Nicolas

I really enjoy finding underrated composers/songs as they are sometimes more beautiful than Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven, etc.

One of my favorite underrated composers is Glazunov, particularly, his Valse de Salon and his Grand Concert Waltz.

Can someone tell me of some composers that are, in their opinion, underrated?

I have a piano festival coming up in April of next year, but I am deciding on the two pieces I will play already so I have more than enough time to prepare.

For one of the pieces, we have to choose from a list, and I chose Jopin's Solace.

For the other piece, we are allowed to choose, as long as the composer isn't American (not sure why). Last year, I did Liebestraum No. 2. I found this piece challenging, but doable. It was my first Liszt piece, and it was definitely something that I had never experienced before. It took me about four months or so to learn, longer than any other piece I had played, but that was mostly my fault because when I was practicing, I was focusing too much on making shorter sections sound "beautiful" as opposed to actually getting the notes right and continuing forward with the piece. If I hadn't done that, I would have been able to learn the piece faster, and I'll make sure that that doesn't happen this year.

This year, I want to play Fantasie Impromptu for my chosen piece, but I'm not sure how that compares in terms of difficulty to Liebestraum. I've looked at online forums, and some people say it's easier while others say it is harder. Can someone who has played both pieces please tell me their personal opinion as to which is harder?

Background: I've been playing piano for nine years. Liebestraum is the hardest song I've played so far, and the second hardest is probably Maple Leaf Rag.

Thank you!

Does anyone know any nice names for boys in Cantonese? Can you please provide me with the characters and the jyupting? Thank you!

Hello,

I have recently taken a large interest in computer programming, although I know barely anything about it. I would really like to learn several programming languages (not all at the same time, of course), but I am not sure which one to start with and how.

I have tried using Khan Academy, but I find the drawing stuff really boring and unnecessary. Is there any free online material I can use?

Thank you!

I want to major in Business/Accounting, and I'm having trouble in picking which one I should consider attending.

UC Berkeley is ranked higher overall in Business.

USC is ranked higher overall in Accounting.

I think that I prefer USC more than UC Berkeley for various reasons, like location and financial aid.

Also, is it hard to get into both?

My resume so far:

4.2 GPA weighted (the highest my school offers is 4.4)

Heavy community service participation and leadership

Expected ACT Composite of 33 or higher (don't know about SAT yet)

Taking three APs, plan on taking three more next year (senior year)

So what do you guys think?

I currently speak/study four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese), but I am looking to learn at least one more language. I don't want to learn too many languages, as I believe it is better to be fluent in a few languages rather than elementary in twenty.

So far, here are my ideas, rated from most interest to least interest:

Arabic (probably Egyptian, very widely spoken and also useful. Beautiful alphabet.)

Hindi (I really like the written alphabet and sound, useful.)

Mandarin (most spoken language, very useful. Not a big fan of the sound - that's why I learned Canto first - and probably would not want to learn the characters.)

Bengali (Not as useful as Hindi but is still in the top ten most spoken languages, I like the alphabet and sound.)

Javanese (I really like the alphabet, sounds pretty cool, but I don't know if it is that useful)

Quechua (because of my heritage. No one in my family speaks it, but it is still a big part of where I am from)

Japanese (very interesting culture, however not very useful outside of Japan and I find that language kind of boring.)

French (Somewhat useful, yet I find it extremely boring)

Does anyone have recommendations and experiences with these languages? Which is hardest to learn (just as a side note, I find Cantonese relatively easy to learn, which is harder to learn than Mandarin)? Also, please don't suggest another language, as I've already made up my mind with these ones.

Thanks.

Hello,

I currently speak/study four languages (English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese).

Although I have my hands full with these four, I am looking to learn at least one more language. I don't want to learn too many languages, as I believe it is better to be fluent in a few languages rather than elementary in twenty.

So far, here are my ideas, rated from most interest to least interest:

Arabic (probably Egyptian, very widely spoken and also useful. Beautiful alphabet.)

Hindi (I really like the written alphabet and sound, useful.)

Mandarin (most spoken language, very useful. Not a big fan of the sound - that's why I learned Canto first - and probably would not want to learn the characters.)

Bengali (Not as useful as Hindi but is still in the top ten most spoken languages, I like the alphabet and sound.)

Quechua (because of my heritage. No one in my family speaks it, but it is still a big part of where I am from)

Japanese (very interesting culture, however not very useful outside of Japan and I find that language kind of boring.)

Does anyone have recommendations and experiences with these languages? Which is hardest to learn (just as a side note, I find Cantonese relatively easy to learn, which is harder to learn than Mandarin)?

Thank you.

I want to hear people's opinion about this matter. Personally, it irks me when I hear someone say, "If you speak Portuguese, then that means you can understand Spanish (or vice versa)." I mean, there are so many differences! And just to be clear, I am fluent in Spanish, and while I did pick up Brazilian Portuguese in about three months, it was difficult at the beginning, and I still sometimes have trouble with pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. (I don't mean that I'm fluent in Portuguese, I just mean that I can read, write, and speak well enough to survive in Brazil. I am taking classes, even though I started on my own.). My point is that they are not mutually intelligible, they are only partially mutually intelligible, if you are being generous. For example, take a look at these two news clips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiCkauON5JQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uJ1ysLQtjY

The first is in Brazilian Portuguese and the second is in Spanish. While they do have their similarities, I think that their sounds are very unique and different from each other.

So what do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree with me? I really want to hear some opinions, regardless of their stances.

Hello,

I am learning Cantonese and I heard that HK dramas were good for picking up the language. I am looking for a drama that is easy to understand and that preferably has subtitles. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

This summer, I am looking to study Cantonese, as I love the sound of it, much more so than Mandarin.

However, I am finding a real shortage of resources to use for studying this language.

I found a great website, but I would also like to use a textbook or some other method along with it.

Does anyone know of any good textbooks for Cantonese? Also, is Pimsleur effective for learning languages? I am tempted to use Pimsleur, as it is the only language software I have found that offers Cantonese.

Just as a side note, I intend to just speak Cantonese, not be able to read it.

Thank you!