have anyone I can practice *with*, it will have to do for now. I will try to find a conversation group once I have the basics, later. If you have any leads for me for a group in Montreal, let me know!

So that’s it! I’ll update my progress here in a month or so.

WordCamp Montreal

September 5, 2017September 4, 2017Richard A. 1 Comment

Great photo of this year’s gang: Jennifer, me, Carl, Andrea, and Alex. Photo by Jer Clarke: http://jerclarke.org/

In 2010, I went to my very first WordCamp. It was my first time going to an event like that: a conference on a subject which, at the time, I was just starting to delve into. I really enjoyed my experience that weekend; I met some great people, and learned a lot! The local community was just full of friendly and knowledgeable people, who were always enthusiastic about sharing their thoughts and ideas. At the time, most of the monhtly meetups were on topics that were pretty much over my head, but I enjoyed going to them anyways because I always ended up learning something, and the other people who came to them were also very nice and friendly.

So, I kept going to the events. I also went to WordCamp Montreal 2011, and also 2012. Now, for those who know me, I like organizing things. I really like organizing things. By things, I mean events, or outings, or get-togethers; I don’t mean my desk (I won’t show you a picture of it). At the afterparty in 2012, I had the great idea of approaching Jer, one of the organizers, and saying “Hey, I’d like to help with anything you need me for next year!”, and before I knew it, I was in! I’ve been on the organizing team for WordCamp Montreal since 2013 now (here’s 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). I’ve also been part of the team that organizes our local meetups too (here’s where you can sign up to find out about future WordPress Montreal events, on Meetup.com). And being part of the organizing team brought me, indirectly, to my current job at Automattic (the folks behind WordPress.com); being at the events, and helping where I could, got me noticed, and it certainly helped having it on my CV.

But, after 5 years of doing it, I decided earlier this year that I need a break. Running WordCamp, as well as the local WordPress community events, is a lot of work! We have a great team of organizers, but it’s still a lot that needs to be done. We actually start the preliminary booking for the WordCamp venue in November or so, as well as the hunt for sponsors. A lot of time and effort goes into our events, and I was starting to feel tired of always having to think of things for the meetups or WordCamp itself, and occasionally annoyed at minor details. So, before I found myself becoming bitter or burnt out, I decided that this year’s edition, 2017, would be my last as a WordCamp and Meetup organizer, for a year or two. We’ll see if I come back afterwards; I do like organizing things, so it might be hard to stay away for too long! However, it will also be nice to be able to go to WordCamp next summer as a pure attendee (though I may volunteer for a few hours). Not having that responsibility anymore just feels nice right now.

I was going to add some pictures from past WordCamps, but, I’m bad at taking pictures, so I only have some from 2013. So instead, go and have a look at some great ones that other people have taken:

Passing on the torch, ha! Another great picture by Jer Clarke: http://jerclarke.org/

Oh, and remember how I mentioned that I really like organizing things? Well, I’m in the early, preliminary planning stages of organizing another conference on something near and dear to my heart, and not WordPress-related, either! I’ll reveal the secret as soon as I’m ready to announce it. 🙂

Trees

September 4, 2017September 4, 2017Richard A. Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, there was a freak windstorm in Montreal. Winds reached speeds as high as 110km/h in short bursts in some parts of the city (mostly in NDG, but also in St-Henri and a few other parts). These high winds managed to bring down dozens of trees; one large park in NDG was practically ripped apart by the winds. You can see some pictures in this Montreal Gazette story, and in this CBC News story.

Luckily, no-one was hurt anywhere as far as I’m aware. Unluckily, the trees behind my building were some of the ones that took a beating. A mature silver maple broke in half: it’s top half cracked off and ended up precariously balanced against our back staircase. Another tree, which was already leaning a bit beforehand, toppled over completely, but for one thin trunk that stayed put. Other branches from other nearby trees also were broken and fell into the back yard. It created quite a mess.

When the landlord came and took a look, he decided that it was too dangerous to leave the maple trunk just balanced against the staircase, so with the help of a nieghbour, we pushed it down to the ground.

The next day, the tree pruners came to clean up the mess. All that greenery, gone.

Now, we no longer see a wall of green when out on our back balcony; instead, I can see all the neighbours. It’s also much sunnier (and hotter) on the balcony. It’s sad, but such is life. Maybe next summer we’ll plant a tree in the corner to replace the fallen one.