#i don't understand cantonese

[boxyheadbry]

Final Chef - extended (but not yet final) cut. Real-time ambiance added - straight from the shop on a busy doomsday brunch hour. The Witness continues to serve his famous DimSum along with a side of warlock wasabi sushi and titan milk tea. (Sorry no hunter yet)

[roscoehamiltons]

got inspired by the last post i reblogged to buy some butter croissants while i was at the store today...

[literaryvein-reblogs]

i was wondering if you had any tips for writing a story that involved a language barrier. would i write mostly action? would it be less interesting without dialogue? thank you!!

Writing Notes: Language Barrier

Language Barriers. If you work in an industry that is heavy in jargon or technical language, care should be taken to avoid these words when speaking with someone from outside the industry. Without being patronizing, imagine explaining a situation in your industry to a child. How would you convey these concepts without relying on jargon? A clear, direct narrative is preferable to an incomprehensible slew of specialty terms.

EXAMPLES of language barriers that prevent individuals from effective communication include:

Dialects - While two people may technically speak the same language, dialectal differences can make communication between them difficult. Examples of dialectical language barriers exist worldwide. Chinese, for example, has a variety of dialects that are commonly spoken, including Cantonese and Mandarin.

Language Disabilities - Language disabilities are physical impediments to language. Physical language disabilities that cause language barriers include stuttering, dysphonia or an articulation disorder and hearing loss.

To overcome language barriers, here are a few things you can do:

Translate all relevant documents into the person's primary language.

Use an interpreter whenever you give instructions or provide feedback.

Provide language classes.

Use both telling and showing methods.

Use visual methods of communication more than audio. Show more than tell. Explain with pictures as much as possible.

Use repetition. As with any new concept, most people don't learn something the first time they hear it.

Never raise your voice or over-enunciate your words. Talk slower, not louder. Speak clearly, not forcefully. People of a different language and culture can hear fine.

Use simpler words with fewer syllables. Be aware of the complexities of your words. Use more common words that convey your message in simpler terms. Don't talk down; just use a less complex vocabulary.

Learn the basics of their language. If you want to communicate effectively and build rapport, consider learning a few words and phrases in their language.

Have them demonstrate their understanding. Don't assume they immediately understand; check for understanding.

You can also read anecdotes of people's experience with language barriers to help guide your writing. Here's an example.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Choose which of these notes apply to the specific scene you are writing. Are the characters actually trying to communicate despite the barrier? Consider the purpose of your scene. They could use nonverbal cues instead of speaking. When we see people who don't speak the same language interact, sometimes they still continue to speak their own language whilst miming or gesturing to try to communicate what they mean even though they know the other person can't understand what they're saying. You can definitely still make it interesting. Will you make the scene more humorous? Will the scene end in a misunderstanding, an argument, or will they eventually communicate successfully? Perhaps something in their culture overlaps that helps them understand each other. Or will there be another character (or characters) who will step in and help them? Hope this helps with your writing!

[raybeam-littlebean]

I'm just going to put a collection of headcanons here

It's ones I kind of came up with or ones that I've seen floating around here that I will now incorporate into my own belief system

Don't be afraid to add on to it, I love seeing others headcanons—

• Bruce Wayne has a Jersey accent, especially when he gets truly upset about something. It's how all the bat kids know they should back away slowly from the ticking time bomb that is their father.

• I feel like he'd let it out more when in Brucie Wayne, it just helps separate the two in others minds

• Clark has a Midwestern accent that slips, like, the thickest accent you've ever heard, along with some Midwestern slang

• This happens when he's like, excited about something, maybe, or really deep into a subject

• I feel like if you get the jump on Clark, like really scare him, he'll crush whatever is in his hand

• That was his favorite mug..

• Also, I feel like he would be a "go wash your hands before dinner" kind of household so now it unconscious standard practice that he says it to his own kids just like pawpaw

• Tim seems like the kind of person that could go to sleep anywhere if he's by himself, but he'll refuse to go to sleep around anyone unless he feels safe

• This is a problem when he's on patrol with say, Jason or Dick, and he falls asleep leaning on them or something

• Damian's love language is cultural food and I take no criticism

• If he wants you to like him, whether romantic or platonic, he'll cook you a buffet of food from his home

• Asian food all across the board, from his mom's home and from his grandfather's, things he's just learned after a while

• Jason carries little packages food stuffs in his jackets, either for himself of the children of crime alley

• Also, I really like the idea that his eyes turned green after the pit, so no more blue eyed Jason and Bruce sometimes refuses to look him in the eye about it

• Dick sits and lays in almost contortionist style positions when he's bored and will swear up and down that they're comfortable

• Damian and Dick both curse in their respective languages, they also mix languages on accident

• Like, they might be speaking English and then accident slip in a Romanian/Mandarin/Cantonese/Arabic word or two in respectively

• Multilingual problems

• Also, I feel like coming to Bruce, they wouldn't have a strong grasp on the American metric system and be confused on what the fuck everyone is talking about– what the fuck is a foot??

• Dick gets made fun of when he slips and used Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, only Alfred understands him

[uhohmichio]

my mother watches yakuza 0

[ disclaimer: just some silly commentary from my mother while watching Yakuza 0. these are mostly out of pocket comments I found funny/interesting. ] Please Don't Take Any of These Comments Seriously!!

we did have serious discussion on the side about the topics in the series.

[SPOILERS FOR YAKUZA 0]

[all screenshots from Gamer's Little Playground on Youtube]

she went on a storytime about how she got into a fight in highschool with a girl who was in a gang in chinatown.

"wait don't skip this, he sings good"

"ooh.... watermelon... I want watermelon now :3"

"oh I just remembered, I need to make an appointment for visionworks [the optometrist]"

she didn't think Lee was chinese. I even showed her his name in Chinese and she said 《(mandarin pronunciation) 李 文海 [lǐ wén hǎi] … (in cantonese) 你唔係[nei5 m4hai6](trans: you are not)》 I wrote a slightly longer post about it, but this was just silly. (pls don't take this seriously)

"Kiryu's new suit makes him look fat... but I think it might be Gucci" (classic casual older gen asian fat shaming) She said it was because of the double breast buttons, but I think the suit being white also doesn't help [i personally think he looks fine, nothing wrong with looking big or wide]

"Why does the sewer water look so clean? What kind of sewer is this?" For reference, we live in a city with shit water.

"What is he? stupid? He drove down the tunnel just to hit him once and then crash? stupid."

"Hey kid... just be yourself <3" [this was the nicest she was to Nishiki LOL]

"They're not chinese... what kind of game of mahjong is this??? How come they're playing so quietly?" I told her it's because... they're TALKING in the scene and she just went "tch"

"oh that's going to blow up"

"i told you" when i asked her how she predicted it, instead of saying 'it's a predictable trope', she said "because if you're going to kill someone, that's how you would do it" [???? don't get on her bad side i guess]

[Oda speaking Chinese] (my ABC friends and I think his tones make his Chinese practically incomprehensible.) my mom said "his Chinese isn't bad... if you know what's happening in the story and can read the subtitles. But not bad, not bad. I can understand him" [she does think the NPCs speak much better Chinese though]

"no fucking way [in cantonese]" (i don't remember exactly what she said in cantonese but it basically translates to that)

"he [majima] should just shoot him [sagawa]" almost every scene sagawa was in, my mom kept saying majima should kill him (lol)

"........ JAT MAA" [一 = jat1 (one) and 馬 = maa5 (horse)] She's reading the chinese characters as chinese. but it sounds like she's calling Kiryu "one horse". she kept saying this every time the business card showed on the screen, and I was dying of laughter because kazuma to jat1maa5 is so funny to me (I had to later explain to her how it would be pronounced as Kazuma in Japanese)

"majima should just kill him"

"I just don't think they need to do all that killing for such a small plot of land D:"

mom: uh... she's becoming vegetarian? me: ??? who's becoming vegetarian? mom: makoto, like, she's unconscious me: you mean a vegetative state? she's in a coma, mommy mom: ah yeah, Cuomo (former NY governor)

"oh his claws seem dangerous"

"he could kill him, or maybe punch him hard enough that he becomes Cuomo (former NY governor)"

[octuscle]

Help! I'm really struggling to pass my Chinese languages class.

Oh well… We all know the problem… I had to struggle with Russian. But when I chose the Russian Cosmonaut preset, a lot of things went a lot easier.

So: It would be cool if your mother tongue was Chinese. And if you were an ambitious, hard-working and clever student overall. But not the nerdy type. The best in every subject. Even in sports. Let's go!

Your Chinese teacher is already forgiving your stupidity again. When you suddenly put the dictated sentence on the blackboard in the finest Mandarin and read it out without an accent. Then you translate it into Cantonese just to be on the safe side. Your teacher's jaw drops. The class cheers. You make a deep bow for fun. And your pants crack. You almost hit yourself in the crotch with a red head. Everything seems to be fine. Pants are fine. No one in the class seems to have noticed either. But something is strange. Have you always had that perfect, muscular, tight ass?

Next lesson: math! Not your favorite subject. Nevertheless, you surprisingly have an answer to all your teacher's questions. You answer with great stamina until your teacher says "Don't take offense, Wang, but I know you know the answer. Why don't you give the others a chance too?" Wang? Why Wang? You put your arm down. You tense your biceps. A bit angry that you're not allowed to show the success of your learning. You burst the sleeve of your shirt. Damn it! You try to hide the tear. But there is no more tear. You're wearing a very form-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt. You admire your own muscular forearms and well-tanned, flawless skin. "Wang, if no one else knows, would you like to show us the solution?" You look at the task for a moment. And go to the blackboard to solve it. Child's play!

On the way to swimming lessons, you meet your tutor. You haven't seen her for two weeks. She looks at you and asks "Are you okay? Are you getting on? Is everyone nice to you? Do you understand me?" Lord in heaven, you've been in the USA for almost four months now. You speak better English than most of the long-noses here. You reply that you are doing great, that the material in your grade level could be a little more challenging, but that you are very proud to have made it to the swim team. And you offer her your support if she ever needs help. She looks at you like a cow in a thunderstorm.

Yes, you actually work out too much on the weights for a good swimmer. But you love the water and you love the gym. It's a good time here. It's downright relaxing. Maybe you'll stay here and not go back to Beijing.

I have found your way out of bad grades @taurus-men1

[argumate]

Does the lion poem sound natural/coherent in mandarin to fluent speakers or does it still sound somewhat confusing, like a tongue twister?

I don't think it's supposed to be understandable at all just by listening to it, as people don't talk like that; I was thinking it might be marginally better in Cantonese due to more distinctions between syllables but it's still not written the way people talk, that's the entire point (Classical Chinese vs. vernacular, or as I put it "Chinese is its own Latin").

[mooniamsblog]

So I've been listening to Katseye recently so now I will assign them to each puppy pack member.

Sophia - Liam: the leader of the group. Acts as a support system for those around her and supports everyone. Is a night owl. Three words to describe her are hysterical, caring and diligent. She cannot live without her dog, her headphones or her lip balm. If she had any superpower it would be the ability to fly.

Manon - Theo: the oldest of the group and visual. Can speak multiple languages, German, English and a little bit of french. Cannot live without her phone or her journal. Her favourite time of day is nighttime. If she could have any superpower it would be teleportation so that she could travel anywhere but mostly back home.

Daniela - Hayden: the main dancer of the group. Has a background in ballroom dancing. If she could have any superpower it would be telepathy, to read people's minds and understand their thoughts about her. Cannot live without her family or her stuffed animal. Her charm is a guardian shield which symbolises bold confidence, courage and loyalty.

Lara - Mason: the main vocalist of the group. She cannot live without crystals, music or coffee. Her favorite times of the day are sunset and nighttime. She loves listening and engaging in deep conversations. If she could have any superpower it would be the ability to travel through different dimensions to explore the universe.

Megan - Corey: the all rounder. Her charm is the dual cherry which represents a pleasant energy, sensuality and secrecy. This reflects her confident on-stage persona and her goofy off-stage side. She loves mathematics and can speak English, basic Cantonese and basic French. She does sketching, makeup and sewing as hobbies.

Yoonchae - Alec: the youngest of the group. Her charm is the soothing shell which symbolises gentle comfort and her ability to bring tranquility to her friends. If she could have any superpower it would be telekinesis so that she could turn off the light and ear cereal without using her hands. She enjoys watching mukbang.

If you see this is a repost no you don't, idk why I got flagged for mature content.

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I have a question concerning sign languages and dialects/accents(?). My two MCs (one is HOH and the other is semi-speaking) sometimes use sign between them. But both were brought up in very different environments (both geographically, morally, and financially), so I was wondering how their sign would reflect that. Are there legit dialects/accents of sign language depending on wealth/formality/geographic location/etc? How different sign can differ while still being the same language-- example, how much does ASL vary compared the southern US states to the north? If there are differences, is it more of a British English vs American English difference (where there's some confusion but both parties can generally understand each other), or a straight up Mandarin Chinese vs Cantonese Chinese difference (where both parties have maybe a 10% understanding of what the other is saying on a good day)? And if so, what are some examples of the differences?

apologies for the weirdly specific ask LMAO. thanks for your time!

- ψ(._. )>

Hi!

Sign language definitely has dialects, but the degree of regionalization really depends on where your character is and how sign language developed there.

ASL is fairly mutually understandable; I've signed with people from all over the US, and aside from a few differences in signs I already knew tended to have regional varieties. the signs themselves were pretty similar.

(One exception to this is Black American Sign Language, a dialect of ASL that arose from segregation policies within Deaf schools. It's fairly different from "standard" ASL. Even so, BASL and ASL are not entirely mutually unintelligible, there are just significantly more differences than between ASL regional varieties. BASL signers often have to "code switch" based on their signing environment because of this. But unless one of your characters comes from a multigenerational Deaf Black family, it's unlikely they will know or have learned BASL--unfortunately, BASL use has been declining.)

There are totally accents in sign though! Signing styles depend a lot on both personality and region. I don't know how to explain specifically, but people from different areas just tend to have a similar signing style to other people from their region.

All this is to say, geographic differences will definitely make a difference in how your characters sign, but within the US I'd say it's fairly likely the two will be able to mutually understand each other.

Mod Rock

[zhuzhudushu]

Lingopie — Chinese Review ★★

So I did 3 months of Lingopie (stylized as Liñgöpie) so you don't have to (unless you want to lol).

I mention a Chrome extension, the Zhongwen dictionary, quite a bit in this review. It is here, I highly recommend it (click)! It's also available for Firefox (click).

What is Lingopie?

Lingopie is an app and desktop extension/website that allows you to watch tv shows and cartoons with interactive subtitles for language learning. It currently has Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. It claims to improve your language learning by 80% (compared to Duolingo which is around 20%).

Here is their website. (click)

Pricing: (March 2024)

3 months $36

1 year $71 "on sale" (normally $144)

Lifetime $199 "on sale" (normally $663)

Please note: I have never seen these full prices. It appears that the "sale" is permanent.

My Review / TL;DR Version

Extremely disappointed both in functionality and content for Chinese. Maybe this is a good program for other languages, but for Chinese there is extremely limited content with pinyin subtitles only available for the non-Netflix shows. All the best learning features are available for non-Netflix shows, yet those tended to have significantly worse translations than Netflix. I would not recommend this product for Chinese. While it had a few good features and I enjoyed it for 6-7 episodes of one show, it then had a glitch where an entire episode was subtitled wrong, so I gave up.

See below the cut for full breakdown.

Strengths:

Has access to Netflix shows and films including some popular ones (e.g. Meteor Garden, Dear Ex, Nezha Reborn)

This is nice and I enjoyed rewatching the ones I was familiar with and getting a better grasp of listening and vocab. I appreciate that they try to incorporate kid-friendly along with more serious/adult content with animated and live action tv shows and films. I also liked that it specified if the show was from Taiwan or China, and also included shows that had some Cantonese influence (e.g. Scissor Seven)

Allows you to have English and Chinese subtitles simultaneously or alone, and you can easily click them on an off while watching.

This is pretty standard for all video/subtitle based educational apps, but it was nice to easily click them on and off in case I wanted to double check my understanding, and to compare the direct translation of the words to the full translation of the sentence.

Allows you to pause automatically after each subtitle. Can also loop subtitles over and over. There are also AI-produced explanations of grammar.

This hands down was the best part about the entire experience for me, and why I ended up using Lingopie for 3 months. While it was sometimes clunky (see below), this made singling out specific lines/words for listening practice so easy. Once I got in the groove, I was able to get through episodes fairly quickly and was starting to be able to listen and hear new words in sentences later.

Click on the words in the subtitle to make flashcard sets

This was a nice feature, but I do wish the flashcards were a bit more functional, see below. It was easy enough to use and a quick way to remind yourself of the new words you learned before you jump into the next episode.

Weaknesses:

Pinyin subtitles available on desktop only, with no pinyin subtitles for Netflix shows (as of May 2024)

This is a HUGE flaw, and I was 100% dependent on using another chrome extension for hover-over dictionary while using Lingopie. I know they are working on pinyin subtitles for Netflix and mobile, but I used this for 3 months and it still was not implemented when I ended. To me, if I have to use another app in conjunction with this one in order to fully learn, then what's the point? Especially since I watched Taiwanese and Cantonese-influenced shows with very non-standard pronunciations, comparing standard pinyin to accented productions is necessary for me. Even with the pinyin subtitles for the non-Netflix shows, it left a lot to be desire because they're tiny above the Chinese characters, and sometimes difficult to read. More than once I thought a ǒ was ō because of how tiny it was.

Not enough content, especially cartoons/beginner level

The one above and this bullet are the main reasons why I don't recommend this app for Chinese specifically. Maybe other languages are fine, but there is simply not enough content for the price. I was hoping for more beginner/lower intermediate content like children's cartoons, however there are none for Chinese. All the animated options are more teenager/adult oriented. There also weren't many light-hearted or comedy options, meaning you would have to watch a lot of serious dramas, thrillers, and violent shows if you wanted to get your money's worth. For my personal taste, I don't want to have to pause every dialogue line for an adult thriller. That would ruin my experience of the show and the suspense. For the non-Netflix options, most shows were incomplete with only 1-5 episodes available out of 10+. They also tended to be lower quality productions, with significantly worse English translations. The majority of what is available outside of Netflix are short films (~5 mins) and cooking shows (10-20 mins) which aren't bad for beginners. I personally have no interest in cooking, though lol. Essentially, there is no TRUE beginner fictional content in Chinese available.

The dictionary is... rough

Again, I was fully dependent on the Zhongwen extension. While the English subtitles themselves are good, the individual definitions of words that you hover over are definitely rough. They weren't actually that helpful for breaking down meanings of things like slang and characters' names. For example, in Scissor Seven there were quite a few animal puns, e.g. 汪星人 which is internet slang for "dog" Lingopie translated as "Woofer" which was... awkward and strange. Without the Zhongwen extension I would have had no idea what this was actually referring to. It would been nice if it functioned more like the Zhongwen extension, where it would highlight individual characters or phrases/combos depending on your mouse placement. Particularly on the non-Netflix shows, the translations even in the English subtitles were incredibly rough and at times I couldn't understand the context in either language. There was also one instance of an entire episode (Netflix) that had incorrect subtitles, I suspect subtitles from a different episode? That was the final straw for me.

It chooses whether or not to highlight single words or phrases so you have no control over your flashcards

This made the flashcards not as functional to me. Sometimes, I wanted just the specific noun/verb in the sentence, but it would make me highlight the entire sentence. Other times, I wanted a really functional phase, but it would only let me highlight the individual words. I barely used the flashcard feature because of this.

Clunky interface (Chrome & Firefox)

I can't speak for mobile or Safari because I didn't use them. Since I was relying on the Zhongwen hover-dictionary, I only used Chrome. You can only use Chrome or Safari if you want Netflix shows. Sometimes the auto-pause after each subtitle would be too early or too late, meaning I would have to actually click things pretty persistently throughout each episode. Using the spacebar to pause/unpause hardly ever worked, and using the arrow keys to flip between subtitles also never worked for me. Sometimes the hover-definitions of words would linger even after I clicked away, and would not disappear until the next subtitle appeared. This was super annoying and would block a good portion of the screen. Sometimes I would have to click things 2-3 times before it registered in both Chrome and Firefox.

Overall, I think it's a great idea, but needs some pretty major improvements in order to be worth the price.

In my opinion, if they were to add significantly more shows, including kid's cartoons, and improved their subtitles, dictionary, & interface function, it would be worth the price.

Maybe in a few years as Lingopie grows, it will be worth it. But for now, it's not. For now, it's clunky and limited. If you were to watch it for an hour a day, you would probably get through all the shows that interested in you in about 3-6 months. It wouldn't take longer than a year to go through all of the Chinese content, as of right now. So why would you pay for a year or lifetime price for that?

(divider credit here)

[quitealotofsodapop]

Estuve imaginando en el Wukongverse ¿y si aparece la versión de Wukong de la obra literaria? Me imaginado su versión basada en teorías de que Wukong era una hembra en realidad en las obras y debido a los siglos se adapto la obra a macho, debido a su titulo de rey en cantones es unisex. (posiblemente sea el primer personaje femenino obligatorio en la historia(?) Además seria chistoso que una mujer le declarara la guerra al reino celestial , Pero para el au me la imagino siendo Aroace/Asexual (pero usando términos de la época seria célibe... no me pegues plz) su forma seria de un macaco normal, así que es pequeñita.

Feliz navidad atrasada y que tengas un prospero año nuevo uwu

translated via google;

"I've been imagining in the Wukongverse, what if Wukong's version of the literary work appears? I imagined the version of him based on theories that Wukong was actually a female in the works and due to the centuries the work was adapted to a male, due to his title of king in Cantonese being unisex. (possibly the first obligatory female character in history(?) It would also be funny for a woman to declare war on the celestial kingdom, but for the au I imagine her being Aroace/Asexual (but using terms of the time she would be celibate.. .don't hit me plz) its shape would be that of a normal macaque, so it's tiny.

Merry belated Christmas and have a happy new year uwu"

That actually sounds adorable! A book-accurate Wukong that's both the size of a regular monkey and femme!

I imagine the fact that she's female is often forgotten in history, not just because of sexism, but also because if you weren't looking hard enough you'd think she was a male monkey.

Its not the first time a Journey to the West character has had their gender changed; Tripitaka (+characters based on them) is often rewritten as a woman, particularly in "The New Legends of Monkey", "Saiyuki/Monkey Magic" (1978), "Dragon Ball Z" with Bulma, "Starzinger" (1978), and "Shinzo" (2000). This is because of a mix of Tripitaka having many traits people see as stereotypically feminine, and irl there being female buddhist monks called bhikkhunī.

It would be very funny in the Wukongverse, with all the different Tang Monks/Tripitakas discussing their different worlds when a certain topic of dicussion comes up;

2000s!Tripitaka: "It must be very unnverving, being the lone woman in a group of men." NewLegends!Tripitaka: "Absolutely, though from what I hear, many of you came upon similar feelings in the Kingdom of Women." The masc Tripitakas: *all nodding in agreement* HeroisBack!Luier (too young to understand): "Are there any other girls on your Journeys? My mama [LEM] and Sandy are both girls." BookAccurate!Tripitaka: *mumbles under breath* Tang: "What was that?" BookAccurate!Tripitaka: "What about The Monkey King? Aren't all yours women as well? Monkeys are matriarchal." The other Tripitakas: "What???"

And that spills over into the SWK room where they're all already treating the BookAccurate!Wukong as their sister. The Wukongs who are transmasc are very understanding of the plights she faced in the Celestial Realm. Though they do tease her for trying to shave a monk's tonsure into her head fur. And they tease her for her height compared to the others (especially Dasheng who's almost 6ft tall).

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

End-of-the-year review!

The biggest achievement of this year was getting into my dream university. Here's how I did with my self studies.

AINU This was very fun and I am OBSESSED with the language. I filled up my 64-page notebook in under a year. I can speak pretty fluently already! Will totally be continuing to study this language next year!

KOREAN Korean was on maintenance mode for most of the year. I have been forcing myself to read and listen more and of course keep watching content in the language.

NORTH SÁMI My new focus for the year, I study this for university. I got great marks for my first course and I feel like I am progressing fast. There will be a small break where I can't take it at school again so I need to make sure I don't forget anything!

JAPANESE I have been studying this language a bit more than Korean for the first time. I feel like I still need to study a lot but my reading skills have been improving a lot this year!

MANDARIN & CANTONESE I have been consuming content in both languages over the year and have become obsessed with Cantonese cooking shows. I can understand a lot, but I cannot speak at all in either language

KARELIAN I have been reading content and trying to finally learn some grammar. Waiting to enroll in a course in this language some day. I understand the language perfectly because I grew up hearing it, just can't speak it!

OKINAWAN I have neglected this language a bit. I got about 5 pages of notes written down this year. Next year I hope to focus on the conjugations of words more

DUTCH I can understand text very well due to my existing Swedish knowledge but cannot understand speech well. Maybe I need to focus on that next year.

SWEDISH I moved to an area where this language is spoken more so I have naturally started picking up more words. I can speak the language well already but now I know what words the locals use for stuff, it's super interesting

YUKAGHIR? I have started picking up words from all the Yukaghir music I listen to. I wasn't even going to learn the language. Please I don't want to fall down another language rabbit hole and be obsessed with a random language

Other: I want to learn another Uralic language, maybe Nenets or Nganasan! I can learn those through my university at some point. I would also like to learn a language like Spanish or Russian for fun but I think I don't have enough time for that. I also need to find a job... Oh right and I can speak a bit more toki pona and have been working on my conlangs too.

[kerakeriza]

damian may obviously be a cantonese speaker but he's probably a mandarin speaker too, given how linguistically intelligent he is. so, regardless... i think he'd take great, great joy in calling kon and jon both "s.b." because damian is a cute little asshole and deserves to tease the superboys in ways they don't understand. hehe.

[project-niji-official]

DISCLAIMER: This post has been used by multiple accounts on multiple sites. You may have seen this before.  TRIGGER WARNING: While there aren't any dark topics mentioned in this post, they are abundant in the story. If you are uncomfortable with self-harm, swearing, depression, suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts, mentions of rape, eating disorders, substance abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, sexual references, personality disorders, intrusive thoughts, or obsessive behavior, then this isn't for you. (I know that's a long list, but it's a long project, and they're spread throughout the story.)

Do you like relatable characters? Do you like Project SEKAI? Do you like fandom? If you like any of those things (emphasis on the first one), then you might like SPECTRA LIGHT: Project NIJI! (If you're not interested, keep scrolling. If you are... carry on.)

This isn’t an ad to get your money. It’s an ad to get your support. Project NIJI is a nonprofit fanproject run by a bunch of… well, fans. It’s technically an Alternate Universe (AU) for Project SEKAI, but someone without knowledge of the game could still understand the story perfectly well, as the main cast is composed of 20 Original Characters (OCs).

Since this is a fanproject and doesn’t have to abide by copyright laws, ambitious collaborations or ideas can be accomplished more easily. This means that we don’t have to dance around more mature topics to hold onto that sweet, sweet 9+ rating. 

There’s five musical groups: 

Welcome TO Purgatory, a band dedicated to showing the world the truth, no matter how uncomfortable.

Sparkling☆Smile☆Stage, a group who wants the world around them to be a little less sad (even if they’re doing much worse).

LITERALLY HELL, who wants to show you that not every story has a happily ever after.

StarSuit Go!, an idol group who doesn’t believe in letting others change who you are.

Night blossomS, an online music group with questionable PR decisions who wants to reach someone.

That’s simplifying the groups a LOT, but it gets the general point across.

Now, I’ve spent most of this rambling about the project itself, but here’s why I’m making this post: We need people. Lots of them. In fact, we need:

Writers

Artists

Storyboarders

Beta readers

Music arrangers

Vocal tuners

Video editors/animators

Singers/voice actors (keep in mind that you might have to speak in another language a lot)

Translators

Color artists

Moderators (for our Discord server, and our subreddit if we get one)

Publicists (social media managers)

Chart makers (iykyk)

List of languages that we need translators for (we need people to translate these languages into English, or vice versa):

Japanese (we need the most translators for this language, as it's the primary language. Project NIJI is set in Japan, after all.)

Dutch

Swedish

Portuguese

Vietnamese

Chinese

Cantonese

Tagalog/Filipino

Russian

French

Arabic

Korean

Danish

Italian

German

Hindi

Spanish

There are other languages featured in the story, but they don't show up enough to warrant a translator.

If you can do any of those things (or maybe something else that could be helpful), then you can apply in this form. Please DO NOT DM THE ACCOUNTS IF YOU WISH TO BE A PART OF PROJECT NIJI.

[mykingdomforapen]

courage of stars, ch1 | writer’s commentary

Hello and welcome to the writer's commentary for courage of stars, chapter 1! I'm so excited to talk about this fic and share some background information with you, and I hope you will enjoy this journey as well!

Just a bit of housekeeping, the chapter-by-chapter commentary will go less into the symbolism/motif/narrative commentary (saving that for the end of the fic!). It's more here to get into some of the history and/or cultural tidbits, since both lend itself in both the form of Easter eggs to being pretty integral to the plot. I love getting to write Link Click fic because I get to tap into parts of me that I don't always get to do in other fandoms, so I am really excited to get into this!

As a note: I am neither a historian nor native-born Chinese. I have had the privilege of being raised in the culture and the anecdotes of modern Chinese history, but I feel it necessary to comment that this is not going to boast as 100% historically or culturally accurate, and so I encourage you that if something about the story piques your curiosity about real life events or culture or history, go ahead and read up on it! That being said, my depictions of history are based a lot of anecdotes or personal history, and I typically am not exaggerating.

Housekeeping done! Let's get into it!

***

“Sweet husband,” Cheng Xiaoshi said coyly. His tongue tentatively wrapped around the Cantonese pinyin, delicately trying the five extra tones for size.

In this universe, I've made both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang at least half Cantonese (because I write fic for ME). Cantonese is a different dialect than what they typically speak in the show, which is Mandarin. Only Ouyang Bubei is seen speaking Cantonese in Link Click. Cantonese is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin--that is, a native Mandarin speaker is not going to understand someone speaking Cantonese unless they already know and are familiar with the language. The fact that Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang made no mention of having difficulty understanding Ouyang Bubei when he spoke exclusively in Cantonese made me jump onto the headcanon that they both grew up with the language.

Cantonese is considered an older language than Mandarin, or at least it is closer to what classic Chinese sounded like than Mandarin, which may have Mongol/Manchurian roots. It also is said to be more difficult to learn for a non-native speaker. Mandarin has 4 tones, while Cantonese has 9. So for Cheng Xiaoshi, who hasn't been speaking it for a while, he has to mess around with 5 extra tones while trying to impersonate this native speaker. Good luck to him!

***

"We may have another Chinese Nobel Prize winner for physics, right here in this apartment!” said another. “Your name will go down in history like Yang Chenning–you will make China move forward, maybe even surpass our neighbors. Who knows! Perhaps we can go to space too, like the Russians and Americans.”

During the CR, education more or less came to a standstill. Depending on when and where you were born within China, your high school education would have been very much delayed, and there were certain subjects where you would have severely been lacking. After the CR was put to an end, the country realised that they were very much lagging behind in STEM compared to their competitor countries, particularly in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. So there was a period right after the CR where those subjects were emphasized and highly encouraged--the shu li hua (数理化) priority that Lu Guang mentions later. It means Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, which China at that time considered the most important subjects for their academics to learn in order to propel China forward into progress and advancement, to catch up (and hopefully surpass) their neighboring countries.

Yang Chenning and Tsung-Dao Lee are two physicists of Chinese descent who had won Nobel Prizes for their contributions to physics in 1957. They eventually became lauded as role models for Chinese students of physics, when the sciences were more emphasized in studies. Yang had even come to China to help build science programs in the country after it had been more or less torn down during the CR.

***

Sun Yihan stood respectfully as Professor Lu passed him. Professor Lu gave him a small bow of the head, his eyes soft with sadness like a bruised fruit.

“Sun zi,” he said. “So the rumors are true. You really have returned to Peidi."

Sun Yihan smiled primly.

“I hope that isn’t too disappointing,” he said.

“Disappointing isn’t the word I would use,” said Professor Lu. “I am glad, but selfishly so.”

To study shu li hua was considered the best way to propel China forward, but there are some caveats to it. Studying physics alone, or studying mathematics alone, is a lot about calculations and theories. In order to use them for practicality, you need to apply things like engineering to it, which wasn't always offered (but one could pick it up along the way). Studying shu li hua was considered a way to more easily leave China and study elsewhere, for those who were ambitious and hoped for better opportunities.

Also, you will notice throughout the story that Sun Yihan (孙遗憾) will be called all sorts of names in this fic (Also, his 'Yihan' is differently written from the name of that one actor from the Link Click musical, or at least I assume so else I will feel bad for him lol). Professor Lu is calling him Sun zi, or 孙仔. The zi (仔) is like a little moniker that you call someone young, or like your kid/nephew/etc. Or even like your little pet. There's an affection to it, generally, and an indication that they are younger or smaller than you.

***

“He has much to be proud of,” Cheng Xiaoshi murmured. “He’s working with some of the first computers in the city.”

“And he used to dig clay to make bricks like the rest of us,” Sun Yihan said. “It seems that all those months spent in the countryside taught him quite little.”

So while one didn't have conventional school during the CR, there was still some kind of 'school' for the young people. That usually entailed sending them to the countryside to work one or several months with the farmers, the laborers, etc. For some people, that meant making clay bricks. You would live out in the countryside with these rural families to learn and appreciate their work, since the rural laborers were most uplifted during this time.

***

He heard shouts and chants thundering in his eardrums. A door being thrown open and heavy boots tracking monsoon mud across a floor, bookshelves thrown aside and papers strewn across a desk. Armbands tied around people’s sleeve, red with silk and blood. Streets full of bodies, some moving, some not. A hysterical scream, bubbling up his throat–

–a lonely photo studio, the neighbors’ judging whispers, children’s jeerings and pointed fingers, pain in the side of his head–

–two young girls clinging to her older sister, begging her not to risk the swim to the freedom of Hong Kong to escape oppression, before watching helplessly as she plunged into the sea–

–a little boy, sleeping soundly in his bed, and pain tearing through every inch of a woman’s body as she finally stood up to go–

I'll leave the first section alone, for now.

The third section is a reference to the freedom swimmers. When the Party took over China, those who wanted to escape to Hong Kong for freedom or to escape persecution would have had an extremely difficult time going to Hong Kong. For many of them, they would attempt to swim across the sea to reach Hong Kong, which was at the time a British colony and therefore not affected by the new regime. Many of those swimmers did not make it--drowned, or in some cases attacked by sharks--but there were some who miraculously swam and swam and made it to Hong Kong to a new life. I want to say this wave happened in the 60s or 70s.

Those are the notes for chapter 1! If you have any other questions or curiosities, feel free to ping me. Otherwise, thank you for reading and can't wait to see you for chapter 2!

[wistfulvulpine]

yippee Thorns' EN voice is available!!

I'm very particular abt voices, especially if I can understand it (me wanting to use Aak s1 more just to hear his Cantonese hehe) so I was a little iffy since I tend to get unnecessarily picky abt the EN dub. for the most part Arknights does a good job with their dubbing, so it's purely preference that I don't jive with most of them (or I am using their regional dub instead)

for Thorns, his JP voice is already great bc I lean for deeper voices. his EN is pretty good! not as deep as Japanese, but when it hits that baritone it hits. EN dubbing of late tends to use more code switching, which I don't really mind as it adds flavor, but it could cut back a little. ah well, being able to switch so many languages is blessing enough. (though some voicelines should still have a translation next to the mother language ex. Mlynar's Polish lines)

that said, Thorns speaking Iberian to himself when we're not listening is a nice touch. like muttering in Iberian in his Idle is endearing in that he doesn't need to speak Victorian when it's just himself, so why bother? my one gripe I suppose would be that his Destreza line could use a little more impact, but I suppose adding more oomph with a voice like his would lead way to yelling, and Thorns isn't the type to shout unnecessarily. his Base tap line is more adorable now also.