Hey! :)

[Elayrin Eleazar]

Hey and hello - greetings from Germany!

 

So how do I begin...

Well, I'm not new to Dragonmount - I'm one of the silent readers who enjoy reading but are to shy to start writing. Okay, hopefully that's about to change, but hey, it's not that easy to make a start!

 

Some info about me:

I'm 27, living in Germany and studying English and German (someday - hopefully in the nearest future - I'll be a teacher). English is not my native language, but German is - therefore I have to apologize for any mistakes I might make. I'll try my best, I promise!

I've been a WoT-fan for several years now and now matter how often I re-read the books, they just keep getting better and better! I love challenging fantasy literature - I've just started reading ASoIaF. Hopefully it will be as great as the WoT... thanks to Robert Jordan (and recently Brandon Sanderson) my standards are quite high.

When I don't bury my nose in a book - you can almost never see my without one - and university gives me a break, I can be found in several role playing groups (D&D, Cthulhu, Degenesis etc.) or listening to music (Metal, Gothic, Rock, Prog... my recent favourite band: Coheed&Cambria - any fans here?). What else... hm, I love movies - action, fantasy, sci-fi, horror... any time! - and writing.

 

I hope I'll find a lot of nice people here. I'm not focused on WoT-topics, I just want to have a nice time and fun with people who share at least some interests. Maybe I can even improve my language skills here, who knows.

 

Anyway, hopefully there's a place here for me. If you have any questions or if you want to know anything about me, feel free to ask. I might not answer EVERY question, but some.

 

Elayrin

[Jeannaisais]

For starters, I would've never have guessed that English is not your native tongue as you are writing very well! I'm studying TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) and I must say you would classify as fluent! May I ask how long you have been studying English?

 

Anyways, I'm Jea, second in command of the Band of the Red Hand Social Org...one of the best Social Orgs in my opinion. We have music threads, travel threads and like to drink lots of brew. Or in my case, giant jugs of brew tea Feel free to stop on by and I would suggest looking at any and all of the social orgs since you're looking to have a good time and make friends.

 

I look forward to seeing you around!

[Elayrin Eleazar]

TESOL - I had to look that one up. Seems to be quite similiar to TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) which is what I am learning. Do you work with children or with adults?

Mmh, I've been studying English since 5th grade, so it adds up to, well, 17 years. Wait a moment... 17? Gosh, now I'm feeling old... I'm near the end of my studies - fortunately - but I still have the feeling that there's much more to learn.

 

Sounds like fun!

There's a lot to see and read here, I don't know where and how to start... Is everything open to new members? What is the best way to get in involved in a Social Org? Just knock and say "hello!"?

[Elgee]

Guten tag, Elayrin, und wilkommen!

 

That about uses up my German for the day ... lol ... it's been a looong time since I studied it. Let me echo Jea here - I would never have guessed that English is not your native language!

 

To answer your question about joining any of the social groups: each one would have a topic pinned at the top of their main board, which would explain their specific procedures. Mostly they would ask you to read their rules, then post there saying you want to join. The White Tower / Warders also has a form you need to fill in (it's REALLY short, I promise!) which makes it easier to request that you be added to our usergroup (that opens up some private boards to you). After that, just go ahead and introduce yourself and/or join in where you want.

 

We're holding a Social Groups Faire down at the General Discussion Board (click on that underlined bit to go there) at the moment - pop in there and get a feel for all of them. You can join as many Social Groups as you want, btw.

 

If you wish to join the RPing side, scroll down further till you see The Welcome Inn - you'll find more information there. Again, you can join as many RP Groups as you want, and make up to 3 characters in each Group (generally speaking).

 

Ok I've rambled a bit ... lol ... feel free to ask questions!

[Elayrin Eleazar]

Vielen Dank, Elgee!

Where did you learn German? It's a pity that language skills rust in if you don't use them regularly... I had French in school and wasn't bad - now I'm not able to make a single sentence... okay, I think I would manage to introduce myself, but that's it.

 

I wouldn't call it rambling, I'd call it "bringing light to a clouded mind" - sounds much better! And it has been very helpful, thanks again. I hadn't realized that you could join more than one Social Group.

 

After a quick look at the Faire I can say: I like Narg. Maybe this will get me cooked and eaten, but I like him anyway.

[Elgee]

Narg is awesome *grins*.

 

I learned German at school - here in South Africa we had to learn both English and Afrikaans, and then we could choose either German or French as a 3rd language. That was loooong ago back in the day :P. You could usually only take German at predominantly Afrikaans schools, and French at predominantly English schools. Weird, that

 

I took a few other languages at university, amongst them French. German is still my best "other" language, probably because my whole family had to learn it at school too, and we speak the odd phrase or 2 at home. Oh and I was an exchange student in Europe after school, mostly in Germany.

 

"bringing light to a clouded mind" ... I like that

[Jeannaisais]

I've worked with both but being that I'm a peer tutor in college I've worked mainly with college aged students. And TESOL is essentially the same as TEFL just different wording...there's also ESL which is just the shortened version of TESOL!

 

I know quite a bit of Spanish and would like to improve on my Italian (all of which I currently know from my few brief visits to Italy).

 

As for joining a social org, just knock and say hello and we'll try not to bite too hard!

[Talmanes]

Welcome to Dragonmount!

By the way you get awesome points for using the word Org lol.

And like others have said, Social Groups are a lot of fun, and you just jump right in.

Personally, I hang my hat...or would anyway if I had a hat...at the Black Tower. It's nice, laid back, and Taintedly insane.

[Elayrin Eleazar]

I learned German at school - here in South Africa we had to learn both English and Afrikaans, and then we could choose either German or French as a 3rd language. That was loooong ago back in the day :P. You could usually only take German at predominantly Afrikaans schools, and French at predominantly English schools. Weird, that

Indeed... but maybe that's because both languages (Afrikaans and German) have some similiarities which might make it easier to learn one if you know the other... but that's just my impression.

Oh, where in Germany did you stay? I'm curious.

 

I've worked with both but being that I'm a peer tutor in college I've worked mainly with college aged students. And TESOL is essentially the same as TEFL just different wording...there's also ESL which is just the shortened version of TESOL!

Ah, okay - ESL is something I know. That's somehow typical for university education - dozens of terms for basically the same thing.

 

 

Thanks, Talmanes!

I think I'm convinced now, I'll try them out.

[Jeannaisais]

It is typical of university education...we call it this, but you'll also hear this, this and this. *sigh* Gotta love learning acronyms, right?

 

Enjoy searching the social orgs, and don't forget to check out the Band!

[Elgee]

Indeed... but maybe that's because both languages (Afrikaans and German) have some similiarities which might make it easier to learn one if you know the other... but that's just my impression.

 

I think you're right about that.

 

Oh, where in Germany did you stay? I'm curious.

 

 

First we went to West Berlin for a few days, but we stayed in a youth hostel there. This was before the Wall fell, btw. We were allowed into East Berlin on a very heavily supervised day tour. I still have sugar cubes that I nicked from a cafeteria there *grins*

 

After that we went to stay with families in Munchen. One of my favourite places ever, that. To this day the smell of filter coffee still makes me think of my time there.

[Tynaal Consen]

Soo.. you're german hey?