#from: polyglot-ton

[seonghwacore]

Hello! Any recommendations for good Ateez blogs I can follow? Thank you!

Hi hi! I assume you're looking for cc blogs so, here are some blogs that i know that have brightened the ateez side of dumblr. Hope this helps! 💖✨

@blueberrysan || @xuseokgyu || @hwatermelon || @hwanwooyoung || @yunwooz || @hwanswerland || @chenleyah || @applejongho || @seonghwasblr || @yosang || @minzbins || @userwoosan || @wouyoung || @woosansang || @jeongyunho99 || @sanhwaiting || @ortali || @seokmatthewz

and honorary mention to @bikerjongho (anne's ateez au blog) cus im still reading the ot8 on the beach and i love it and am actually looking up to other titles 👀

[benkyoutobentou]

hi! i'm sorry for the dumb question but i wanted to finally start reading manga in japanese (i already have a little list of titles beginner-friendly) buuuut i'm not sure where i actually find it ;; sorry again for the stupid question

Not a dumb question at all! There are a bunch of places to get manga, the most accessible probably being (unfortunately) amazon.jp. You need to have a Japanese address to buy things regardless of where it's being shipped to (or not, in the case of ebooks), but I believe just any address will do. You can also sometimes buy manga directly on the publisher's sites. Cmoa is another good place to check, and they also will often have entire volumes of manga available to read on their site for free (just look for the 無料 section). Bilingualmanga might also be of interest. It's free (and therefore sometimes gets taken down), but is exactly what it sounds like. Their selection isn't huge, but what they do have, they have in both English and Japanese.

If you want to buy physical volumes, CDJapan is my go-to. I'm in the USA, but I'm pretty sure they ship to most parts of the world. Kinokuniya is also a good place to buy manga from, especially if you're lucky enough to have a physical store near you. My main issue with them is that I think they're overpriced, though. Another thing that depends on luck, if you have any Book Off stores near you, go check them out! It's secondhand, so finding what you're looking for is definitely luck based, but I think it's a good experience to browse Japanese language books and manga regardless.

If you're having trouble finding something in particular, or want some... slightly less legal sources, feel free to contact me off anon!

[wordsbyrian]

Polyglot: The Early Days - Barca Femeni x Reader

Summary: Another Polyglot fic. Spanish is in italics.

A/N: This was supposed to be done like almost 2 weeks ago but I got sick and started it over a ton of times. Enjoy.

There’s a chance that this could go down as the beginning to the end of your career as a professional footballer. And the sad thing is that you haven’t even played a single game yet.

You’ll end up as just another rising star who faded into obscurity like Freddy Adu or Kleberson.

And if you quit, or god forbid completely fail, you have nothing to return to, having been told in no uncertain terms by your parents to not bother coming back.

You’re basically on your own.

Even more so today because while the rest of the B team is traveling to play their next match against Athletic, you’ve been chosen to stay behind and train with the full team.

That’s obviously a great thing but you had just gotten used to being around your teammates basically 24 hours a day and to be the only one called to train with the first team this time is a little nerve-wrecking.

But you do your best to push it all the way down as you walk into the building and towards the locker room. On your way there you run into Patri who is just as full of energy as every other time you’ve seen her.

“Buenas tardes, Y/N,” she practically shouts in your ear as she slings an arm over your shoulder. “I have a good feeling about training today, so let's get to it, si?”

You barely get a chance to greet her back or nod your agreement before the midfielder is practically dragging you through the halls and into the locker room.

Since you’re walking in with one of the human embodiments of a hurricane there’s no way for you to enter silently and unnoticed. In fact, your entrance is the exact opposite of that with the way the door all but slams open and Patri announces both of your presences as additions to the chaos.

Shaking your head, you move away from the slightly older player and to the corner where you normally get changed, mumbling polite greetings to everyone as you pass them.

Like always you make quick work of getting changed and head out to the field, not wanting to get caught up in the shenanigans you can see forming on the other side of the room.

That ends up being your best decision of the day because seconds before Lluis starts going over the training plan for the day Mapi, Leila and Jenni come rushing out of the locker room with lots of faux innocence plastered on their faces.

For the most part, training goes well. You do struggle at times with the pace you're being expected to move at but as time passes you adapt to it.

There’s also the slight issue of whatever is going on with the older defenders arguing over you in a mix of Spanish and Catalin when they think you aren’t paying attention (impossible when you hear your name like 6 times) but Melanie solves that quickly by whisper shouting something about English-speaking abilities and Lluis already having told Ana-Maria to do something yesterday.

A mystery to be solved later, or not at all if you get your way.

Your big misstep comes at the end of practice during the full-sided scrimmage.

You had let yourself get pulled out of position by Caro one too many times while your team was attacking and it comes back to bite you in the ass when a loose ball comes rolling towards the both of you. You manage to get there before the Norwegian but you make it at the same time as Patri who basically trucks you straight into the earth.

“Holy shit,” you groan as you get back to your feet and sprint to get back into position.

Your quick recovery works out in your favor, you get back fast enough to provide help defense to Pere who has Kheira caught in the corner. 

Kheira does her best to try and get around the two of you but a lucky toe poke from Pere frees the ball just enough for you to clear it downfield. You get it far enough that Lluis seems to decide that there’s no point in continuing play and chooses to end training for the day.

After a quick huddle, you head back into the locker room with the rest of the team. And despite the exhaustion that everyone seems to be facing, the noise level is almost identical to the way it was before practice.

You still don’t allow yourself to get sucked into the chaos rushing through your shower and getting changed but just as you go to leave, you’re stopped by Ana-Maria.

“Hey,” she says in English, “team bonding tonight at Paños’ house.”

“I can’t, I have homework.”

The Swiss woman just shakes her at you, “Bring it with you, Mapi and I will pick you up in a few hours.”

“You can try but I’m not gonna come with you.”

Spoiler alert: you do end up at the goalkeeper's house, sitting in a corner with your laptop and textbooks while the others are spread out across the living room.

You’re currently bent over your laptop and like 8 books on Stanley Kubrick trying to explain how Full Metal Jacket is the perfect example of his greatness as a director.

For most of the night, you’ve been very successfully using your headphones to ignore whatever is going on around you. Something that’s very hard to do when you’re being pelted in the back of the head by paper balls.

“Fucking hell,” you shout, ripping them off your head and turning around, “Can you cut that out?”

You’re greeted by the sight of Leila and Patri pointing guilty at each other.

Sighing deeply you turn back to your laptop only to find it being held hostage by Lieke, who’s standing across from you.

“Come eat.”

“I’m not finished,” you say, reaching across the table in an attempt to grab it back.

“You can take a break for 30 minutes to eat something,” she says, “It won’t kill you. There’s pizza in the living room.”

“It will kill me, give me back my laptop.”

“Go eat.”

“No.”

A hard stare, “Go eat.”

“No,” you say again,” And if you’re not gonna give my laptop back, that’s fine. I’ll just do my math homework instead.”

“Oh no you don’t. Ana, come get  your kid!” 

“Woah, firstly, I’m not her kid," you tell her, "I’m no one’s kid. And secondly, I didn’t want to come anyway so just let me do my work in argh!”

You find yourself thrown over someone’s shoulder and based on how high up you are, it can only be Ana-Maria.

“This isn’t fair.”

You don’t get a response as Ana carries you through Paños’ apartment and drops you on a couch next to Alexia.

“Stay,” she says before dropping a plate into your lap. “Eat.”

“I’m not a dog.”

“Most dogs don’t need to be told to eat, you do.” You stare blankly at her. “Eat.”

You open your mouth to continue protesting but as you do a slice of pizza is shoved into your mouth.

The glare doesn’t leave your face as you slowly chew, much to the amusement of the older women.

“Pobrecita, being forced to sit and eat free food that isn’t cooked en masse like it is at la Masia,” Alexia says to the team in Spanish as she throws an arm over your shoulder.

“She’s probably just hangry, it happens to my little sister sometimes,” Patri suggests, “but she’s 11 not 16 like grumpy over there.”

“La nene is only 16,” Vicky asks.

“Si.”

“No wonder she’s so grouchy,” Leila says, “It’s probably past her bedtime.”

You let the team continue talking about you as you eat your pizza (because you might’ve actually been hangry, not that you would admit it). It’s also a conversation mostly about nothing so you don’t feel the need to say anything.

Until you hear someone ask Ana to ask you something.

“Y/N, Jenni wants to know if,” you cut her off.

“Chicas, sabéis que hablo español, si? Like pretty fluently.”

The room goes silent.

“I’ll take that as a no,” you say before turning to Lieke, “Can I have my laptop back now?”

Maybe you’re not as on your own as you thought.

[brucewaynehater101]

Ruler of worlds Tim Drake but the "human translators" are all in different languages, and even if they're in Chinese they are in different dialects. Which makes them completely incomprehensible to most humans and they have to use Google translate. Because if they want to translate their ruler's language, it translates to dialects, e.g. Korean "jeju language", Deep Scottish, Maghrebi arabic.

Nobody's got a clue

But you can be damn sure there's a poster in that language about The Baby Ruler.

Just imagining ppl coming in (maybe aliens, maybe jl hearing of a dictator steadily increasing his influence) trying to 'rescue' these planets and spending WEEKS trying to decipher these codes...

But they're all "earth speak" and they all basically say THIS IS OUR BABY AND WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Ooh!

YJ knows what the posters say too! They get a laugh and warm feeling from reading the posters in various languages declaring their appreciation for YJ (though Tim specifically).

Only a polyglot would be able to decipher what the posters say. Luckily for Tim, he knows a ton of Earth languages (and some alien ones as well). I'm curious how long the JL or GLC would fumble around trying to figure out the posters until they eventually ask Batman or anyone else who knows a ton of languages.

[lurkingteapot]

Free Thai language learning resources

I’ve been learning Thai for the past 20 months. This list is by no means complete or comprehensive, what works for me doesn’t have to work for you, etc etc. That said: I’ve used most of these and found them useful, I thought you might, too. Have fun!

Youtube channels with free video lessons:

There are tons of wonderful teachers on youtube; this is by no means an exhaustive list. The three channels listed here are comprehensive, long-running, and updated regularly; if you have other favourites, please reblog and append!

Comprehensible Thai is a channel that teaches Thai in Thai, from zero, via the comprehensible input method. They have videos from total beginner through upper intermediate/lower advanced levels available.

Learn Thai with Mod – Mod runs a language school that offers good, structured group classes; she and her co-teachers often upload short videos about specific aspects of Thai. The channel has been around for a long time and they cover a lot of topics, including grammar points.

Thai Lessons by New (Learn Thai one Word one Sentence) – lots of good vocabulary and situational phrases

Other channels I like:

Advanced Thai with Kruu Momm -- one of my favourites, Momm’s a star. Not included in the upper list only because this is definitely more of an intermediate-advanced resource.

Thai with Grace -- I knew of Grace via her polyglot channel and travel vlogs before I realised she also teaches Thai. Fun stuff.

Kat talks Thai -- I believe Kat is more active on instagram (@kattalksthai), but these are still really neat.

Perth Nakhun’s Basic Thai playlist

Honourable mentions because they’re interesting and can be nice supplements (yes, the video titles on these channels tend to be clickbaity, the content is useful, though):

Stu Jay Raj: Stu is a polyglot based in Thailand. His channel is a bit of a mixed bag, but he has a very interesting approach to languages and sometimes does foreign accent reduction / accent analysis sessions on his channel (with consent and participation of those whose speech he dissects).

Thai Talk with Paddy: Paddy is an Australian who learned Thai when he was a volunteer in Thailand, he’s kept it up. Fun things about language learning and culture

Listening comprehension

I’m assuming many folks on here who are interested in Thai already watch some Thai shows (yes I’m stereotyping but also this is tumblr), which means you’re spending time listening to Thai.

If you’re not:

Netflix, Youtube, WeTV, and Viki all have several Thai shows with English subtitles available. The Youtube channel of Thai broadcasting giant GMMTV has English subtitles on nearly all of their uploaded series, some series are also subtitled in languages other than English. one31 is another huge channel; they have English subtitles on some series and some series also have subtitles in Thai. There’s tons more – find a rec list and a Thai show that sounds like you’d enjoy it, chances are you’ll be able to watch it for free, legally, on youtube. You can use the youtube controls (or the ones on netflix) to turn the speed down to 75% —this can make it a lot easier to catch what’s being said. 50% gets so draggy that I personally find it almost harder to understand, but ymmv—give it a shot!

https://lingopolo.org/thai/ has real-life recordings for listening practice; sign-up is required but it’s literally just an e-mail-address, user name and password. Using the site is free.

https://www.activethai.com/ has a section dedicated to learning the tones (under “Overview of Thai Tones”) including a self-test for listening that I found very useful.

Learning to read

I will always, always, ALWAYS recommend learning to read the Thai script. All available romanisations for Thai have drawbacks, and besides, you learned to read English with its “though through thorough tough thought”, you can damn well learn to read Thai. I promise it will help you improve your pronunciation (yes, really) and overall understanding of how the language works.

Learn-to-Read-Thai resources that seem comprehensive and like they should do everything in one:

Anki decks “Read Thai PHASE 1 - The Consonants“, “Read Thai PHASE 2 - Thai Vowels“, “Read Thai PHASE 3 - Consonant Classes” and “Read Thai PHASE 4 - Tone Rules” by Khruu Gaan (ครูกานต์). Anki is probably the most powerful spaced repetition software I have ever used. It’s free on all desktops and android. These decks have sound.

Memrise course “Read Thai: A Complete Guide to Reading Thai“

Other resources I used (In hindsight, I feel like I should’ve picked one resource to learn to read from and stuck with it; I think I was rushing and made things more complicated than need be for myself with my hodgepodge mix-and-match approach. But hey, I can read now.)

https://www.activethai.com/ – the site I started with. Teaches the consonants separated by class and with sound. The only reason this is no longer my top recommendation is that I ended up using this alongside a resource that helped me memorise what the words used to represent the letters actually mean because the site itself didn’t tell me, and I wanted that easy way to have 44 vocabulary words ready as soon as you’re done learning your consonants, and it gives you access to neat mnemonics such as ไก่จิกเด็กตาย(เฎ็กฏาย)บนปากโอ่ง.

The chart on Wikipedia’s English article on the Thai Script

the reference section of Thai-Language.com

In order to better learn to read Thai written in different fonts (modern and handwriting fonts can be tough at first), the Thai Script typographical styles overview on Thai-language.com was a huge help, as was throwing simple phrases things into gdocs and messing around to see how different fonts made them look. This chart from sanukmaak.com also helped.

Speaking and pronunciation

The hardest one for any new language for most folks. For me personally, finding someone who speaks the language and is willing to correct me was an absolute necessity, but I know that’s not always an option. If you’re going it on your own, make sure you check out the resources above for learning to hear the tones and those sounds and sound clusters not present in your own language correctly first.

Things to try on your own:

shadowing: Whenever someone on a show utters a sentence you think might be useful, or provide a useful pattern, or something just sounds cool, rewind and try to speak along as they say it, trying to make it sound as close to their pronunciation as you can.

try to record yourself and listen back -- yes, it’s cringe af but it will HELP.

memorising short sentences and phrases: tying back to the section above, there's a ton of youtube videos that is "phrases to use in [situation]" that are great for targeted learning if you're up for it

self talk (cautiously! don't want to cement bad pronunciation habits)

if you’re linguistically inclined: looking up descriptions on how to make a sound correctly sometimes helps, as does watching videos of folks who’ve successfully learned the language.

once you’ve learned to read: find sentences to read somewhere (twitter, a textbook, whatever) and read them into your phone’s dictation engine. See if the software understands you correctly. Adjust as needed until it does.

Websites and apps to find language partners or (paid) tutors

Like any other app where you ‘meet people’, please exercise caution on these.

italki (mainly for finding tutors and teachers, but you can find language partners on the forums)

Preply (web/app) (for finding tutors/teachers)

hellotalk (app only, iOS/android) for finding language partners -- free to use basic features like messaging, voice rooms, etc; has annoying ads

tandem (app only, iOS/android) for finding language partners -- free to use basic features, has ads

any other app or website that’ll let you meet people, like local facebook groups (yes really), instagram, etc

(note: Neither hellotalk nor tandem allow users to sign up without selecting a binary gender. it sucks. I’ve seen people who managed to circumvent this on Hellotalk by signing up via apple ID (? I think), but it’s hearsay and I have not managed to do so myself.)

Books (a book) that are (is) worth spending money on imo

Higbie & Thinsan: Thai Reference Grammar. The Structure of Spoken Thai. Orchid Press: Bangkok, 2002. Yes, it’s ancient in textbook terms. It’s not perfect, but it’s still the best reference grammar for Thai I’ve come across so far, and I use it frequently.

Random bits and bobs

Stu Jay Raj has two videos in particular that I, as a phonetics-and-phonology-loving person, loved and found extremely useful and wished I’d watched before I started to try and learn the script: Thai Vowels for Dummies in 5 Min v2 - A System Impossible to Forget and Thai Bites Extended Edition - Transliterating Thai using IPA. I realise these may be overwhelming and less helpful for people with no prior phonetics or phonology training, but they helped me so much it’d feel amiss not to include them.

Resources I recommend AGAINST using when starting out

drops/hello words -- seems like their Thai courses have been created using machine translation that wasn’t sufficiently proofread. They will assign you nouns in places of the corresponding verb or false cognates, and that’s within the first 10 or so lessons. Might be useful once the level where a learner can tell “ah, yeah, that’s … not right” has been reached? idk.

transcription as generated by google translate: BURN IT WITH FIRE. it’s a transliteration, i.e. 1-to-1 representation of 1 Thai letter = 1 Latin letter (extended), it’s not phonemic, it’s not going to help ANYONE (and those who can make sense of it presumably already read Thai and would be better off with just Thai script). Just. Stop.

Google translate as a dictionary: still shitty but not AS bad as the transcription function. Still, for the love of all that you hold dear, please, save yourself the pain and confusion and just use thai2english or thai-language.com instead.

---

And that’s that from me, friends. Yeeting this into the void before I second-guess myself more. Please append additional resources!

Edited to fix a couple of typos and errors on 2023-06-15

[bottledkriegmen]

ZERO DAY HEADCANONS!! >O<

xoxo @calcyum helped me write some of these go look at his art its so yummy!! literally the loml MWAH

☆ Cal tells white little harmless lies like, all the time. He doesn't mean to, it just happens

⋆ Example, he says he doesn't like ice cream but he can and will absolutely destroy an entire tub of chocolate icecream in a heartbeat

☆ Andre burned the shirt he got called a faggot in the bonfire before Zero Day.

☆ Cal's half Russian, his bio dad lives in the European half of Russia.

☆ They both call Mel, "Mel Bell" or "Melanie Bellanie"

☆ Andre played softball when he was little.

⋆ He quit because he got hit really hard in the head by a bat.

☆ Cal's a total metalhead. He has a ton of diff band tee's, but he's never gone to a concert.

☆ Andre has especially sharp canines!! (Feeding into Dogdre propaganda/j)

☆ Cal is a chronic doodler. If he and Andre are sitting next to eachother and Cal has a pen or sharpie in his grasp, Andres getting a whole SLEEVE of silly little doodles all over his arm.

⋆ he's also a stick n poke master, he's got little tatoos littering his ankles.

☆ Andre is a left handed shooter, right handed writer..... Cal is the opposite.

☆ Andre is a polyglot!! He forgets words in English and has to try to convey what he's trying to say to Cal in literally any other language he can think of. (Never works.)

⋆ This makes him so unbelievably mad.

☆ Cal watched Duckman growing up.

⋆ He introduced it to his siblings and they used to all watch it together!! TRUST!!

☆ Andre watched M*A*S*H growing up...

☆ Cal knows how to play a few diff instruments, other than a guitar and sitar.

⋆ Violin, piano, trumpet, all that good stuff.

☆ There's definitely a few holes in the basement walls of Andre’s house. He'll swear it wasn't him. (It was.)

☆ Cal is very awkward with love in general. He'd be an... okay boyfriend, but he would NOT pay enough attention to his partner because he'd be too busy hanging out with Andre.

☆ Andre 100% grew up on older fashioned values with new fashioned eyes iykwim. He'd treat his partner with the utmost respect, but he'd also have the same problem as Cal. He wouldn't pay much attention to them.

☆ (A personal fave) Cal and Andre have matching dog tags!

⋆ Before their final scene in Zero Day, Cal and Andre decided to switch dog tags with eachother. (fags..)

☆ Andre got a little teddy bear as a birthday present when he was itty bitty, and kept it. He's wayy to embarrassed to show anybody.

⋆ Cal found it one day and Andre nearly lost his shit.

☆ Cal often meows or hums in response when talking to Rachel or Andre when he doesn't feel like actually speaking.

☆ Stealing this from another post (I can't find creds rn i am SO sorry), Cal's siblings absolutely love Andre. He's like their other older brother.

⋆ Andre loves them just the same, he's such a good big brother. :(

☆ Cal's sister paints both Cal's and Andre’s nails, and makes them attend her tea parties with her stuffed animals.

☆ Mel follows Andre around the house wherever he goes. There's literally not a second when she's not behind him.

⋆ She gets jealous of Cal whenever he's too close to Andre.

☆ Andre and Cal share a bed everytime they spend the night with eachother.

⋆ They totally spoon but like hell they'd ever admit that.

these were so fun to write guys ty again ml MWAUGHH

[sentient-stove]

Leo Valdez headcanons. Hand them over.

(oh god that hand. it scares me)

-leo lost a few fingers killing gaea (whether from crush or burn damage it doesn't matter) no one's noticed yet because he woke up from coming back to life and his brain just... adapted to it. he noticed it ofc but like, he still has a decent amount of motor control so it hasn't exactly become a problem yet

-all of the hephaestus kids are stupid strong no matter their build. like weirdly strong in a conditional way if that makes sense. leo could probably lift a car if you got him distracted enough and asked him to move it. the second he realizes what he's doing he's back to normal human strength though

-he's a polyglot. you can't shit talk around him in a foreign language because he probably knows it already.

-idk if this is common knowledge, but in the foster system, you're not allowed to cut your hair to a style that doesn't match the one you entered the system in. no major body mods at all- like big haircuts/dyeing hair/piercings. for this reason, i think after he gets to the waystation he grows his hair out as much as he dares and gets a shit ton of ear piercings. like half a dozen up each ear, hair to his waist kind of thing. he's never had that much choice over his appearance before and so it's kinda freeing to have that (and it makes him look like his mom more just a bit, to have his hair so long)

-maybe kinda sorta was violently in love with annabeth chase during the building the argo ii era. poor guy had a massive crush but never said anything because he respects the preexisting relationship she has

-he calls jason after any major event. 'calls'- as in he sets a voice recording and talks like he's having a conversation with jason, like they're both still alive and okay.

-doesn't ever go back to new rome after the events of toa. part of him doesn't feel welcome because of the whole possessed thing and the other part doesn't want to be in jason's home without jason there. he instead goes to a trade school or university in texas and moves down there. still does weapons commissions for camp/olympus if they reach out though

[balrogballs]

Profesor Polyglot Balls another smoothbrain question but what is the language the italic words are in on your WIP? I thought it’s Arabic at first but now I reread the story and it seems like an Indian language? Also how many languages do you speak wtf

Not a smooth brain question at all (I assume this means like ‘silly’), your guess is actually quite close — I should probably have mentioned it in the notes!

So the story is set in North Kerala in the Mappila Muslim community, and though the Fëanorians and co aren’t religious (Kerala is a relatively secular state) — they’re still culturally Mappila. So the language they speak is Malayalam, the native language of the state, however people from Mappila communities in Kerala do have tons of loanwords from Arabic — so you’d have spotted, say, Khuda-haafiz, or salaam alaikyum for instance, and correctly identified it as Arabic. One thing I’ll do actually, because this ask reminded me I was meaning to, is put a short glossary in the notes of each chapter re: non-English words.

I do indeed speak quite a few languages because of my day job and family background but I will point out I’m not fluent in them all! I speak German, Malayalam and English to native fluency, where English is, very technically, my third language.

I’m conversational in Malay, and I can read and write Hebrew quite well though I’m awful at speaking…

I also know rudimentary Arabic and Korean, enough to get around, but would flunk the average middle school exam in these. Currently in the process of trying to learn Welsh but it is slow going.

[h0neytalk]

Mango v. LingQ v. Anki

I’ve been using the above apps for a while now and I couldn’t find a ton of somewhat easy to understand comparisons/explanations of how to use these various cult favorites. I figured I would make one if anyone is wondering where to start or making a departure from Duolingo.

Standard langblr disclaimer: I am ultimately just a person on the internet, I’m not an expert in language learning or a world renowned polyglot. I’m not even an expert in any of these apps/programs. These are all just thoughts and opinions I have about the value of each app to myself as an average consumer trying to learn a language and intended to help other people decide where to spend their time.

Anki

Anki is an open source spaced repetition flashcard program. It has an incredibly loyal fan base of med students and people who just want to learn things. This is also the one I have the least experience with so I recommend diving into forums and other blogs who go in depth on all the ways you can use this program. The web version is completely free and there is an official paid mobile app. There are also unofficial paid apps, this is the source of great drama and discourse and I’m not touching that here. Spaced repetition essentially means that the program will present you with cards at intervals designed to maximize your retention. When you flip over a card, you have four options that boil down to: fail, hard, good, easy. This is how the program determines what to show you and when.

Key Features:

The main draw is obviously the spaced repetition system. It’s much easier and more effective than sorting manually.

Because it’s open source, there is a way to customize the settings and cards to do basically whatever you want. There are also tons of premade decks to import and either use as-is or use as a base.

The online web version is completely free.

You can add really any media type to the cards. You can add sound clips of pronunciations, images, even drawings and diagrams.

Having the four options is particularly useful for the nuances of learning a language. For example, for general vocabulary decks I’ll assign one “point” to general meaning, tense/part of speech, and pronunciation. Getting the general meaning but not the other two means I select “hard” when I flip the card.

Best uses:

Vocab or learning a new alphabet. Specifically for drilling any of those “slippery” words. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but there are some vocab words that just refuse to stick with me. I’ve found the Anki SRS does help pin them down.

Potential downsides:

While there are decks to import, there could always be errors that you won’t catch just seeing single vocab words with no context.

The available customization is labor intensive.

The UI for the official app and web version isn’t super slick and intuitive.

Even the best flashcards are ultimately just flashcards and have limits to their usefulness.

Mango

Mango is similar to Babbel or other programs that focus on speaking (and doing so quickly). I much prefer Mango to Babbel or any other similar app and find that it does what it says it will. Languages are split into units. Each unit has chapters and each chapter has lessons. A lesson will start with an optional pre quiz and a brief recording of a conversation that you will be able to follow by the end of the lesson. Each lesson concludes with a listening and reading quiz. It also utilizes spaced repetition and gives you daily flashcards to review.

You learn based on phrases rather than individual words. A long sentence will be presented in its entirety. The lesson will then go through each word individually before combining them into phrases and, finally, the full sentence from the start. Then you will learn vocabulary needed for variations. The activities are fairly standard for a language app: speaking, listening, multiple choice. You can also turn off the interactive feature and have the lesson run as a “speak and repeat” style podcast. It tracks the hours you’ve spent learning a language and there is an activity log, but no in depth stats.

Key features:

It is focused on speaking immediately.

Has a ton of languages and several dialects for those languages.

Focuses on phrases and patterns that are most useful if traveling or having brief, friendly interactions.

Presents information in a digestible way and isn’t overwhelming.

Includes culture and grammar notes.

$12.99 a month but most public libraries and schools give you free access. You can also set up a household account for multiple people and split the cost with friends/family.

The first lesson of any language is free, and some rare and indigenous languages are completely free to access.

Audio is native speakers. When you record yourself, your vocal wave pattern appears that you can compare with the native speaker.

Best uses:

If you are traveling soon and want to navigate basic, friendly interactions, this will get you there quick. Within 1-3 months easily, depending on the language and how often you practice.

I also recommend this as a starting place when you are totally new to a language or to learning a language in general. The structure is excellent for getting a feel for things.

This is also great if you studied a language previously and need to refresh your memory or get back into it.

Potential downsides:

The “record yourself” feature is fairly buggy and often freezes up. It can also be annoying to try and match the timing of the native speaker, but you don’t have to record audio to progress past those lesson points so it isn’t too much of an inconvenience.

It isn’t meant for total fluency. As stated, the lessons (at least that I have done) are focused on speaking while traveling and making small talk. Some of the early lessons teach you to say “sorry, I don’t speak [x]”. Which is very useful if going abroad soon, but less so if you would rather just be able to speak that language.

The regimented nature can make it feel slow/too easy if you are also using other methods.

The review flashcards only have a binary “yes/no” option which feels annoying for longer phrases or after using Anki-style cards.

With any course like this, you aren’t going to have much choice in the vocab you learn or prioritizing topics.

LingQ

I am honestly surprised I don’t see more about this. I think they have been making a bunch of updates recently so maybe the version I’m using is miles above previous ones, but it is shockingly powerful. It’s also the hardest to explain (which may be why I don’t see much written about it and why this is going to be a long section.) LingQ (pronounced “link”) operates on a hybrid comprehensible/massive input model. While Anki prioritizes memorization and Mango priorities speaking, LingQ focuses on comprehension and listening. LingQ is comprised of courses which are made up of lessons. There are pre-built courses made by LingQ but the real goal is to make your own (more on that later).

Each lesson within a course has an audio recording and a written transcript. Words you haven’t seen before are highlighted blue (when you start, that’s every word). You click the word to see the definition and assign it one of 5 statuses: ignore, new, recognized, familiar, learned, or known. “Ignore” is used for things like names or borrowed words, they won’t be counted in your stats. “Known” is for words you knew before seeing them. You likely won’t have any of these if you’re starting a new language with no prior experience. Levels 1-3 highlight the word yellow and it becomes a LingQ. You can create a LingQq using as many words as you want. You can manually change the status of a word when you see it. You can also do various review activities similar to Mango, and if you get a word right twice in a row it will automatically bump up a level. You can always adjust it back down if needed. LingQ is very focused on the value of listening to a language. You can add lessons to playlists and listen to them like a podcast.

My personal favorite part of LingQ is the ability to import lessons. Especially YouTube videos. The site has a browser extension that will import any content in your target language into a lesson as an embedded item. You can then read/listen to/watch that content right in the app and get “credit” for it. LingQ’s statistics are some of the coolest/most motivating I’ve seen. You get coins for completing tasks but those are really just to see a number get bigger. It also tracks the words you’ve read, how many words you know, the hours listened, and speaking/writing if you utilize their tutor marketplace or writing forum.

The free trial is very limited but it’s enough to poke around and get a feel for things before signing up, not necessarily to learn anything substantial. The monthly membership is $12.95 and there’s a $199 lifetime option as well. I definitely recommend spending some time playing around at the free level and then upping to monthly if you like it.

Key features:

The ability to import lessons. It will also create a simplified version of shorter content. This is an AI generated summary of whatever you’ve imported. I use this for videos where natural speaking cadence can make it hard to parse things sometimes. It’s easier/more productive if I know generally what’s going on.

The creation of LingQs. I just think it’s a really cool and useful way to approach comprehensible input. You can visually see the yellow fading as you understand more and more of a lesson.

You can export LingQs to Anki (theoretically). I’ve never done this myself and I’ve seen some forum posts saying it doesn’t work super well all the time but it is a built in feature.

In-depth stats tracking and the ability to consume all the content easily in app. The stats would be annoying if it wasn’t literally easier to watch a video via LingQ than on YouTube.

Community features. There are community challenges (like Duolingo) but also a forum to submit writing that will be corrected by native speakers and a marketplace of tutors to easily sign up for speaking lessons. The forum is free and volunteer based, but scrolling through I didn’t see anyone who didn’t have at least one reply. The tutors are paid at an hourly rate and you can also pay by the word to have them correct written work.

Super flexible. There really isn’t any one right way to use this app so you can structure it however you like and set your own goals/metrics.

Playlists and focus on listening. It really does help to constantly be immersed in what a language sounds like, and being able to read and listen to the same thing has been so nice.

Actually decently helpful emails and not just spam.

Best for:

Hardcore language learners. The app/site provides some guidance on how to get started and the basic idea, but you’ll need to play around with it and spend some time reading forum posts or the emails they send to find what works for you.

Getting to higher levels of fluency after maxing out other apps/self study methods.

People looking to spend a lot of time on language learning because they enjoy it. This isn’t snarky, but there’s a difference between wanting or needing to learn Spanish to communicate at work or on vacation and just really enjoying learning languages. This is an app for language nerds.

Potential downsides:

Very overwhelming. They technically say you can jump right in with 0 knowledge of a language and be good to go, but I think it would be hard to make a lot of progress unless you’ve learned other languages before. If you’re looking to learn a new language for the first time, I recommend starting with Mango to get your bearings.

Doesn’t teach new alphabets. This isn’t a huge issue for Mango since it’s speaking focused, but I wouldn’t jump into Arabic or Russian on LingQ without spending some time learning the alphabet with other methods.

User generated definitions. This is a double edged sword. The definitions being linked to sites like Globse can lead to wrong definitions, but because you’re seeing things in context it’s easier to catch. And looking into what a phrase means is a great way to learn if you are really into languages.

The import feature isn’t 100% perfect when it comes to videos. It will only create a transcript when the video has captions enabled or a transcript provided, otherwise it just shows up as an audio file. It will also sometimes randomly just not be able to import a video which can be annoying, but in the grand scheme of things these are very minor annoyances.

Time commitment. The method doesn’t require a ton of actively sitting down and reviewing vocab or reading new words, but it does assume that you’ll swap out listening to music or podcasts while going about your day with listening to content in your target language. This is all well and good unless you really enjoy listening to specific content while doing tasks or need help not getting distracted. It’s going to be a lot of incomprehensible noise for a while before you can parse it. This might not be a downside as much as something to keep in mind when considering how effective it’s going to be for you.

Not as active of a community. Maybe it’s just for my particular languages, but there definitely aren’t a ton of people actively doing things like challenges. This really doesn’t matter much to me but it could be a bummer if you’re looking for that.

tl;dr just tell me how to learn things

If you need to learn a new alphabet, start with that. Otherwise, Mango to get your bearings, Anki to add to your vocab as you get bored with Mango, and LingQ to realistically get “fluent”. Then start writing and speaking either using tutors or people you know or local language groups.

[shukakumoodboard]

a headcanon from each of the levels you just reblogged for gaalee

oh my GOD this is a top quality anonymous question op ur da BEST. yammertime. ofc since these are all for a non-canonical ship they're all deranged sparkle emoji but i digress.

for anyone who is like wtf here's the post i reblogged.

text under the cut!

level one:

one that purveyors of gaalee are very familiar with in fanon lore but i believe this to fit in nicely with canon while filling gaps: gaalee friendship developed predominantly via letter writing. reasons why i think this fits with canon 1) gaara manages to develop solid friendships with a lot of people in konoha with what is visually very little actual in-person interaction time. it stands to reason that there's behind the scenes friendship development. 2) he's the president at fourteen like he does not have time to spend on wandering the local mall like a lot of us oldmanyaois did to build our social circles, plus, he's got access to allllll the military communications options. and hawks are fast 3) we know there are multiple canonical messenger hawks! and their whole purpose is cross village communiques. of course they're all sending notes lets b so fr rn

level two:

height difference: lee is, in my head, taller than the canon suggests, and gaara is shorter. reasoning: ok look you've all seen this panel and you're telling me gaara ends up only like 4cm shorter than lee? Go To Jail

yes yes we can all discuss how they're all mid teens and have growing time but listen. gaara spent his entire childhood being effectively mentally tortured by shukaku and also his village's effective abandonment. do you think he had a well balanced diet? if we want to get scientific there's several studies that discuss how poor nutrition in childhood leads to lifelong consequences, and just because kishimoto didn't address this doesn't mean I Won't thank u. and i haven't even gotten started on the not-sleeping-thing. conversely, lee's probably been on Max Gains Training Diet since he was like. what, 10? tldr, i'm simply massaging their canonical heights in favour of what Actually Makes Sense Fucka You

i have another one for lee i think fits in this level that many of you may know from my magnus opus fight club: lee is--whether certified or not--definitely qualified to be a physiotherapist, and i think he'd volunteer at the hospital helping patients with mobility related injuries. reasoning: PLEASE in order to be a brilliant taijutsu specialist he has to have like the most intimate understanding of how the body works. that's his whole area of expertise. and i think that even post-op as a sand-squished teen he would have needed tons of therapy, and rock "paragon of virtue and chivalry and whatever" lee would absolutely feel like he needed to provide some sort of assistance to the hospo staff and help the other patients. because that's what a good shinobi would do. dattebayo

level 3:

yall know what time it is its LANGUAGE HEADCANON TIME based on, once again, all of @sagemoderocklee's fantastic lore. i think lee speaks 3, which for me are a) some form of shinobi common b) whatever the land of fire's local is, and c) something unique to team gai that's heritage based. in tgod i call it nishitsuchigo. i think gaara speaks [large number] on account of being mr sand president sir and thus becoming to some extent a diplomat, plus all those night awake? polyglot challenge speedrun. and the gaalee aspect of this is that gaara can speak all three that lee knows, so they can use that heritage based one to talk shit about their coworkers what who said that.

gaara's hugely into gardening. i think this is a fact in the databooks and we all know the screencap where he's holding the flowerpot but extending on this into truly fan-created lore i think he's definitely overhauling all of suna's food supply chains by going ham on greenhouses and very precise water allocations etc etc

lee grows his hair out after neji's death. this one is, again, well distributed across fandom because everyone, of course, is right relieved emoji. but ignoring bort entirely, lee would definitely do something to honour his friend/teammate, and i think that would be something like growing his hair out, since i don't think he'd change his style of dress and he can't learn neji's jutsu. and he's had long hair before. bring it back kishi u bastard

level 4 delusions:

theyre married. what do you mean im delulu

metal, if i am acknowledging bort which most of the time i am not, is their biological child. no i am not explaining how. my metal origin theory changes based on the fic i'm writing. currently its rock lee's tboy swag porn extension fic. hooHA. but this one only applies to when there's kids present--most of the time there aren't kids in my head

lee and temari swap diplomat roles to be emissaries for each other's villages as part of a Siq Deal to be with their respective husbandos

lee would 100% teach taijutsu to suna's academy students. why? because i said so

basically all my other headcanons tbh

omg i had so much fun with this thank you anon! <3

[unethicallypleistocene]

For the ask game, Rae + is a polyglot

Alden is, too! Over the course of his career he's picked up a ton of Portuguese, a fair bit of Spanish, and quite the litany of curses from the various languages his crews over the years have spoken. It's mesmerizing to watch what he says when he stubs his toe.

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

Brainwaves Bios: Doctor May Keaton (1984)

The Heart of C.U.P.S Doctor May Keaton, PhD

The heart of the Columbia University Paranormal Society (or C.U.P.S), Keaton is a Folkloristics, Genetics and Hepatology professor, she's one of the founding four professors, fully wanting to believe in any form of life after death. She's both the heart and imagination of the group.

"It's okay to wonder what happens next. Dismissed, everyone."

Name

Full Legal Name: May Olive Keaton

First Name: May

Meaning: Derived from the name of the month May, which derives from 'Maia', the name of a Roman goddess.

Pronunciation: MAY

Origin: English

Middle Name: Olive

Meaning: From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin 'Oliva'

Pronunciation: AHL-iv

Origin: English, French

Surname: Keaton

Meaning: From any of three English place names: Ketton in Rutland, Ketton in Durham or Keaton in Devon.

Pronunciation: KEE-ton

Origin: English

Titles: Doctor, Professor, Miss

Nicknames: Livi, Keaty

Characteristics

Age: 33

Gender: Female. She/Her Pronouns

Race: Human

Nationality: American Citizen. Born in America

Ethnicity: African-American

Birth Date: May 1st 1951

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Christian

Native Language: English

Known Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, German, Norwegian, Greek, Spanish, French

Relationship Status: Single

Astrological Sign: Taurus

Actor: Tracy Chapman

Geographical Characteristics

Birthplace: Auburn, DeKalb County, Indiana

Current Residence: Central Park West, New York, New York

Appearance

Height: 5'4" / 162 cm

Weight: 145 lbs / 65 kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: N/A

Facial Hair: N/A

Tattoos: (As of Jan 1984) None

Piercings: Ear Lobes (Both)

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker

Illnesses/Disorders: None Diagnosed (Possibly Autistic or ADHD/ADD)

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: None

Relationships

Affiliated Groups: Columbia University (Staff Member), Columbia University Paranormal Society (Founding Member)

Friends: Heather Nieto-Jorge, Allison Wada, Nova Teufel, Janine Melnitz, Mars Teufel

Significant Other: None

Previous Partners: None of Note

Parents: Dutch Keaton (67, Father), Coral Keaton (65, Mother, Née Layton)

Parents-In-Law: None

Siblings: Faith Lyndon (44, Sister, Née Keaton), Grant Keaton (38, Brother), Jett Keaton (27, Brother), Laurel Keaton (21, Sister)

Siblings-In-Law: Reed Lyndon (46, Faith's Husband), Savannah Keaton (40, Grant's Wife, Née Moss)

Nieces & Nephews: Thane Lyndon (16, Nephew), Unity Lyndon (14, Niece), Vernon Lyndon (12, Nephew), Willow Lyndon (10, Niece), Axel Lyndon (8, Nephew), Burgundy Lyndon (6, Niece), Cannon Lyndon (4, Nephew), Dove Lyndon (2, Niece), Drake Keaton (6, Nephew), Ember Keaton (3, Niece)

Children: None

Extras

Level of Education: Folkloristics PhD, Genetics PhD, Hepatology PhD

Occupation: Scientist & Professor of Folkloristics, Genetics & Hepatology (Folkloristics: The study of folklore. Genetics: The study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms. Hepatology: The study, prevention, diagnosis, and management of diseases that effect the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and biliary tree.)

Employer: Columbia University

Expertise:

Folklore Expert

Genetic Scientist

Hepatologist

Imaginative

Optimistic

Polyglot

Expert Historian

Architectural Knowledge

Deceptively Sweet

Faults:

Easily Amused

Easily Distracted

Fear of Heights

Fear of Snakes

Has a 'Freeze' fear response

Often Late

Goes easy on students far too often

Backstory: Doctor / Professor / Miss May Olive Keaton was born in Auburn, Indiana to a heart surgeon father and midwife mother, in the year 1951. She moved to New York to live with her older sister, Faith, at the age of sixteen, finishing up her high-school education before going on to study at Columbia University. May et Janine Melnitz in 1971, both attending Columbia university. May became a professor after finishing her Hepatology studies, still continuing her other studies at Columbia while working thee

[al-mayriti]

have you listened to the jesc songs? which is your favourite??

I HAVE NOT BUT I SHOULD. you know what. i'm gonna listen to them in the bus and you'll get my live opinion on them:

-Albania (Bota ime - Viola Gjyzeli): Love the harmonies! It really sounds like an esc Albanian song huh. Very epic and such.

-Armenia (Do it my way - Yan Girls): OH LOVE THE VIBES FOR THIS ONE!!! GIRLBAND GOODNESS !!! Also I love they still sing in Armenian even if there's bits of English there :) I am sure it has a sick choreography but alass i'm hearing them on spotify

-Estonia (Hoiame Kokku - ARHANNA): ooooh this one sounds so powerful!!! Love the chorus with the two voices! It's definitely a serious topic, sounds like it has a strong message

-France (Cœur - Zoé Clauzure): I am sadly not inmune to french singing. It just sounds too good I have no option but to stan 😔. Oh that little 'ay ay ay' in the chorus is so familiar to me but I couldn't tell you why. The high notes !!!!

-Georgia (Over The Sky - Anastasia & Ranina): I was sad the song started in English but now they're singing in Georgian which :) THE HARMONIES !!!!! THE LITTLE SCREAMING PARTS !!!!!

-Germany (Ohne worte - Fia): Uuu I really like her voice. It sounds kinda school? I don't know how to explain it. Not much else to say tho, the song is fairly simple. Not that it's a bad thing tho.

-Ireland (Aisling - Jessica McKean): Is that Irish I'm hearing ????? If it is big slay from Ireland in jesc exactly !!! If it's not I'm so sorry I cannot understand anything </3 Nevertheless, love her voice and how whispery it is!

-Italy (Un mondo giusto - Melissa, Ranya): OHHH THAT RASPY VOICE ONE OF THEM HAS !!!! INSANE !!!! It's sounds so epic !!! Why do they sing parts in English tho :( The chorus is insane !!!

-Malta (Stronger - Yulan): This one also sounds pretty epic, I can see this one playing in the radios. Love the voice as well. That last part !!!! And the highs !!!

-Netherlands (Holding on To You - Sep & Jasmijn): Love to hear Dutch! It sounds so good in song !!! Uuuu love the vibes with this one honestly!!! THE BEAT OH MY GOD IT'S SUCH A BOP

-North Macedonia (Kazi Mi, Kazi Mi Koj - Tamara Grujeska): We love a Balkan ballad exactly !!!! She has such a beautiful voice! Quick question is it a requirement for a percentage of the song to be in English??? Cause tons are mixing English in there and I cannot say I love it. Anyways. Classic Balkan ballad with folk elements, what's not to love honestly.

-Poland (I Just Need a Friend - Maja Krzyzewska): wait why is this one so depressing ??? a very pretty voice tho. it's just very :( the bridge is cute

-Portugal (Where I belong - Júlia Machado): her voice singing in portuguese is quite possibly the cutest thing i've ever heard omg 😭 too much English tho :( once again her portuguese is sooooo

-Spain (Loviu - Sandra Valero): okay polyglot queen I see you !! These lyrics are so cute actually 🤧 in general the song is so cute!!! You were not wrong this song is actually good :)

- Ukraine (Kvitka - Anastasia Dymyd): ooooh I do love me an ethnic song yesss!!! Love the beat for this one! THE SCREAM!!!

-UK (Back to life - STAND UNIQU3): This one is also super radio friendly. And is this another girlband??? Cause if then massive slay for them! The tune is catchy enough

OKAY CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW EVERYONE (EXCEPT I GUESS MALTA) SUNG IN THEIR LANGUAGES ???? EVEN IRELAND ???? WHY DOESN'T THIS HAPPEN IN ESC

anyways. after this first listen I think my favourite is Netherlands! of course as with esc the scenography and live vocals are quite important so this might change. but yeah. for now Netherlands is the one for me :)

[grims-aclassdr]

About Me

Name: [redacted] Zasha Ikarova [redacted]

Nicknames: Z, Zash, Spider (lily)

Age: 22, April Taurus

Creature: (Traditional) Vampire

Affiliations: Hunters Guild, NSCV (unofficially), Vipers, [redacted] Syndicate.

Current Employment Status: under contract with Chiron's Ministry of Defense. Undercover student.

Languages: I'm a polyglot so I know a ton lol including: Russian, German, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Latin, etc.

(Note: geography and such are different in this reality. The world is not a 1:1 comparison to the reality in which you are reading this).

Positive traits: quick learner, I work well with a team and independently, quick witted.

Negative traits: stubborn and can be argumentative

Likes: cats, cooking for the humans, and training

Dislikes: heavy uniforms (keep the kevlar away from me plz), being told what to do (outside of an assignment), overbearing/nosey people.

Hobbies: networking/going to social events and parties, picking up new trades (such as learning how to install central A/C in our school building), and making music.

Skills: polyglot, combat, "assassination" (it's less murder and more exorcising creatures back to their home realm!), tracking, organizing & carrying out jobs, sharp marksman, etc.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Of the following words, I can recognise or am not surprised by the meaning of amizade, cordialidade (this sounds like a wonderful word), esperar (I know this from French), estrelado, ficção, inverno (sounds like Italian?), laranja, poesia, primavera (another one that sounds like Italian), and sonolência (sounds like 'somnolence' in English).

So recognition of the written word is less of the problem for me in Portuguese. The real issue is how the hell do I distinguish the spoken language at natural speed? I am listening to Os Maias by Eça de Queiroz on Spotify at the moment, and apart from the fact that Portuguese sounds so nice, I can hardly distinguish any word without seeing the Portuguese text-- which, to nobody's surprise, I can hardly read anyway.

I am quite stumped about how to approach Portuguese. Simply relying on my existing French knowledge will not work, as when I tried that method, I was nonetheless thrown by Portuguese words that didn't follow the French pattern at all. Furthermore, reliance on French won't help with pronunciation, either. I have also tried one of those videos where they give you a ton of basic phrases, but my brain doesn't want to undertake the effort of doing that. My brain seems to sense that that is an inefficient way of learning, especially if I want to read novels like Os Maias. I have also dabbled with Goethe Verlag's Portugiesisch für Anfänger, although I keep stalling after a while. (I wonder whether this is because I have been following the lessons one after another, instead of jumping directly to the lessons I need.)

Later on, I began listening to Portuguese, like the channel O Principe Historiador, the Portuguese Radio Maria, and now this audiobook of Os Maias. Most of the language goes in one ear and out of the other, although it is a very beautiful language and sounds relaxing.

Perhaps a solution to the problem would be to review how I became fluent at French. This came from having family that spoke French, French lessons at school, and self-study. Yet none of those three enabled me to become confident with understanding the spoken language. It wasn't until around four to six years ago that I began listening properly to spoken French, chosing audio material that I would find interesting.

And even none of that was sufficient to maintain interest after a while. During this year alone, I improved my German considerably by watching the Netflix rom-com Isi und Ossi. This after over a decade of learning German fruitlessly and, up until recently, getting bored with the language. The other factor that helped renew my interest in German was reading the radio plays of Heinrich Böll, namely, Mönch und Räuber and Zum Tee bei Dr. Borsig. Years of dull and fruitless study fell away as I realised how much I like the German language.

But then (and this may begin to run around in circles), I was aided in my quick improvement by those years of studying some German grammar, albeit in a haphazard fashion.

I think I am in the position where I want to read Os Maias (which is, nonetheless available in English translation), while only having rudimentary Portuguese. The great Hungarian polyglot, Kato Lomb, described similar circumstances when she approached new languages, and she recommended purchasing novels and absorbing audio material.

As was the case with Isi und Ossi, it really helps that I am hooked on Os Maias for the writing alone. I have already decided to revamp my entire manner of writing fiction (in English) on the basis of Os Maias and Jorgen-Frantz Jacobsen's Barbara. So I will have no problem with obsessively rereading this text for enjoyment and for learning Portuguese, which for me are one and the same goal.

This might lead to a possible solution. I read Os Maias in English and then gradually learn the Portuguese text (not all of it, but the parts I am most likely to remember and which reveal the grammar). Then I listen to Os Maias in Portuguese while following said Portuguese text in order to remember the pronunciation. I already have a small Portuguese dictionary, and I am confident that I will need to study more and more grammar as the need arises.

I will see how well this method works and report progress as and when.

Another List of "Beautiful" Portuguese Words

for your next poem/story

Alegria - joy

Alma - soul

Amizade - friendship

Ansiar - to yearn

Céus - skies

Cordialidade - warmth

Deslumbrante - dazzling

Esperar - to wait

Esquecer - to forget

Estrelado - starry

Ficção - fiction

Inverno - winter

Laranja - orange

Pesadelo - nightmare

Poesia - poetry

Primavera - spring

Quente - hot

Sonolência - sleepiness

Verão - summer

Zueira - joking, fun

If any of these words make their way into your next poem/story, please tag me, or send me a link. I would love to read them!

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Word Lists ⚜ Part 1

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Global food security at a crossroads (AP) Francis Ndege isn’t sure if his customers in Africa’s largest slum can afford to keep buying rice from him. Prices for rice grown in Kenya soared a while ago because of higher fertilizer prices and a yearslong drought in the Horn of Africa that has reduced production. Cheap rice imported from India had filled the gap, feeding many of the hundreds of thousands of residents in Nairobi’s Kibera slum who survive on less than $2 a day. But that is changing. The price of a 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of rice has risen by a fifth since June. Wholesalers are yet to receive new stocks since India, the world’s largest exporter of rice by far, said last month that it would ban some rice shipments. It’s an effort by the world’s most populous nation to control domestic prices ahead of a key election year—but it’s left a yawning gap of around 9.5 million metric tons (10.4 tons) of rice that people around the world need, roughly a fifth of global exports. Global food security is already under threat since Russia halted an agreement allowing Ukraine to export wheat and the El Nino weather phenomenon hampers rice production. Now, rice prices are soaring, putting the most vulnerable people in some of the poorest nations at risk. The world is at an “inflection point,” said Beau Damen, a natural resources officer with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization based in Bangkok.

Tropical Storm Hilary moves on (AP) Crews worked to dig roads, buildings and care home residents out of the mud across a wide swath of Southwestern U.S. desert Monday, as the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years headed north, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tropical Storm Hilary had lost much of its force as it headed to the Rocky Mountains, but warned that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” was expected in parts of the region. Hilary first slammed into Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula as a hurricane, causing one death and widespread flooding before becoming a tropical storm. So far, no deaths, serious injuries or extreme damages have been reported in California, though officials warned that risks remain, especially in the mountainous regions where the wet hillsides could unleash mudslides.

Hot, Sticky Summer in the South (NYT) Grab-N-Go, a drive-through and walk-up convenience store in New Iberia, La., has a central air-conditioning system, a window air-conditioning unit and two small, portable air-conditioners. On a recent afternoon, all of them were running. Still, Don Vitto, the shopkeeper, was sweating anyway. “It’s a sticky, heavy heat,” Mr. Vitto said. “You can feel it in your breathing—I know I can. I can feel the thickness in the air.” In Louisiana, and along much of the Gulf Coast, the misery of summer has never been reflected simply by a temperature reading alone. It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity that swallows up everything and conspires with the heat to make any activity without air-conditioning draining and even deadly. And this summer it has been absolutely abysmal. The air has felt swampier and more suffocating. Yet, confoundingly, as moist as the air has been, a scarcity of rain and clouds has made the sun all the more blistering, leaving the earth as dry and cracked as peanut brittle. But what has made recent months so punishing is the relentlessness of it all, as the conditions have dragged on for days on end and the volume of excessive heat warnings has broken records.

Anticorruption Crusader Wins in Guatemala, in Rebuke to Establishment (NYT) An anticorruption crusader won a runoff election for Guatemala’s presidency on Sunday, handing a stunning rebuke to the conservative political establishment in Central America’s most populous nation. Bernardo Arévalo, a polyglot sociologist from an upstart party made up largely of urban professionals, took 58 percent of the vote with 98 percent of votes counted on Sunday, the electoral authority said. His opponent, Sandra Torres, a former first lady, got 37 percent. Alejandro Giammattei, the current president, who is prohibited by law from seeking re-election, congratulated Mr. Arévalo and extended an invitation to organize an “orderly” transition of power. Full official results are expected within the coming days.

Presidential runoff is likely in Ecuador (AP) Ecuadorian voters looking for a new leader to help curb the country’s unprecedented violence will have to head to the polls again in October for a runoff that is likely to see the ally of a convicted former president vie against the principal heir of a banana growing and exporting empire. No candidate in Sunday’s special presidential election received enough support to be declared winner. With more than 85% the votes counted late Sunday, results from the National Electoral Council had leftist Luisa González in the lead, with about 33% of support. She had been the frontrunner heading into the contest, but the Election Day’s surprise came from former lawmaker Daniel Noboa who received about 24% votes even though he never placed above fifth place in polls. To win outright, a candidate needed 50% of the vote, or to have at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent.

Wildfire spreads on Spain’s Tenerife, forcing thousands from homes (Reuters) A wildfire on the Spanish island of Tenerife that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes remained out of control on Sunday, despite a slight improvement in weather conditions during the night. Orange flames lit up the night sky from Saturday into Sunday on hillsides just above the lights of inhabited areas, while thick black smoke billowed high into the air. Late on Saturday, emergency services said the fire was now affecting 10 towns, although 11 had been evacuated as a precaution. Regional authorities said over 12,000 people had been evacuated.

Ukraine running out of options to retake significant territory (Washington Post) Ukraine appears to be running out of options in a counteroffensive that officials originally framed as Kyiv’s crucial operation to retake significant territory from occupying Russian forces this year. More than two months into the fight, the counteroffensive shows signs of stalling. Kyiv’s advances remain isolated to a handful of villages, Russian troops are pushing forward in the north and a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16s is delayed. Ukraine’s inability to demonstrate decisive success on the battlefield is stoking fears that the conflict is becoming a stalemate and international support could erode. A new, classified U.S. intelligence report has predicted that the counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol this year. Meanwhile, a war weary Ukrainian public is eager for leaders in Kyiv to secure victory and in Washington, calls to cut back on aid to Ukraine are expected to be amplified in the run up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. “The question here is which of the two sides is going to be worn out sooner,” said Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Center for a New American Security, who visited Ukraine in July. Gady said that Russia and Ukraine are now in an “attrition” phase, attempting to sap each other’s resources rather than secure significant territorial advances. With its ground forces largely stymied, Ukraine has mounted a flurry of new drone strikes on Russian soil, including targets in Moscow, but the strikes have caused minimal damage.

Ukraine Will Get F-16 Fighter Jets From Denmark and Netherlands (NYT) The Netherlands and Denmark said Sunday that they would donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine—the first countries to do so—in what President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said was a breakthrough. The procurement of American-made F-16s to supplement a fleet of Soviet-era jets has been a priority for Mr. Zelensky’s government for months as it seeks advantage over Russia’s air force and also to improve its own air defenses. Ukrainian officials acknowledged last week, however, that NATO countries would not donate the planes before next year, which is too late for use in a counteroffensive the government in Kyiv launched this summer. President Biden, setting aside months of resistance, said in May that NATO countries could train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, and on Thursday a U.S. official said that the United States would allow allies to send the jets.

Rights group says Saudi Arabian border guards fired on and killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants (AP) Border guards in Saudi Arabia have fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants in recent years, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday. The rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by troops and images that showed dead bodies and burial sites on migrant routes, saying the death toll could even be “possibly thousands.” The United Nations has already questioned Saudi Arabia about its troops opening fire on the migrants in an escalating pattern of attacks along its southern border with war-torn Yemen. A Saudi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, called the Human Rights Watch report “unfounded and not based on reliable sources,” without offering evidence to support the assertion.

Parents explain why they home-school their kids (Washington Post) One parent was fed up with an elementary school’s punitive approach to dealing with her 6-year-old son’s special needs. Another, home-schooled herself, reluctantly followed the same path with her daughter because of fears about her family’s vulnerabilities to covid. A third wanted to impart Christian values while exposing her kids to the food of the Philippines and the museums of Madrid. Their children are among the hundreds of thousands who have started home-schooling over the last three years—the most significant expansion of home education in American history. Aryanna Liddell, 32; home-schooling her daughters, ages 7 and 2, in Hillsboro, Oregon explained her reasons: “We believe that families are the fountainhead of a healthy, moral and functioning society. The family should be the child’s center of gravity. They shouldn’t be looking for that security in their peer group, because that’s not sustainable. In the Bible, it says in Deuteronomy 6 that you shall teach your children about the Lord. They have to be grounded on the truth of God, right? In education, we seek to nourish not just the body, but also the soul and the mind. We want them to appreciate what is true, and to seek what is good and what is beautiful. Because we are not just raising our children to make a living. We want them to have a life, and a life that is full of wonder, because wonder leads to worship. We need to bust the myth that home-schooled children are overprotected and not socialized. That’s not true. I find that my children actually socialize with a broader mix of people. What I’ve noticed is that she’s a lot more confident talking to people and having conversations with grown-ups as well.”