#Language And Culture

[linguist-breakaribecca]

“Grandma’s House is not like a drop-off daycare or an immersion school where only the children learn. Through a grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, parents get paid to learn alongside and speak with their children in Ojibwe five hours a day, four days a week.

…

‘Learning Ojibwe in college and pursuing learning the language and teaching the language, I hadn't really thought about babies speaking it as their first language,’ Erdrich said.

‘It seemed like this impossible thing because of how much work it would be, how hard it would be to have a whole community and other babies to be speaking Ojibwe, but it's happening! And it's amazing because it's the peer language here so the kids are speaking Ojibwe to each other,’ she said.

…Grandma’s House is not like other college language programs. Learning a Native language in an academic setting is beneficial for language revitalization, but academic learning does not usually include learning the traditions, heritage or spirit within a Native community.

…

Although it’s common to refer to a language no longer commonly spoken as a ‘dead language,’ some people in the language revitalization movement instead refer to them as ‘asleep.’ The idea is that sleeping languages can be awakened through family and community efforts.

Waking up Native languages can also bring intergenerational healing.”

[thebroccolination]

The Use of “Husband/Wife” in Thai BL Series

A few years ago, I was talking to a queer Thai person about the use of endearments in Thai BL, and they were like, “A lot of interfans get mad about the husband/wife thing—and some queer Thai people don’t like it either—but many of us just think it’s sweet. Married couple! Cute! That’s it.”

So we go on talking about this and that, and then, remembering the prevalence of Win calling Team “baby” in English fics, I asked them what the Thai equivalent of that would be.

Immediately, they were like, “Okay, if you want to talk weird, that’s weird to me. Your lover is your infant? A little baby? That’s romantic? How?”

And I had to laugh, because…actually, yeah. It is weird when you think about it literally. But that’s kind of the point, right? We don’t literally mean “they are a little newly born human to me” when we use “baby” as an endearment. It’s just a, “this person is as precious to me as a baby,” vibe.

And for some of the people who find the “husband/wife” thing cute—queer and otherwise—it’s not like they’re literally thinking of one of the guys as a woman. It’s the marital bond vibe they like.

Some people hate “baby” as an endearment. I’ve spoken to them! They’re real!

Some people hate “husband/wife” too.

But when people decide, “Using this term in a series is a moral wrong and I need to hate and decry every series that uses it,” that’s maaaaybe going too far.

Most series seem to be veering away from using the terms anyway, and that’s fine, but it’s important and helpful to the larger conversation to remember that there’s a whole nuanced cultural and historical context behind terms we see in other countries’ media. Even queer people in Thailand use terms like “husband/wife” in their real lives. So before we assume we have all the information based on our own cultural context, it’s best to ask people from that culture for their perspective. And then continue to stay out of it, because what queer Thai people like or don’t like isn’t affecting anyone but themselves, so it’s not our lane to careen an oil tanker into.

Because another thing that queer Thai person said to me also resonates to this day: “When interfans create issues about Thai culture and fight with each other to protect Thai people from something they made up, we’re just watching them and thinking, ‘What the fuck are you all doing?’ We don’t need you to protect us.”

But Win calling Team “baby” in English fics—that I’ll defend with my life. ♡

[ao3cassandraic]

Angels, demons, language, and culture part 4: Literalism and metaphor

Part 1 (angels are never children, and that matters), Part 2 (written language is mostly coded human rather than ethereal/occult in Good Omens), Part 3 (human writings contain useful social rules, which is partly why Aziraphale values them)

It may be time to restate @thundercrackfic's original questions?

How good is Aziraphale’s reading comprehension? How much does he understand subtext and metaphor? Because his behavior this season struck me with the impression that he didn’t really understand the books he collects. He’s clever at puzzle solving, and contains vast knowledge; but he always seems to take things at face value (when he’s not willfully misunderstanding), and refuses to give up black-and-white thinking, which would make it very difficult to analyze texts.

I think there are definite reasons to believe that reading comprehension of human literature (as defined in the question) is difficult for Aziraphale. One of them, as stated in part 1, is that Aziraphale doesn't get the tremendous advantage of childhood and its brain plasticity, which (among other things) is known to help with learning language. I'm not surprised his French is pretty bad. Learning another language from the ground up as an adult can be a cast-iron PITA (yes, experience speaking).

Another is simply that Aziraphale is not human. He's an outsider to humanity. He's fairly empathetic, and he does learn (unlike almost all his fellow angels!), but that leaves him without much of a yardstick to gauge when human literature is being literal and when it's not. There also seems to be a general angelic tendency to believe what they're told? Muriel definitely has it, Michael seems to as well, and even s1!Gabriel can only (and barely) muster skepticism on one occasion that I recall (the photo incident). I can see this making Aziraphale's reading, especially early in his existence on Earth, a good bit harder for him than reading is for, say, me. I'm used to unreliable narrators and figurative language and other sorts of clever fun productive lying. Aziraphale's acquaintance with lying is -- well -- his lies don't usually involve much metaphor? I suppose one could argue that "big sharp cutty thing" is a kenning, but not really in the human way of kennings because he only uses it the once.

Moreover, it appears (based on the s1e3 cold open, mostly) that he bops around the world quite a bit until finally settling in London (with the occasional jaunt elsewhere when he gets peckish). Nothing at his creation other than the auto-polyglottism She bestows on Her angels seems to give him any tools for navigating the bewildering variety of human cultures and customs... and literary metaphor (along with lots of other literary things) is commonly culturally-bound, culturally-specific.

I mean, if you read something (maybe in high school (or analogue) or college) that was written A Long Time Ago and/or Very Far Away, didn't it probably have a ton of what lit-critters call "apparatus" in it? Explanatory introductions, bibliography, and above all footnotes/endnotes/margin notes, many of which explain figures of speech that otherwise wouldn't make sense? Not to mention stuff like (just as an example) which local then-current political morass Dante threw this particular historical person in this particular circle of Hell for. Stuff that if you're not there, not embedded in the culture and the time, you're just plain gonna whiff. Hell, even Shakespeare editions have a ton of apparatus, and Shakespeare's in Early Modern English for pity's sake!

(Which is not to say that something has to be ancient or not-from-here to benefit from some apparatus. What is The Annotated Pratchett File if not apparatus for Discworld?)

So our peripatetic angel reading literature of whatever time he's actually in (which mostly won't have apparatus he can rely on for help) will often find himself not clued-in enough to a given human culture to completely understand its literary figures, metaphors included. And sure, that's going to lead to some misreadings and misunderstandings and overliteral takes! I can't read Dante's Inferno and understand everything in it! It takes Italianists years, if not decades, to do that!

And to make the problem even more difficult, literature feeds on itself, and on other arts as well. (Hi hi hello, comparative literature major, I totally studied various flows of literary and artistic influence in college and wouldn't trade that major for anything ever, it was the best major.) Think about all the time and effort GO meta-ists have spent of late teasing out callbacks and allusions and references in GO s2. That kind of work is also part of what Aziraphale has to do to understand fully what he reads... and it's a lot of work, even for a reader as voracious and possibly sleepless as our angel.

So yeah, in sum, I don't think Aziraphale has a perfect -- or even good -- track record on understanding what he reads. I adore him because he reads anyway! He never gives up on trying to understand! That's absolutely praiseworthy! (Crowley has something of an analogue to this in his love for human inventions. He doesn't understand how anything actually works, for the most part, but he loves it all the same.)

I think there's also an outstanding question about what Aziraphale gains from reading, a sense of social rules (Part 3) aside? Well, it's known that reading (especially fiction, especially fiction about characters who are Not Like The Reader) increases empathy. I don't know if Aziraphale reads specifically for that reason, but I'm absolutely willing to believe that fiction works on him that way, just as it does on us, even if he doesn't fully understand everything he reads. Did you fully understand everything you read as a child? Or even as an adult? I would never claim that of myself. Yet I certainly will claim that I picked up a lot of what I suppose I will call my character -- it runs deeper than personality -- and my general understanding of life (insofar as I have one) from reading.

If I had to answer why Aziraphale reads, though? I'd think back to my own childhood, as a bullied child with somewhat neglectful parents who held outsized expectations of me. Reading for me was peace, was escape, was enjoyment, was something to think about that wasn't my own unhappiness, was -- now and then, honestly not often enough -- seeing myself reflected in a book and feeling less alone. I hope and believe that human literature and music served similar purposes for our poor angel.

[goodguydotmp3]

Youchube just recommended this video!!

I'm excited bc its bisan in her element (though I haven't seen the whole thing yet) and I wanted to share hear just in case anyone else was interested in hearing more about Palestinians and seeing Bisan cover something like this!!

There are subtitles in English Arabic and like one other language btw :)

[amaiguri]

happy STS!! I've been thinking about challenges in writing lately so I'm curious - is there anything that's difficult for you to write that you'd want to try tackling in the future? e.g. action scenes, political intrigue, soft/hard magic, etc.?

The thing that I consider myself the worst at is Romance, incidentally. I really struggle at the chase-phase of the relationship if the characters don't have alternative motives. (I also hate this phase IRL and skip it when possible XD) I think I write my most electric Romances when I'm writing two fundamentally broken people who adore each other, even if they're also terrible.

I've never gotten a lot of feedback on my action scenes so they might also suck...

Also, in future edits, I want to make sure I do a better job of displaying the relationships between technology, culture, and power in my future worldbuilding projects because I have a lot of big feelings about this... I also need to do a language-and-power pass to ensure that both the in-world and real-world implications of characters' word choices are as I intended and consistent.

Like, I want the way people talk about different genders to ACTUALLY be equal and I want everyone's language skills to ACTUALLY reflect the language skills they would have... And I want the power this conveys the characters to make sense...

[mibeau]

[CULTURE] Our Interests and Surroundings moulded our Linguistics Skills - Talk about the Bumis in Malaysia and Johor Heritage

Disclaimer: The Javanese mentioned here are the Javanese descendants in Malaysia and not Indonesian Javanese. In particular, Orang Jawa Johor (The Javanese People of Johor). And 'speak Malay' indicated Bahasa Melayu Johor. Everything shared is based on my observations and personal experiences of myself and Nadia, except wherever sources were cited.

***

Malays in Malaysia are diverse in ethnicities.

Within my family circles, they are Orang Jawa(The Javanese), Orang Bugis(The Bugis), Orang Laut(The Indigenous Malays of the Sea), Melayu Riau(Malays from Riau) and Orang Bajau(The Bajau). Often in Malaysia, especially in urban areas, if you have a slight Malay genetic makeup and you are a Muslim, your race is automatically a Malay. It was not until I went to University that I realised that was not always the case. Many Malaysians actually chose their ethnicities as their race in their NRIC(National Registration Identity Card).

My first exposure to this understanding was with my old friend back in the University.

Since he was from Sabah, I was not sure what his race was and was curious. So I asked, and he answered, “I’m Bugis.” I was baffled, cos no one ever told me their ethnicities in the first meets. So, I asked again, “So, you’re a Malay?” He again emphasised, “No. I am Bugis. Not Malay.” I’m confused. I was like, “But, ain’t Bugis also Malay?” He said, “Nooo… in Sabah, Malay and Bugis are different!” From there I understood that in East Malaysia they considered their ethnicity as their race, and most of them are sensitive about it. I also had a Muslim roommate who looked, Malay. She was from Sarawak. She had the same name as mine but with a Lee surname. So, I casually said, “Oh, your mom is Malay and your dad is Chinese?” She smiled and said, “No, I am not Malay, I’m half Melanau. And yes, my dad is Chinese.” There is Melayu Sarawak, but I learned that there is no such thing as a general term of Melayu Sabah. In Sabah, they do have Melayu Kedayan, Melayu Brunei and Melayu Cocos, tho. Although Kedayan is technically of a different ethnicity, they seem not to mind much being called Malay cos it seems they were quite similar or related(according to people I met)? Similar to the case of Kadazan-Dusun ethnicities. Due to their diversities in Sabah, most younger generations of Sabahan speak Bahasa Melayu Sabah which unites them. Unlike in Sarawak, people do speak Bahasa Melayu Sarawak, as much as many people speak Ibanese, too, due to large Iban populations.

A few years later, I helped my youngest sister sort her things in her hostel at a Polytechnic in Shah Alam, Selangor.

I can’t remember what the headlines but I saw a few candidate posters stating names, ages and races on the walls. What caught me was Bugis. I asked my sister, “There’s a lot of East Malaysians here?” “She replied, there are but not much. These are Bugis from Johor actually.” That was my second wave of understanding the local cultural dynamic. It hit me, that in suburbans, where one ethnicity is concentrated, they do tend to use their ethnicity as their race, regardless they are Westerners or Easterners of Malaysia. Although, generally in West Malaysia, we don’t really mind being labelled as Malays. I was ignorant because I had a cousin-in-law in Johor who speaks Bugis at home, but her NRIC still stated her race as Malay. Her family identified themselves as Melayu Bugis. She grew up in Kampung Bugis in Pontian. And my uncle(by marriage to my paternal aunt) is a Bajau from Ulu Tiram, Johor. But, he is Malay in his NRIC.

The unfortunate part about living in urban areas is, that the children tend not to use and practice the minor languages.

My cousins admitted that my uncle did teach them the Bajau language growing up, but since their grandparents had passed away and they lived in Johor Bahru, they did not practice and had forgotten most of it. My Uni bestie is from Labuan, her dad is a Dusun from Beaufort, Sabah. Even though she went back to the village at least once a year growing up, she only understands a bit and does not speak the language. Since all her cousins are also of mixed ethnic backgrounds, they simply used Bahasa Melayu Sabah. She used primarily Bahasa Melayu Sabah in her daily life in Labuan and speaks English at home. Her mother is a German-Chinese of Sabah. One of my besties in Johor Bahru, Nadia, speaks no Javanese except a few common phrases, despite inheriting some percentage of Javanese blood from her parents and visiting Kampung Jawa yearly for Raya gatherings.

I am delighted to interview Nadia, a Javanese Malay from Johor Bahru, Johor.

Her father is of Bugis-Jawa heritage, originally from Sungai Balang, Muar, Johor. He spoke primarily Malay at home. Her late mother, however, was a full-fledged Javanese from Parit Jawa, Muar, Johor. She grew up speaking Javanese with her family and the neighbours. So, growing up until today, Nadia does go back to Muar and mingle with the Javanese community at least once a year. When her grandparents were alive, she used to visit them monthly. Her fondest memories back in the village were playing with fireworks with her cousins’ children and the bustling surroundings during “rewang” and “makan time”, especially in the festive mood of Raya.

Nadia is fluent in Malay and English. Her favourite “Malay” dishes are; terung balado and bakso. A few simple Javanese phrases she can speak are like “Have you eaten?”, “How are you?” and numbers. To her, the similarity of Javanese to Bahasa Melayu Johor is only about 80%. However, she felt whenever she listens to the elders, it sounds more like Bahasa Indonesia than Bahasa Malaysia. Perhaps, due to their thick Javanese accents.

As early as her memories can reach, she has been exposed to the Javanese language since child.

Her late mother always used Boso Jowo with her immediate family and neighbours in Kampong. She remembered her late grandmother always spoke Javanese with her. It is always a fond memory of whenever her late grandmother laughs at her failure to imitate the Javanese words properly, and they laugh together. Her grandmother encouraged her to speak the language and patiently explained the meaning. Yet, the words failed to stick to her mind. Her younger self thought, that since people could understand Malay and I don’t use Javanese at home or outside of kampung, therefore, her lack of interest, hinders her progress in the language. Although she used Malay with the villagers, sometimes she will try to reply in broken Javanese. As an adult, she admitted that it would be nice if she could fully understand then the elders and people in the village converse. Like her, unfortunately, none of her cousins speaks Boso Jowo.

I once visited her village back in 2009 I think, with my family. I must say, everyone spoke Malay with thick Javanese accents there, even the local youngsters. I remember when we stopped a boy, probably around 10 years old to ask for directions, his accent was so thick that it surprised our family. My parents smiled and found it cute actually. I listened carefully to comprehend his words. After we moved on, I asked, “How come his Javanese accent is so thick, yet he’s Malaysian?” My dad replied, “We are in Kampung Jawa Cha… everyone speaks Javanese here. The boy probably rarely goes out from the village’s perimeter and is even schooled within.” When we reached her place, we were served with Nasi Ambeng Dulang. What amused me was, everyone else but us converse in Javanese. Fascinating.

Remember, Nadia’s Javanese proficiency is almost zero.

Yet, she speaks Japanese. She even took tests. She is the holder of the N5 JLPT certificate. (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test). Her Japanese is not completely grammatically correct, but, she definitely can guess any sentence if she knows the root words of the message of whatever the speakers were conveying. What inspired her to learn Japanese is her love for Anime (Japanese Animations). She finds the language cute and quirky. She has visited Japan twice: Kyoto and Osaka. Her favourite Javanese phrase is ‘Wes Mangan?’ (Have you eaten?) and her favourite Japanese phrase is ‘Onaka Suita!’ (I’m hungry!)

According to Nadia, language is a culture. By knowing different languages, you will be able to understand people better.

Me too, growing up with Johoreans and spending most of my adolescent years in Johor Bahru, I didn’t realise that we are influenced by the Javanese and Middle Eastern cultures in our foods and Malay dialects.

I only felt the differences when I visited other states and spoke with the locals. And when I found similar foods or cultures, it was due to the Javanese communities there. In some states, they do not understand what is “rewang”(community works together for the benefit of everyone, not limited to but usually for gatherings involving foods) and ‘kawen padok’(arranged marriage). I first realised the Arabic influences when I started to mingle with the Arabs back in Uni. My favourite Malay foods are Nasi Ambeng and Mee Rebus (A variation of Mee Jawa, yet less sweet and more starchy. Served with “kerak” = crunchy bits). For lauks, I love Asam Pedas Tetel and my father loved Asam Pedas Ikan Semilang. Must have Daun Kesum! It is common for us in Johor to eat in dulang(big round tray) during special occasions at the mosques or “kenduri”. We were taught that it is to strengthen relationships. The practice is not limited to only Nasi Ambeng. It can be nasi putih with other dishes as well. Or Nasi Minyak. However, I must admit, today, this tradition has been replaced by buffet menus, especially in urban houses.

 As an adult, I now understand even the Malay culture in Johor is a melting pot of many other cultures.

I assumed it was due to the demographic of our trading industry, as well as the royal history. To start, let’s talk about Johor Foods. Nasi Ambeng & Mee Rebus were brought in by the Javanese. Kacang Pool by the Arabs. One of the Johor Royal Family Members back in the eras craved Spaghetti Bolognese, so the Royal Cook invented Laksa Johor. Next, Dance and Music. Zapin Johor was inspired by a type of Arabic dance and created by the local Peranakan Arab community. Kuda Kepang Johor was brought in by the Javanese and later modified by the locals to remove the unislamic rituals. Ghazal, a music inspired by the Arabs, was brought in during the Johor-Lingga dynasty by people from Riau. Keroncong which originated from the influences of the Portuguese in Java Island, was brought in due to the interest within the Royal family. Today, all of these are considered Johor Heritage.

My parents identify themselves as Melayu Johor.

My late paternal grandmother was of Orang Laut-Javanese heritage. Her family used to live by the sea near Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor Bahru. She was schooled at Sekolah Bukit Zahra until Primary 4. Even in her days, since she lived in the city, she only spoke Malay at home and within the community. She understood a little bit of Javanese. She then was married to my late grandfather, a Bugis-Melayu Johor. They lived their whole lives in Kampong Melayu Majidee after they got married. My grandmother sells food and my grandfather was a notice officer. My late grandfather also, only speaks Malay and basic English. Note that Melayu Johor means their heritage was all blended with no significant traits of any particular ethnicity. Therefore, my late father and his other seven elder siblings also, only speak Malay at home.

The older generation tends to speak Malay with English terms. I remember my conversation with my late paternal grandmother, “Aku nak pegi bayar pine kat bando. Nanti bagitau bapak ko.”(Tell your dad, I am going to the city to pay ‘pine’.) I was like okay. Then I relayed the message to my dad and asked him further, “Bah, pine tu ape?” (Dad, what is ‘pine’?) He answered, “Ohhh.. maktok ko nak gi bayar Fine, denda denda…” (Ohh… your grandmother wants to pay ‘Fine’, government-issued fines.)

My late mother’s heritage is more diverse.

My maternal grandfather was of Bugis on his father's side and Chinese-Siam Johor on his mother’s side. I am not sure what language he spoke growing up, but, throughout his life, he spoke Malay, English and understood Bugis. My maternal grandmother’s father was Dutch(Indonesian) and her mother was a Melayu Riau-Persian from Tanjong Balai, Pulau Karimun of Kepulauan Riau, Indonesia. When she was still a baby she was given to her child-less aunt who married a Bugis Johor and lived in Parit Sulong, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia. Although she originally had many siblings, she grew up as a bratty only child in the family (according to her). She did experience Japanese school during the occupation. Thus, she primarily spoke Malay, understood English and very basic Japanese. Interestingly, my late grandfather has never been to a Japanese school, I am not sure why. At home, my maternal grandmother speaks Malay and my maternal grandfather speaks Malay and English to their children. After married, they lived in one of the government bungalows in Kota Kecil, Kota Tinggi, Johor.

My maternal grandmother is a housewife and my maternal grandfather was a medical dresser. Back in the day, dressers and nurses did almost as much as the doctors. According to my mother, he often did visitations to rural areas in Johor for medical checkups and treatments of the people. And people actually called him Doctor. He even has his own dispensary room and the back of their home in Kota Kecil. She sometimes watched her father compounding medicines, and her father would happily explain the process.

Before my parents pursued their studies for tertiary education, they did their schooling in Johor.

My father went to Ngee Heng Primary School, Aminudin Baki Secondary School(SAB) and Sultan Ismail High School (SSI). All in Johor Bahru. My mother went to Laksamana Secondary School in Kota Tinggi until Form 3, before her family relocated to Johor Bahru. She completed her secondary school at IJ Convent Girls School until Form 5. She then proceeded to Sultan Ibrahim’s Girls School during her High School years. That was when my parents met, during their bus rides.

When I was young, I always wondered, we are all Malays, yet, why my cousins on my father's side were not comfortable with English?

Most of my uncles and aunts speak English but not comfortable much, unless they were in the army or government officers. Whereas, even though we mainly used Malay in our conversations, still, everyone on my mother's side speaks and understands English well. And their basic medical knowledge is better. But, for traditional foods, definitely people on my father's side, cook more delicious delicacies! Laksa Johor and Asam Pedas were my favourites! As far as I am concerned, my mother's side never cooked Laksa Johor at home and my mother was the first in the family that regularly cooked Asam Pedas at home. But, to be fair, my mother’s side always makes delicious Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi, another favourite of mine, and my mother’s favourite: Asam Rebus Ikan Baung, and these were rare on my father's side. Nonetheless, since we all are Johoreans, we always eat Kuah Lodeh and Sambal Kacang on the first day of Aidilfitri!

Slowly, I observed and comprehended. One, the languages growing up differ. Hence the proficiency. Two, the family dynamic and community were different. Hence, the basic knowledge and palate differences. But these days, the youngsters, my nieces and nephews from both sides, speak English equally as well as Malay. Unfortunately, many of them equally do not know many traditional dishes.

My maternal grandmother was only comfortable writing and reading in Jawi(Malay written with modified Persian-Arabic scripts).

Everything in her phonebook by the landline phone was all in Jawi. My Jawi before secondary school was very weak, I only knew the letters and was unable to construct any sentences except for my full name. So, whenever I had sleepovers at her place and she asked me to call someone, I was struggling to look through the phonebook and always had to refer back to her. Then, there was a time after she had an eye surgery when she had to spell out the letters for me and I was ‘crawling’ searching for the mentioned name or messages in the phonebook, haha. And my maternal Mak Ngah (Second-born Aunt), who is in her 70s now, was a secretary. She also prefers to use Jawi in her shorthand notes. I, myself and my brother, can write and read Jawi. Although, not as fast as the standard modern Malay. However, both of my younger sisters can only read a little bit of Jawi. And not comfortable writing in Jawi at all.

Time flies, and culture evolves. These are the reasons why State or Federal organisations and foundations are necessary to preserve and conserve our heritage in documentation. So that, our history is not wiped out in the future.

Other photos are sourced from Asam Pedas, Laksa Johor, Nasi Ambeng, Ghazal, Mosque, SSI and SIGS.

***

P/s: In my next article, inshaAllah I will write about an individual with Thai-Malay heritage in Penang.

[drewgonair]

今日じゃないの日記　1

「できた」の件

僕は外国語指導助手、つまりALTとして日本の小学校で働いていた。まぁ、実はまだそうだけど、プライベートのことやし、詳しくはやめとこう。

ある日、放課後に廊下で2人の1年生に話しかけられた。っていうか、柱でろくに隠くれていない彼らに見かけられた。

「うわ〜、英語の先生や！」

ちっちゃい声なのに、ちゃんと聞こえた。シャイで恥ずかしかったやろう。1年生だもん。僕に興味持ち���うなきっかけで、声の源を探してすぐに見つけた。好奇心が満々と光っている目に向けて、優しい笑顔で丁寧に手を振った。英語での挨拶もするところだった。いつもの習慣や。小学校1年生は外国語授業がまだ少ないけど、例外は絶対なし。僕が英語の先生というものだから、英語で挨拶することに決まっているんや。

「Hello!」

ちっちゃい声をもっかい聞こえた。勇気がある少年が一人に柱の影から出て、僕のセリフを完全に盗んだ。

「Hello!」

僕がちょっと驚いたままにセリフを取り戻した。少年がにっこり笑った。「そんなに恥ずかしくないかも…英語練習のチャンスや！」 僕は思った。最近1年生の授業はなかったから、どこまで知っているかよく知らないにしても、「How are you?」 に会話を進めようとした。

…けど、まだ遅い。

「See you!」

と、ちっちゃい声を持っている少年が恥ずかしさに負けたように、柱の影に戻って、きちんと隠った。喋りたくない英語学習者が英会話をさせられることが残酷だと思っているし、僕は追わなかった。「ちょっと勿体ないけど、しょうがないな…」と、すこしがっかりしていた僕が職員室に戻ろうとした。数歩取ったら、最後にもう一度そのちっちゃい声が聞こえた。っていうか、今回こそ大きい声がはっきり聞こえた。

「始めての英語会話できたー！」

と歓声して、2人の少年がくすくす笑いながら、運動場へノリノリに走り出した。

勿体ないと思うなんて、恥ずかしい限りやな。

--------------

Hello! I'm Drew, and as the story suggests, I live and work in Japan. I'm trying to pass the N1, and I figured a little writing practice couldn't hurt! Sorry if the grammar or phrasing is kind of a mess, I'm much better at reading Japanese than speaking or writing. Feel free to give some (gentle!) tips for improvement.

I chose the title 「今日じゃないの日記」 for this series because, ideally, it will be a bunch of random stories from my time in Japan that happened a while before today, but are meant to give the feeling of everyday life here as any 日記 would. No idea if it's a grammatically correct title, but even if it isn't, I'm sure that just adds to its charm as the blog of a Japanese L2 writer. Hopefully the stories will be interesting either way!

I like this story in particular because as an ALT you don't always necessarily feel useful or like your time is well spent, and getting deep into a second language you don't always feel like you're making progress. But I found it to be a very encouraging moment for both of these endeavors. It was something small, but it obviously meant a lot to him. If that kid can be satisfied by succeeding in one four-word conversation, then I should be happy to be able to write an entire account of it using whatever Japanese I can muster. I encourage anyone reading this to feel the same about their own studies!

I know I called it a series, but that's purely optimism. This honestly might end up being a one-off, but if not, I'll write up another one when my mood, time, and ADHD allow for it. Thanks!

(P.S. I'm also very new to tumblr and wrote this on mobile, so sorry if the formatting or anything is weird! I just kind of took a stab at it.)

[anidala-for-ever]

Wow. This is so amazing and so terrifying a thought. I can almost see it happening too, with the 3D printers and what not.

It could also happen with writing. People will use phrases like "nothing to write home about" to mean something insignificant and people who still know how to write would go "Did you know that people once used little tubes full of ink that ended at a sharp point to put letters to paper? Paper was made from trees , but others in the past used papyrus or parchment and other mediums wich was also made of plants but with different procedures." I thought about this in some form ever since I saw my 7 year old cousin write whole sentences in his tablet quickly and struggle using his pencil

I've had a hard time articulating to people just how fundamental spinning used to be in people's lives, and how eerie it is that it's vanished so entirely. It occurred to me today that it's a bit like if in the future all food was made by machine, and people forgot what farming and cooking were. Not just that they forgot how to do it; they had never heard of it.

When they use phrases like "spinning yarns" for telling stories or "heckling a performer" without understanding where they come from, I imagine a scene in the future where someone uses the phrase "stir the pot" to mean "cause a disagreement" and I say, did you know a pot used to be a container for heating food, and stirring was a way of combining different components of food together? "Wow, you're full of weird facts! How do you even know that?"

When I say I spin and people say "What, like you do exercise bikes? Is that a kind of dancing? What's drafting? What's a hackle?" it's like if I started talking about my cooking hobby and my friend asked "What's salt? Also, what's cooking?" Well, you see, there are a lot of stages to food preparation, starting with planting crops, and cooking is one of the later stages. Salt is a chemical used in cooking which mostly alters the flavor of the food but can also be used for other things, like drawing out moisture...

"Wow, that sounds so complicated. You must have done a lot of research. You're so good at cooking!" I'm really not. In the past, children started learning about cooking as early as age five ("Isn't that child labor?"), and many people cooked every day their whole lives ("Man, people worked so hard back then."). And that's just an average person, not to mention people called "chefs" who did it professionally. I go to the historic preservation center to use their stove once or twice a week, and I started learning a couple years ago. So what I know is less sophisticated than what some children could do back in the day.

"Can you make me a snickers bar?" No, that would be pretty hard. I just make sandwiches mostly. Sometimes I do scrambled eggs. "Oh, I would've thought a snickers bar would be way more basic than eggs. They seem so simple!"

Haven't you ever wondered where food comes from? I ask them. When you were a kid, did you ever pick apart the different colored bits in your food and wonder what it was made of? "No, I never really thought about it." Did you know rice balls are called that because they're made from part of a plant called rice? "Oh haha, that's so weird. I thought 'rice' was just an adjective for anything that was soft and white."

People always ask me why I took up spinning. Isn't it weird that there are things we take so much for granted that we don't even notice when they're gone? Isn't it strange that something which has been part of humanity all across the planet since the Neanderthals is being forgotten in our generation? Isn't it funny that when knowledge dies, it leaves behind a ghost, just like a person? Don't you want to commune with it?

[linguist-breakaribecca]

Today, in “I’ll take any good news I can find”:

A production of Romeo and Juliet with Deaf actors signing their lines has been referred to as bilingual! Not just “accessible” or “diverse” but also BILINGUAL!

This makes me happy because the general idea of ASL (and other signed languages) is that they’re just a manual version of the spoken language. By that logic, Norwegian is just a higher-latitude version of German. Signed languages are languages of their own! With unique vocabulary, grammar, and dialects!

[ao3cassandraic]

I’m wondering about your thoughts on something I’ve been musing on after S2. How good is Aziraphale’s reading comprehension? How much does he understand subtext and metaphor? Because his behavior this season struck me with the impression that he didn’t really understand the books he collects. He’s clever at puzzle solving, and contains vast knowledge; but he always seems to take things at face value (when he’s not willfully misunderstanding), and refuses to give up black-and-white thinking, which would make it very difficult to analyze texts.

Angels, demons, language, and culture: part 1

You sure ask the difficult ones. (Which is great, I'm totally jazzed about it!)

I delayed answering this ask because it sent me off in a lot of directions:

What is an angel's starting knowledge base?

In contrast, how and what do we humans learn about our world and one another?

Which of these learning methods is not really available to an angel?

What do humans learn from books, fiction especially?

What kinds of information get left implicit in books because authors are humans writing for other humans?

How would an angel fill in those blanks? How would those blanks distort an angel's notion of How Humans and Human Things Work?

What would angels generally and either Aziraphale or Muriel (because yeah, it's hard to have this discussion without thinking about Muriel too) specifically read human-authored fiction for?

I don't have all the answers to the above questions. Not even CLOSE. I happily invite my fellow meta-ists to weigh in on any or all of them!

But let's see what I can tease out. We'll start with factory settings, so to speak.

Angelic vs. human factory settings

(questions 1 through 3)

Angels have (one) language. They have music -- or, at least, they can sing Her praises (likely by rote). At least some, like our Starmaker, have the knowledge to do specific jobs. Note that Aziraphale not only doesn't know how to make stars and nebulas, he's not even clear on what a nebula is. We can safely assume from that that angels don't all possess the same set of knowledge and skills purely by virtue (heh) of being angels.

We don't see, however, how much of what they know is simply an angel's birthright versus how much of it is somehow educated into them. We also don't know how She divvies up necessary knowledge, though I'd think it safe (given most takes on angelology) to guess that angelic rank and intended function are part of Her calculus, perhaps even the whole of it.

What strikes me hardest is that angels seem to be created either as adults or children (which is what I believe the scareable "cherubs" are), and they may well never change that state. The Starmaker is childlike in some ways, but not a child. Likely never was a child! Aziraphale, Before the Beginning, isn't childlike at all; his personality seems pretty close to fully-formed.

And children learn so very, very much. Babies learn so much as babies, while their neuroplasticity is super super plastic! Especially they learn about relating to other beings! (Which the Starmaker is conspicuously Not Real Great at, honestly -- absorbed in the work of creation, the Starmaker does not pick up the feelings Aziraphale is laying down at all.)

Children also learn one OR MORE languages, and that "more" is rather important, because language shapes how we think to some extent (the extent of that extent, and its nature, are objects of fierce debate among linguists and neuroscientists), and different languages shape us differently. Just as Crowley (as plenty of theologians argue) did humanity a favor with the whole knowledge-of-good-and-evil thing, the Tower of Babel (assuming that was a thing that happened in the GOverse; no reason it wouldn't have, I suppose) added a whole lot of nuance and complexity and competing understandings to humanity's sense of itself and its universe.

Exactly how angels and demons manage to speak all human languages (which Crowley indicates they can) isn't clear. If we accept that the Tower of Babel happened, both Heaven and Hell must have had to figure out a way to deal with it.

We do see, however, that angels and demons can be fluent in human languages without being fluent in human thought or human cultures. Gabriel and Sandalphon speak perfect English yet barely know which end of a book is up. Hastur and Ligur can't disentangle ciao/chow. And, I mean, actual food? Fuhgeddaboudit. So I see their linguistic facility as a sort of Douglas Adams Babel fish: it can translate an angel's or demon's thought into the target language, but it can't help an angel or demon think like an actual speaker of that language.

As an example, Gabriel can tell Job and Sitis about their new children, perfectly fluently. His purely-linguistic fluency does not help him understand that they loved their old children, much less why.

This may explain why Aziraphale studied French under M. Rossignol. He perhaps didn't feel he understood how French speakers think, and was interested enough in that to learn the language (as other meta-ists have noted, the language of love!) the human way.

So yeah, if I have a conclusion here it's that angels and demons can seem as off-center as they often do from a human perspective because they wholly missed out on a key period of human brain development.

What they have in its place appears to be... rules. Which is, I think, where I'll take this next.

[andrewdi8]

CAN TRUE FRIENDSHIP THRIVE ACROSS LANGUAGE BARRIERS?

Have you ever had a friendship with someone from a different accent and feel curious to ask "Where are you from"? That simple qustion can spark a great conversation and before you know it, you might end up us good friend.

I have personal experience with this, while working abroad, I met colleagues from Italy. They were amazing people, we shared common interests, had fun together and supported each other. We would talk about our countries, traditions, languages, slang and even bad words, which was hilarious. Sometimes it was challenging to explain things in English becouse our vocabulary wasn't very rich but we managed byfinding synonyms or using gestures. It was a wonderful experience that taught me a lot.

But can a strong friendship really develop without a shared language?

[linguist-breakaribecca]

Sometimes, you’re glued to your phone reading fanfics because you’re in the US and need to overstimulate your brain so it doesn’t have a spare second to slip back into despair.

And sometimes, while you’re doing so, you find a post that does apply to the (nominal at best) theme of your blog!

I am guilty of using these varying fonts in my posts here and elsewhere, and am extremely glad this author pointed out the issues the fonts cause and included a demonstration. If you haven’t highlighted the special fonts and asked your phone or tablet to “speak” them, please take a second to do that now.

Imagine you’re enjoying the fic you’re listening to, but the author used those non-standard fonts to make the most important or dramatic bits more visually interesting. But that means you don’t get the chance to know the vital information — your screen reader just skips to the next bit of standard text.

It’s always worth it to make your work more accessible if you find a way you can.

OPEN LETTER TO FANFICTION WRITERS ON ACCESSIBILITY; PLEASE READ.

first of all, thank you for spending your time, seldom acknowledged and definitely deserving of a compensation you are not receiving, to entertain us. i’m speaking on behalf of more than just blind readers, but everyone. you’re sick as hell.

i’ve summoned you to provide some information you may not already know. i know a lot of you like fonts. especially those who cross post their work on wattpad. i admire any and all acts of aestheticism to a degree, and can understand the desire to use them. (blind folk, sorry y’all. momma’s making a point.) 𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔣𝔣 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, it’s cute. 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 is a little cuter to me, if i had to choose. or maybe 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?

now, sighted folk: if you’re on mobile, i implore you to participate in a little exercise for me. select this text and scroll through all the copy/paste/define/‘search the web’ options until you get to the speak portion. if you need to change a setting for your phone to do so, would you mind? i’d really appreciate it.

please make your phone read aloud part of my post, and be sure to include any bits with those super cute fonts. 𝕚’𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖. 𝕚 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪, 𝕚 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕪𝕡𝕠𝕤 𝕚 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖.

whether you participated and discovered it for yourself or you thought this was a crock of shit you’d rather not sniff, i’ll tell you! screen readers cannot dictate words using those fonts. at least, on a majority of devices. not mine, or any of my mutuals elsewhere.

you do not have to change your behavior on my behalf, but please be aware that fonts limit access to your work.

blind readers do exist, i exist, and i am bound by the same feelings of dogged longing that make other sad horny bitches read angsty, smutty, father-wounded nonsense.

thanks for making it this far. i really hope my sincerity is being conveyed, reading makes me so happy and i’m not the only person on this app who relies on accessibility settings more often than not. do with this information what you will, and have the day you deserve!

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Subjectivity

Subjectivity is a central concept in philosophy, capturing the essence of individual perspectives, experiences, and consciousness. Unlike objectivity, which seeks to remove personal biases, subjectivity embraces the unique, personal, and often emotional dimensions of human existence. This exploration will delve into the philosophical significance of subjectivity, examining its implications for understanding reality, knowledge, and personal identity.

Understanding Subjectivity

Subjectivity refers to the qualities, experiences, and perspectives that are unique to an individual. It encompasses personal thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that are inherently shaped by one's individual context, emotions, and consciousness. In philosophy, subjectivity is crucial for understanding phenomena that cannot be fully captured by objective measures alone.

Philosophical Perspectives on Subjectivity

Phenomenology:

Phenomenology, founded by Edmund Husserl, emphasizes the study of conscious experience from the first-person perspective. This philosophical approach seeks to describe how objects and events are experienced subjectively, focusing on the intentionality of consciousness—how we direct our awareness toward objects of perception. Key figures like Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty expanded on this, exploring the existential and embodied aspects of subjectivity.

Existentialism:

Existentialist philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir highlight the centrality of individual experience and personal freedom. Existentialism posits that existence precedes essence, meaning that individuals must create their own meaning and identity through subjective choices and actions. This philosophy underscores the importance of personal authenticity and the subjective nature of human existence.

Postmodernism:

Postmodernist thinkers like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida challenge the notion of objective truths and emphasize the role of subjectivity in shaping knowledge and reality. They argue that all knowledge is constructed through language, power structures, and cultural contexts, making it inherently subjective. Postmodernism critiques the idea of a single, objective reality, instead advocating for multiple, diverse perspectives.

Psychoanalysis:

Psychoanalytic theories, particularly those developed by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, delve into the subjective dimensions of the human psyche. These theories explore how unconscious desires, fears, and experiences shape an individual's subjective reality. Psychoanalysis highlights the complexity of the human mind and the interplay between conscious and unconscious elements in forming subjective experiences.

Key Themes and Debates

Subjectivity vs. Objectivity:

A fundamental debate in philosophy revolves around the tension between subjective and objective perspectives. While objectivity aims to transcend personal biases, subjectivity acknowledges the inevitable influence of individual perspectives on understanding and interpreting the world. This tension is particularly evident in fields like ethics, aesthetics, and epistemology.

The Role of Language and Culture:

Language and culture play a crucial role in shaping subjectivity. Philosophers like Ludwig Wittgenstein and Hans-Georg Gadamer argue that our understanding of the world is mediated through language, which is deeply embedded in cultural contexts. This view suggests that subjectivity is not just a personal phenomenon but is also shaped by social and cultural influences.

Personal Identity:

The concept of subjectivity is closely tied to questions of personal identity. Philosophers like Derek Parfit and Charles Taylor explore how subjective experiences and self-perception contribute to the formation of personal identity. These inquiries examine the continuity of the self over time and the factors that constitute individual identity.

Ethics and Subjectivity:

Subjectivity also has significant implications for ethics. Moral subjectivism, for instance, posits that moral judgments are based on individual feelings and perspectives rather than objective standards. This raises questions about the nature of moral truths and the possibility of ethical consensus.

The philosophy of subjectivity offers a rich exploration of the personal, experiential, and consciousness-driven aspects of human existence. It challenges us to consider the importance of individual perspectives in shaping our understanding of reality, knowledge, and identity. By embracing subjectivity, we gain deeper insights into the complexity of human experience and the diverse ways in which we perceive and interpret the world.

[littlemizzlinguistics]

Studying linguistics is actually so wonderful because when you explain youth slang to older professors, instead of complaining about how "your generation can't speak right/ you're butchering the language" they light up and go “really? That’s so wonderful! What an innovative construction! Isn't language wonderful?"

[vmures]

I'm very much with doberbutts on this topic. There is no council anywhere deciding the meaning of words. Language is a tool of communication, but it is not and never has been set in stone. It shifts and adapts based on the whims and uses of individual groups. Dictionaries are helpful in that they give us a reference for the most common definitions of words, but there is a reason they are updated so frequently.

As someone who has struggled with aphasia and brain fog, I've generally found that even though it is super frustrating to forget the exact word you're looking in that moment, it is more than possible to get your point across effectively. Though it can take more time and a bit of confusion among all parties as you sort it out. I've had similar experiences when trying to communicate through a language barrier.

Identity labels in particular are always shifting and tend to, in my experience, be even more fluid in definition based on which social group you are talking with and where. The internet has made things slightly more unified, but there are still regionalisms and microcosms of dialects.

If someone uses a label that doesn't make sense to me based on my own observations of their behavior, I remind myself that it is none of my business what they choose to label themselves as. I can speak up if they refer to me with a label that I feel doesn't fit, but otherwise, it's not on me to tell them they can't use a label for themselves. People are incredibly complex and diverse and I will never know anyone's full story or why they choose the labels for themselves that they do. I can have conversations with them, and I don't mean "why do you think you can call yourself "x"?" conversations. I mean getting to know you conversations.

But what if someone is lying? Well, that's a question that impacts any and every human interaction you will ever have. Do you take people at their word until you find out otherwise, or do you believe everyone is lying all the time? Personally, I'd rather go the first route. Sure I'll watch for red flags and warning signs regarding trustworthiness, but I'd rather give people a solid chance and take them at their word than go through life sure that everyone is lying all the time. That gets exhausting and tends to make people miserable in the long run.

The world is a complex place and, personally, I would rather not be a cop of any kind, including one policing others' identities. Liars tend to get outed eventually, and then you know not to trust them at face value. But until then, if someone claims an identity label, I take them at their word.

"Well are you a [controversial identity] supporter???"

My friend I do not know what to tell you here. My rule is and remains "I don't care what you call yourself because your actions and who you are as a person is more valuable to me" and "as long as everyone in the situation is an adult and is giving enthusiastic consent I genuinely do not give a fuck what you do" and "words are stupid and people are complicated so it doesn't matter if The Words Are Wrong as long as it makes you happy"

I'm a longer tables not higher walls kind of guy. Have a seat. Break bread with me. Tell me a story over dinner. I think that'll be better for the both of us.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible