#also i got to see them live which is crazy because catalan bands never come to the us

[guillemelgat]

I'm sharing this song by Tarta Relena which is an adaptation of Pashtun women's improvised poetry published in the book Songs of Love and War, compiled by Afghan poet Sayd Bahodine Majruh and translated into Catalan as El suïcidi i el cant by Margarida Castells Criballès. Tarta Relena are a band of two young women who adapt lots of interesting texts and pieces of music from all sorts of eras and places into stripped-down electronic and vocal works with incredible harmonies and sonorities. I think this song has a lot of really interesting things going on, and the lyrics are very intense but very beautiful.

M’arrenquin amb un ganivet totes les pigues Let them tear out all of my freckles with a knife si nego que et desitjo, si amagues que m’estimes. If I deny that I love you, if you hide that you love me

Benamat, vine a la vora i seu amb mi una estona, Beloved, come to my side and sit with me a while que la vida aviat serà tal com l’hivern que s’escola. Because life will soon be like the winter that trickles away

L’espai entre nosaltres que ens separa l’un de l’altra The space between us that separates the one of us from the other em nega com l’onada quan s’empassa les barques. Drowns me like the wave when it swallows ships

Ai, agafa’m, ai, abraça’m, ai, tingue’m a la vora, Oh, take me, oh, embrace me, oh, have me by your side que aquesta pena meva se m’emporta i deixa sola. This pain of mine is taking me over and leaving me alone

La meva boca és teva, pots devorar-la sens por, My mouth is yours, you can devour it without fear però deixa’m la llengua lliure per anar-te parlant d’amor. But leave my tongue free to keep speaking to you of love

El jardí del món creares, oh déu meu, i no és pecat You created the garden of the world, oh god, and it’s not a sin que n’hagi pres la flor que a mi més m’ha agradat. That I’ve picked the flower which I like best

Amor meu, jura una cosa, jura que vindràs amb mi, My love, swear me something, swear that you’ll come with me que pugui jo sembrar-te totes les flors del camí. So that I can sow all the flowers on your path

Quan passo prop de la tomba d’un sant When I pass close to the tomb of a saint li tiro pedres pels desitjos que em va negant. I throw stones at them for the desires they deny me

I si era veritat que tu no em sabies estimar, And if it was true that you didn’t know how to love me digue’m per què despertes el meu cor endormiscat? Tell me why you awake my sleeping heart?

Ves-te’n lluny, amic meu, bon viatge i bon vent, Get yourself far from me, my friend, goodbye and good riddance dels amants n’eres un més, i ara me’n trobaré cent! As a lover, you’re just one more, and now I’ll find myself a hundred

M’he repintat les pigues i avui nit em crema el ventre. I’ve repainted my freckles and tonight my insides are burning Si ara em veiessis, perdries la raó per sempre. If you saw me now, you’d lose your mind forever

Demà els que tinguin gana deixaré ben satisfets Tomorrow anyone who wants it I’ll leave well satisfied travessaré la vil·la amb els cabells al vent. I’ll cross the village with my hair blowing in the wind

[guillemelgat]

11+11=22 Questions

I got tagged in two of the 11 questions ask games by @elnas-studies and @hardlyfluent (thank you both so much!!), so I combined them both in a really long hell post which I’m putting under a cut because otherwise this will be horrifying

RULES: Answer the 11 questions. Make 11 of your own and tag 11 people.

1. how old were you when you started learning other languages besides your native one(s)?

Unless you count my early attempts to learn Malayalam, which arguably started at the age of about two, then I’d say I really started learning another language when I had to take Spanish in sixth grade, which was a struggle at first but eventually I fell in love with it

2. have you ever dated one of your crushes before?

dating???? crushes????? im donot know what youre talking about

3. what is your strengths and weaknesses as a language learner?

My strength is probably my refusal to think things are “weird” or “difficult” and just kind of accepting them as a fact, and also the fact that I adore grammar. My weakness is definitely that I loathe learning vocabulary, and also the fact that I tend to just skim stuff to learn all the cool grammar and never actually practice anything :,))

4. why are you studying the languages you are studying?

oh boy get ready this is going to be a long ride

Spanish - I had to take it in school but the reason I currently speak it to any degree is probably thanks to my obsession with Latin pop during the dark years of my life (we don’t talk about that here)

Catalan - because it’s perfect and also because I love literally every aspect of Catalan culture, did you honestly expect me to say something else??

Welsh - originally because I read a series called The Dark is Rising when I was in fourth grade and it had Welsh in it and I was like I want to learn this and so I (sort of) did

Basque - not gonna lie, this one was for Xabi Solano (if I try to pretend like it’s not y’all will find me out eventually because everything is on this blog)

Turkish - good question, why am I learning Turkish?? jk, I think Turkey is a fascinating country with a really interesting history, also it appreciates cats so that’s a win

Western Abenaki - this is an indigenous language from around where I’m from so I feel like the least I could do would be to learn it considering I’m occupying their land, also I grew up listening to an Abenaki storyteller named Joseph Bruchac so it’s close to my heart

Romani - this was also a language I wanted to learn in fourth grade because we had an album of Romani music and it was one of my favorite things in the world and I wanted to be able to learn all the words to the songs, I guess not much has changed since then

Malayalam - me?? learning languages for actual reasons??? it’s more likely than you think (this is my heritage language, my dad’s family is Malayali)

Arabic - originally I had good reasons for learning this, now I’m just doing it for Mashrou’ Leila

Tamahaq - in case you’re not seeing a pattern here hopefully this will help, I’m learning this for Tinariwen so I can understand their songs

5. where in the world would u move to if u could?

Either the rural Pyrenees somewhere (La Garrotxa or Ripollès probably), somewhere in the New England woods, or Minneapolis (sorry I just really fell in love with that city it’s not my fault that it’s so good)

6. what is your favourite food in ur target language(s)?

pasta, I think it’s the same in probably all of them except Turkish, which is makarna

7. what is your favourite genre of books and/or movies?

I used to be a big sci-fi and fantasy person (and still am to some degree), but now I also really like historical fiction (although still with a dose of fantasy if it’s done well), plus literally anything gay

8. do you like poetry? if so, who is your favourite poet?

I’ve never really been into poetry but I absolutely adore Vicent Andrés Estellés

9. have you ever studied abroad?

Not with school, although I did study Spanish at a language school in Oaxaca for a week one summer, but I’m hoping to go to Senegal to do my Official College Study Abroad™ and learn some Wolof :))))

10. what is ur biggest fear?

I have a lot of these, do you really want to get into that (probably either dying or the depths of the ocean)

11. what is the one thing u can’t live without?

Probably my computer because I’m Trash™

1. If you could change your name, would you? and to what?

I actually am seriously considering changing my name irl, but I do also really like my birth name so I’m not sure, this is a difficult question

2. Do you have a favourite artistic movement? 

I’m not a cultured person who is capable of having that sort of opinion, although I’m a big fan of art romànic in Catalunya, which is sort of a weird thing to be a fan of but that’s how it be sometimes

3. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?

moving temporarily?? either somewhere in Catalunya or my family’s house in Kerala because it’s going to get sold soon probably since no one lives there anymore but it’s really important in my family’s history and I want to experience it before it’s gone; or, on a less serious note, a sheep farm would also be very nice

4. Do you collect anything? If so, what?

This is going to sound weird especially because I did this as a nine-year-old, but I used to collect business cards?? Now I just collect plants. Lots of plants. Too many plants, really, but who’s to stop me?

5. What is one piece of media that you think everyone should watch/read?

idk if this counts but please watch the video for “Roman” by Mashrou’ Leila, it’s amazing (I could rec books and stuff but I don’t have the same taste as people and also a lot of the stuff I watch/read is either trash or too mainstream to bother putting here)

6. What was your first favourite band/singer?

Hmm…let’s play it safe and say the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields because I was a cultured 4-year-old who listened exclusively to classical music (what happened to me, we will never know), outside of that I’m honestly not sure because I’ve had favorite bands my whole life and so it’s hard to say who was the first

7. What is your favourite season?

Autumn, but honestly my favorite season is whatever season comes next, I’m always ready for the change when it (finally) happens - that’s why I can’t live in places where it’s warm/temperate all year round, I’d go crazy

8. What’s your favourite song from your home country?

Oh wow this is difficult because (1) there’s a lot of music from the US and (2) I listen to almost none of it so... I’m going to pass on this for now

9. Is there any fashion style from the past that you would like to bring back?

I’m the wrong person to ask about fashion, I have the fashion sense of one of those guys on Queer Eye who Tan has to save because they wear jeans and a t-shirt to everything

10. What song do you currently listen to the most?

I’ve been listening to “Imm El Jacket” a lot recently because it’s the best, also “Entre poetas y presos” by La Raíz

Here are my questions:

1. What was your favorite childhood book/series?

2. What’s your favorite song in each of the languages you’re learning?

3. Do you prefer living in warm weather (above 25ºC/75ºF) or cold weather (below 0ºC/32ºF)?

4. Do you have pets? What kind/what are their names? If not, would you like a pet?

5. What is piece of advice you would give to your younger self if you could?

6. Who is one famous person that you really like/look up to?

7. What is one thing that you like to do that no one would expect of you? (as in something surprising/something that doesn’t fit with your personality or other interests)

8. Would you rather live in the woods or in the city?

9. What’s one thing in your daily routine that always goes wrong or always irritates you?

10. Do you still have your favorite childhood toy/stuffed animal? What is it?

11. What’s one thing that motivates you or keeps you going when you’re having a hard time?

I’m going to tag @incelphobiia, @reyneclaw, @euryalus, @chatwiththeclouds, @elphaba-masala, @bouzhi, @deepsearuin, but don’t feel obligated to do this at all, it’s totally fine if you don’t want to ^^