languageisathingthatilike

[languageisathingthatilike]

Thinking about how when my oldest brother took Japanese classes his professor was like your pronunciation is really good 😊 but you need to watch movies that aren't about the Yakuza because you sound like a criminal

[languageisathingthatilike]

where! has! my! passion! gone! I had it abundantly when I was a child, and I must have dropped it along the way, but I cannot figure where!

[languageisathingthatilike]

wishing you a very happy “i accidentally wrote 2k words today”

[ID: A two-panel black line comic titled “WHO WOULD WIN?” Panel on the left features a crudely drawn person contemplating at a computer with the caption ���Hours spent brainstorming solutions to a plot problem. Panel on the right features the same person in the shower, holding shower gel and covered in soap bubbles, with the caption “Random thought in the shower” with smaller captions “holy shit” next to the person’s head. End ID.]

[languageisathingthatilike]

"Irish doesn't have a word for please, you have to say if it be your will" buddy do I have news for you about "please"

"Irish doesn't have a word for hello you have to use a shorthand religious blessing" buddy do I have news for you about "goodbye"!

"In Polish the word for car is that which walks by itself" BUDDY what do you think an AUTOMOBILE is?

you have got to understand that your mother tongue is not the model of language. all your words have secret histories and layers of meaning just the same as other people's words. the word you think of as just a word has etymology, it wasn't handed down from God as a finished word. English doesn't have a word for movie you have to either refer to the recording medium or use a short version of "moving picture", isn't that cute?

[languageisathingthatilike]

[languageisathingthatilike]

i love the strange reality of being a human person with a human brain. one time someone said something to me in a foreign language (japanese, which i do not speak) and i automatically responded in a different foreign language (spanish, which i do not speak well) and then we both said "what?" in english, an experience made more surreal by the fact that everyone around us was speaking loudly in canadian french (as this occurred in Quebec)

[languageisathingthatilike]

Autism I have

[languageisathingthatilike]

i need to know every language immediately

[languageisathingthatilike]

the word sheepish is so funny. like 🐑 baa

[languageisathingthatilike]

i love having special little letters... ä ö ü ß bitch

[languageisathingthatilike]

a selection of artist memes hand-picked and curated by me based on my own experiences

[languageisathingthatilike]

I feel like a lot of Duolingo discourse should acknowledge that the reason that they have basically every national European language on there is not because of a “European bias” but because of refugees. A huge number of refugees in Europe use it to learn the language of whatever country they’re moving to or living in; the site even talks about it in the “fun facts” on their waiting screen. Languages like Swedish and Norwegian aren’t there primarily for Minnesotans getting in touch with their heritage, but for African, Asian and Eastern European refugees in Sweden and Norway, and indeed they make up the majority of people using Duolingo to learn those languages. The app does need to add more non-European languages; it’s gradually doing this, as it recently added Zulu, Xhosa and Kreyòl, and its focus on indigenous languages like Navajo and Hawaiian is especially commendable. And yet there are still some pretty glaring omissions of major world languages from Asia and Africa that need to be addressed — and even “they’re edited by users” doesn’t cut it with how many people worldwide speak those whom they could seek out! But the fact that a free language app is doing its best to provide the language learning services that those actual countries routinely deny desperately-poor refugees is a good thing actually. Reserve your rage for the prioritizing of Esperanto, Klingon and High Valyrian over Bengali, Tagalog and Farsi.

[languageisathingthatilike]

fun fact: the german word for 'curious' is neugierig which literally translates to 'new-greedy'

same thing with the noun, 'curiosity'. Neugierde means 'new-greedyness'

[languageisathingthatilike]

being a jack of all trades master of none is actually so awesome bc i can make the shittest clay sculpture and the ugliest drawing and the sloppiest painting and the worst hand stitches and the wonkiest earrings and it's like. who cares + now im surrounded by lots of different silly things i made with love and care etc

[languageisathingthatilike]

“once upon a time” in other languages

korean: “back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에) [x]

czech: “beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers” (za sedmero horami a sedmero řekami)

georgian: “there was, and there was not, there was…” (იყო და არა იყო რა, იყო…)

hausa: “a story, a story. let it go, let it come.” [x]

romanian: “there once was, (as never before)… because if there wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been to told” (A fost odată, ca niciodată că dacă n-ar fi fost, nu s-ar mai povesti…)

lithuanian: “beyond nine seas, beyond nine lagoons: (už devynių jūrų, už devynių marių)

catalan: “see it here that in that time in which beasts spoke and people were silent…” (vet aquí que en aquell temps que les bèsties parlaven i les persones callaven…) [x]

turkish: “Once there was, and once there wasn’t. In the long-distant days of yore, when haystacks winnowed sieves, when genies played jereed in the old bathhouse, [when] fleas were barbers, [when] camels were town criers, [and when] I softly rocked my baby grandmother to sleep in her creaking cradle, there was/lived, in an exotic land, far, far away, a/an…* (Bir varmış, bir yokmuş. Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde, cinler cirit oynar iken eski hamam içinde, pireler berber [iken], develer tellal [iken], ben ninemin beşiğini tıngır mıngır sallar iken, uzak diyarların birinde…)

[languageisathingthatilike]

How To Study 2 Languages (or more) At Once

I am usually a person who wants to focus on one language at a time, but I finally decided after years of waiting to start Japanese on top of Korean - that I should just do it.

TIP 1: Staggered Start

Start 1 language first and after awhile add in the next language. This helps immensely. You don't have to wait like 3 or 4 years like me, but the longer the better honestly. I know your excited and nothing I say might convince you to do 1 first. But It really took a lot of restraint on my part and I'm glad I "waited" (I actually tried and failed a few times to learn Japanese - this time is good because I actually have the time and energy to consistently study 2 languages)

I would say start with 1 language and plan to stick with it for at least 6 months (if not longer) before you pick up the second language.

TIP 2: Somewhat Different Languages

If you are starting them around the same time, I think It would be wise to find languages that are different enough from each other that you won't mix them up.

Korean & Japanese - Spanish & French = These languages would be considered too "similar" and would lead you to confuse words or grammar or pronunciation or all of those. However, If you studied Japanese & Spanish - you would be fine.

Tip 3: Different Days

You don't have to do this, but If you are running low on time or energy then this works great. For me, I study Korean & Japanese on the same day 2-3 days a week and then study Korean only on 1 day and Japanese only on 1 day (for a total of 4-5 days of studying each week)

By doing it on different days, you can put all of your energy and focus into that one language.

Should You Do It Though?

PROS:

- It can be fun and challenging, especially if you love those languages

- In the long run you'll know both languages to a decent level

- You can take advantage of similarities & differences in a language

- When you get tired of studying 1 language, you can just pick up the other

CONS:

- Progress slows down (In 1 or both languages) because you are using less time on studying by splitting focus between 2 languages

- You could mix up the languages still

- It takes more time/effort to do which you may not have

- It can be stressful to add another language (if you've already been studying 1 for a few months or years) or adding 2 at the same time

- You may begin to neglect or prioritize one language over the other (I actually don't see this as a bad thing - as I recommended if you start at different times then you'll be more familiar with one language over the other already)

My Opinion:

JUST DO IT! Even if you don't take any of my advice - learning new languages is fun. It's good for your brain, good for your soul, good for careers and school and travel and lots of other things. The thought of being a polyglot or multi-lingual (or even bi-lingual, tri-lingual, etc.) Is so cool. One day I'll be able to say that I'm multi-lingual (knowing 3-4 or more languages).

[languageisathingthatilike]

🤡🤡🤡