#langblr reactivation challenge

[in--other--words]

Fav Langblrs

Week 2, day 7 of prepolyglot’s langblr reactivation challenge

linguistness - lots of cool langblr but also linguistics content (German, Swedish, French, Czech)

cumbiana - phd life with some Spanish and langblr content thrown in

spanishskulduggery - really helpful explanations about Spanish grammar and vocab

thetudes - lots of useful resources for French

3oey - cute vocab drawings for Russian :3

tealingual - tonnes of resources for tonnes of different languages, great for resource masterposts

sciogli-lingua - several languages but especially Italian

pompadourpink - the ultimate authority on the French language as far as I'm concerned forget L'Académie Française

linguenuvolose - language study and general life posts, just a nice vibe

fluencylevelfrench - French and also book recs

[xuexishijian]

Week 2 Day 2 of the Langblr Reactivation Challenge: Grammar Topic

(Totally forgot about doing this, but I’ve kinda been studying still in the meantime)

I’m reviewing grammar in the HSK3 standard textbook and doing a lot with 把 bǎ, so let’s talk about it!

This particle, placed before the result or object of a verb, allows us to focus attention on this result in what may be a much longer sentence. Mandarin normally is an SVO language, but when we use 把, the object is fronted and placed before the verb: S + 把O + V.

It is essential to use this structure when we have other modifiers after the verb (such as location). For example,

我把书放在桌子上。(I put the book on the table.)

We may also use it when an additional prepositional phrase follows the verb:

我把礼物送给他了。(I gave him a gift.)

Verbal complements are also frequently seen with 把:

我把这本书写完了。(I finished writing this book.)

老师把我的名字读错了。(The teacher read my name wrong.)

Note: 把 cannot be used with verbs dealing with feelings or perceptions, since they don’t describe and action that happens to the object. (E.g.: 看，爱，喜欢，想，等等）

Also note that 把 is also the measure word for handled objects (椅子，伞，刀).

[salvadorbonaparte]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge

Week 1 - Day 1 - Introduction

Hello! I'm trying to pressure motivate myself into studying with this :)

My name is Mack and you might know me from my folder of language learning resources but I'm also a translation student and really good at procrastinating my language studies.

I'm hoping to focus on Spanish, Romanian, Yiddish, Croatian and Korean for the rest of the year but I'm interested in more languages than I can realistically learn in a lifetime.

I technically have a degree in Spanish but I'm a bit rusty and I want to get my Spanish to a level where I can use it as a source language. I'm technically a beginner in Romanian but I understand more than I can use because of my experience with Romance languages and I have no idea what my Yiddish level is. I'm a complete beginner in Croatian and Korean.

I've been interested in Spanish for ages and studied it at uni. I got interested in Yiddish in high school because I thought the history was fascinating and I ended up writing my undergrad dissertation about Yiddish. Romanian I originally started learning for a job but now I want to stick with it and also eventually add it as a source language.

I'm starting Croatian because it might help me as a translator but I'm also interested in Croatian culture because I've travelled there once as a child. I'm starting Korean because I low-key thought about learning it for like seven years because I wanted to learn more about Korean history.

[bieups]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge: Week 3 Day 6 - Grammar Explanation

Warning: long post ahead! Tumblr mobile refuses to let me add a read more cut ㅠㅠ

Today let’s learn about:

Noun Modifiers: ~ㄴ/은 & ~는 & ~ㄹ/을

Now, you might be thinking I already know the particles 은/는 & 을. But this post is not about topic or object markers. Those particles are attached to a noun (the topic or object of the sentence…who could’ve guessed) while these modifiers are attached to a verb or adjective stem to create an adnominal phrase. They just happen to look the same. Also these modifiers appear in lots of grammar patterns, such as ~을 거예요, ~는 것 같다, etc. so you might’ve already been using them!

An adnominal phrase (aka noun modifier) adds more information or details about a noun. For example, “The cute cat scratched me.” or “I saw a man wearing a yellow shirt steal a bicycle.” It can be a single adjective or a longer phrase with a verb.

Adnominal Phrases in Korean

In Korean, we place the modifier before the noun, even when it’s a whole phrase. So instead of the English style “a man wearing a yellow shirt,” the word order is more like “a yellow-shirt-wearing man”.

Also keep in mind that noun modifiers do not create complete sentences! To finish the sentence, you need to follow your modifier with a noun + an appropriate ending. However, leaving off the ending verb is pretty common in informal settings (like saying “a yellow-shirt-wearing man” could make sense in some contexts, even though it’s not a full sentence).

And to really mix it up from English, there are multiple forms:

~ㄴ/은 is for adjectives

~ㄴ/은 is also for past tense verbs

~는 is for present tense verbs

~ㄹ/을 is for future tense verbs

(bonus) ~이다 + ~ㄴ is for nouns

Adjectives + ~ㄴ/은

Take the adjective stem and add ~ㄴ if it ends with a vowel or ~은 if it ends with a consonant:

예쁘다 >> 예쁜

작다 >> 작은

Heads up, I’m not including irregular conjugations here because this post is already too long. Irregulars follow their usual patterns for meeting ㅇ, similar to basic present tense conjugation.

Use this pattern to put adjectives in front of a noun and make longer, more detailed sentences!

따뜻한 라떼 한 잔 주세요. // Please give me a hot latte.

Note: 있다 & 없다 (and other adj. ending with 있다/없다) take ~는 instead of ~은.

맛있는 빵을 먹었어요~ // I ate delicious bread.

Past Tense Verbs + ~ㄴ/은

Look at the verb stem and add ~ㄴ if it ends with a vowel or ~은 if it ends with a consonant:

하다 >> 한

남다 >> 남은

This is for past tense verbs, so the action describing the noun happened in the past, but the main verb of the sentence could be a different tense. And remember that Korean is different from English, so verbs may be used differently (입다 “to wear” comes to mind…).

어제 산 양말 어디 있어요?// Where are the socks I bought yesterday?

저 긴팔 셔츠를 입은 남자 너무 잘 새겼어요~ // That man wearing a long-sleeved shirt is really good looking~

Present Tense Verbs + ~는

With this one, there’s just the one form. (Irregulars follow their patterns for meeting ㄴ)

하다 >> 하는

찍다 >> 찍는

Use this pattern when the action is either happening now or is a general reoccurring action.

주말에 같이 한국어를 공부하는 친구들이랑 영화를 봤어요. // On the weekend, I saw a movie with my friends who I’m studying Korean with.

여자친구의 웃는 모습이 아주 예뻐요. // My girlfriend’s smile (smiling appearance) is very pretty.

Future Tense + ~ㄹ/을

Look at the verb stem, add ~ㄹ if it ends with a vowel or ~을 if it ends with a consonant: (irregulars follow their patterns for meeting ㅇ/ㄹ)

하다 >> 할

먹다 >> 먹을

이사갈 집은 복층 오피스텔이에요. // The house I’m moving to is a loft officetel. [복층 means it has an upstairs area, not a one-level apartment, and an officetel is a common type of housing in Seoul…do an image search to see what they usually look like!]

언니가 갈아입을 옷이 없다고 했어요 // She said she doesn’t have clothes to change into.

Nouns + ~이다 + ~ㄴ

Sometimes you might want to use a noun to modify another noun. This is common with ~적 nouns (the ending for characteristic). First we add the “to be” ending ~이다, then drop the 다 and add the modifier ~ㄴ to get ~인:

감동적 >> 감동적인

열심히 일하는 외향적인 사람을 좋아요. // I like extroverted people who work hard.

모범생인 동생과 ���리 저는 고등학교를 그만뒀어요 // Unlike my model student brother, I dropped out of high school.

+ 것

This is probably the most common way you’ll encounter this grammar. 것 means thing, so instead of a more specific noun, people use [verb/adj] + ~는/은/을 + 것 sort of how we use “[verb] ~ing” in English. Also, 것 usually gets contracted to 거/걸/게 when speaking or texting.

너 자는 거야? // Are you sleeping?

아침에 식사하는 게 귀찮아요. // Eating a meal in the morning is bothersome. [것 + 이 = 게]

2차 갈 사람 손~! // People going to 2nd round, (raise your) hands~! [when out, especially for drinking, each place is a different “round,” so maybe 1차 is 삼겹살, 2차 is a pub, 3차 is 노래방…but some members of the group might not stay for every round]

언어 배우는 걸 좋아하세요? // Do you like learning languages? [것 + 을 = 걸]

연습실에서 핸드폰 놓고 가신 분 찾습니다 // I’m looking for the person who left their cell phone in the practice room.

Wrap Up

So remember 1. use the proper form for your context and 2. your modifier needs to be followed by a noun.

한국어를 공부하는 사람들 화이팅~!

[startledsilver]

Doing day 6 today as well (and day 7, because what are rules?). Here's some 成语 or idioms in chinese!

指鹿为马 / zhǐlù-wéimǎ / calling a deer a horse.

It means "deliberately misinterpreting the truth".

It comes from a story where a minister presented a deer to the emperor, calling it a horse. People are confused as to why he called a deer a horse, when it's clearly a deer. Later on, he killed everyone who said it's a deer.

I don't have enough skill right now to say make witty political commentary in Chinese, so a simple example sentence should do 😂.

他说谎了，骗我了！他指鹿为马！

He lied to me, scammed me! He called a deer a horse!"

盲人摸象 / mángrén-mōxiàng / blind people touch an elephant.

It means "to draw conclusion from incomplete data" or "mistake the whole for its parts"

Pretty recognizable idiom as it has an english counterpart ("can't seperate the wood from the forest"). Just as blind people touching a small part of an elephant can't fully describe what it is, you can't make a correct conclusion without seeing the whole instead of just the parts.

因为你要研究做好，你不可能盲人摸象

If you want to do good research, you must not draw conclusions from without seeing the whole thing.

天上掉馅饼 / tiānshàng diào xiànbǐng / Pie falling from the sky

It means to have good fortune come your way without any effort or for no reason whatsoever.

别做梦！你要有钱有势，想到没有努力可能呢？天上不会掉馅饼！

Stop dreaming! You want to be rich and powerful, you think that can happen without hard work? There's no such thing as free lunch!

And that's three idioms!

Psst, I'm sure I have grammar mistakes and all, if you find any do tell me!

[lesbiangerman]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge | Week 1 Day 6

• Jemandem ein Ohr abkauen (lit. to chew someone's ear off) - talking to someone who isn't interested in the conversation.

example:

Ich habe gestern mit Lars über Fußball gesprochen. Er hat mir ein Ohr abgekaut!

• Einen Frosch im Hals haben (lit. to have a frog in your throat) - not being able to speak properly, having to clear your throat.

example:

Einen Moment bitte, ich habe einen Frosch im Hals.

• Nur Bahnhof verstehen (lit. to only understand train station) - to not have a clue, not understanding what someone's talking about.

example:

Worüber redest du? Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof.

as always, let me know if something's wrong!

[studyscrasic]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge 2.4

Record yourself reading an article, short story, or passage (basically anything written in your target language). Listen to it and see if you can point out any areas you can improve with your speaking and any areas that you’re doing well. You can post your recording if you wish.

I read this article in Norwegian, which was very fun because I didn't know the Norwegian word for butterfly is "sommerfugl" (literally, "summer birds!")

I think my pronunciation is decent, but I definitely need to work on not getting tripped up by numbers and long words. I also want to work on having a more natural speaking rhythm when I read aloud.

It wasn't a part of the challenge, but I also made a vocabulary list of words I didn't know or remember from the article, since there were definitely some unfamiliar ones:

art (n, m/f) - character, nature, kind, species stadig (adv) - constantly, steadily synlig (adj) - visible bevis (n, neu) - evidence, proof å styre (v) - to guide, to control, to govern å blafre (v) - to flutter å kartlegge (v) - to map, to identify, to survey langvarig (adj) - prolonged forekomst (n, masc) - an occurrence prikk (n, masc) - dot, spot, polka dot iøynefallende (adj) - eye-catching, conspicuous, striking skadedyr (n, neu) - pest, vermin å fungere (v) - to function å forutsi (v) - to forecast, to predict, to prophesy

[a-multilingual-dream]

Hello!

My name is Juliet. I recently finished my masters degree in sociolinguistics, and then moved to France to work for a travel company. I used my first three months of living in this new country and working full time to get settled in, but now I'm ready to get back to my language studies!

And what better place to get motivation than here ;)

Let me introduce the languages that i speak / want to speak:

🇩🇪 German 🇩🇪 (Native)

This is my mother tongue and i actually have a certificate to teach German as a foreign language - i love teaching it, so if anyone needs help, don't hesitate to contact me.

🇺🇲 English 🇺🇲 (C1 / C2)

I started learning English at 12 years old in high school, and later taught myself by reading English books and watching English tv shows. My master program was mostly in English and i actually wrote my thesis in English, so I'm pretty comfortable with the language.

🇨🇵 French 🇨🇵 (C1)

Oh French - my love and my enemy. I grew up next to the French border and starting learning it in 5th grade. I proceeded to do 2 student exchanges in France, spent a year as an au pair in Paris, later did my Erasmus semester in Paris and recently moved back to France. I love France, i love French - and the pressure is high to speak it fluently. This actually makes me pretty self-conscious when speaking it, which in turn makes me worse at it. By moving to France, i hope to really improve my language skills, especially my vocabulary.

🇮🇹 Italian 🇮🇹 (B1)

Italian is my favorite language in the world, and Italy is my favorite country in the world. I just love everything about it, which is why I decided to learn Italian a few years ago. I have been studying it on and off for about 4 years, a mix of beginner classes at my university and self study. After finishing my masters this spring, i spent the summer traveling through Italy and ended the trip with a 2 week language course in Torino, and it was absolutely amazing! I'm excited to keep learning and to hopefully go back to Italy many times :)

🇯🇵 Japanese 🇯🇵 (beginner)

I've been wanting to study Japanese for sooo long, i think it's been 5 years since i bought my first Japanese language book. 5 years later, do i speak any Japanese? Nope. I can read and write hiragana and katakana, quite a few kanji, and i know basic sentence structure. But that's it. I think it's soo interesting to learn all about a language that's completely different from all the languages i know, but that also makes it challenging to learn it all by myself. I had planned and booked a 6-week language course in Tokyo in the summer of 2020, and was soo excited that i cried when I booked it. Well, I cried even more when the whole trip got cancelled bc of COVID... After that i didn't really get back into studying it, although I'm still as interested in it as ever. So I've been thinking about trying out italki this year... I will try to make a decision about how to go forward with my Japanese study during January.

~Other~

If i had the time to study more languages (which at the moment i absolutely do not, but life is long) i would be interested in Chinese and Korean. After getting to know the basics of Japanese i find it really fascinating to learn a whole new writing system and a completely different grammar, and although I've had absolutely no connection to Asia so far in my life, i absolutely want to travel there and learn more about its numerous languages (which i know aren't just Japanese, Chinese and Korean 😉). It's just like there's a whole new world to explore there!

So that was my (not so short) introduction. I'll be looking for langblrs that post more or less about the languages I'm learning, so if anyone who studies any of my languages sees this post, don't hesitate to leave a like and I'll have a look at your account!

To be continued...

[prekladatelsky-orisek]

🌸 Introduction 🌸

🍃🍄Hello! I'm Tony.🍄🍃

I'm an avid language learner and linguist (I have a bachelor's degree in linguistics and am pursuing an MA). I'm studying a bunch of languages, some more actively, some more passively, and some I'm just dabbling in for fun. Usually friends are my motivation for learning languages, but sometimes it's just sheer curiosity, music, or literature that reels me in.

📚 My favorite thing to use language for is reading, especially fantasy novels! I've read books in 9 languages so far. 📚

The languages I currently use/study are:

English (native, C2)

Czech (heritage, ~C1)

German (C1)

Spanish (~B1-B2)

Esperanto (~B1-B2)

Polish (B2)

Russian (~A2-B1??)

toki pona (~A2-B1???)

Korean (~A1-A2)

Scottish Gaelic (~A1-A2)

Upper Sorbian (B1)

Latin (~A1)

📖 I'm very interested in ancient languages, and would also love to learn to read Old Church Slavonic, Old English, Middle English, and Middle High German (among others). I think it would be fun to learn Latin in order to read The Witch Hammer and silly poetry.

📖 On the conlang front, I'm curious about Na'vi (I love the ejectives!), Quenya, and Dothraki.

📖 When I have the time, I would also love to study so many other languages...like Cherokee, Swedish, Zulu, or Yiddish.

I've never been that consistently active on tumblr, but I hope that making a langblr can be motivating for me as I continue studying! ✨

[mistysteeep]

LANGBLR REACTIVATION CHALLENGE LETS GOOO

Day 1: Introduction

I’ve been living in Italy for almost two years now and I barely speak any Italian. I am here for my Bachelors degree, and I am planning to stay here for next few years. But due to university workload, my mental state and procrastination I barely speak Italian.

I will be using teach-yourself Italian book for beginners, Duolingo (115 day streak :P) and help of my Italian friends. I hope to be more consistent and intentional about my language learning, maybe even implement a system and a schedule.

I used to follow a lot of Langblr and  Studyblr accounts, those communities are purely magical! I don’t use Tumblr as often as I used to. TodayI was doing vocabulary exercises I randomly remembered about existence of Langblr and decided to check the hashtag. I am glad that I could participate in this challenge and help to reactivate one of my fav Tumblr communities<3

[studieswithmi]

Sep 29, 2023 ・❥・Week 1 Day 1 of prepolygot's Langblr Reactivation Challenge

Day 1: Create an introduction post about yourself. What's your name? What languages are you studying? What languages do you hope to study? What do you hope you'll get out of this challenge?

Hi everyone, long time no see. My name is Mi, I'm 24, and a native English speaker. I use masculine pronouns in any language I study, as well as they/them in English.

My old url used to be hangugeo-hands but I changed it because while I do still want to learn more KSL, Korean and Korean sign language aren't the only languages I want to study. I'm shifting my focus to more Spanish right now because I'm looking at a possible trip in the future! That being said, I'll still post other languages as well!

With this challenge, I hope to use it as a fun little game to really motivate me to renew this blog as I continue my studies.

This is a side blog! Any follows come from @baldyeosang

Languages Currently Studying

Korean

Japanese

Spanish

Languages I'd Love To Study One Day

Gaeilge

Get back into KSL

French

German

[in--other--words]

Top 3 Free German Resources

Week 3, day 5 of prepolyglot’s langblr reactivation challenge

(Probably goes without saying but just my personal top 3! You'll notice it is quite listening focused because that is what's most important to me.)

Nicos Weg (A1, A2, B1, Complete Youtube Playlist) - the story of a Spanish guy called Nico who moves to Germany. Really nice and well produced. Each level is made up of 80ish videos of a couple of minutes each, with exercises to review and test your comprehension. This adds up to a movie of almost 2 hrs for each level.

Easy German (x) - street interviews in German. Great for learning how Germans actually speak, outside of the artificial context that you find in a lot of learning resources.

The German Project (x) - online lessons with audio snippets and easy to understand explanations, plus animated short stories with audio. Wish there were some exercises to go with it! Also available for Spanish, French and Italian.

[xuexishijian]

Week 1 Day 6 of the Langblr Reactivation Challenge: Idioms

Chinese has these fun expressions called 成语 chéngyǔ, which are often four characters long and may reference classical literature, stories, or proverbs, which are then used as popular, well-known sayings. These aren’t the only type of idiom in Chinese but they’re pretty cool, so here are some examples!

心血来潮 xīn xuè lái cháo

lit. blood rushes to the heart

means: spur of the moment, on a whim

某日他们心血来潮，决定去欧洲旅行。

虎头蛇尾 hǔ tóu shé wěi

lit. tiger head, snake tail

means: strong start but weak finish (reminds me of that drawing of a horse that goes from super detailed to barely a sketch)

这个赛季打得有些虎头蛇尾。

倾国倾城 qīng guó qīng chéng

lit. overthrow country, overthrow city

means: so devastatingly beautiful that people would topple nations for that person (dictionary says it refers to women usually)

他有着倾国倾城���容貌，让很多男士对他着迷。（对、例句必须有同性恋。）

[salvadorbonaparte]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge

Week 1 - Day 2 - Goals

Spanish

add as source language

regain confidence speaking

read more Spanish books I own (especially Don Quixote)

watch el ministerio del tiempo

re-read grammar workbook

Romanian

add as source language

read poetry collection and Dracula copy

Finish Teach Yourself

Finish Duolingo course

Yiddish

read classic literature (especially Tevye and Dybbuk)

talk to a native speaker

Finish Colloquial and In Eynem

Finish Duolingo course

Croatian

add as (potential) source language

Finish Teach Yourself

learn more about differences to Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin

learn alphabet/pronunciation

Korean

be able to do small talk

be able to order food at Korean restaurant

settle on textbook

finish learning writing system/pronunciation

[bieups]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge: Week 3 Day 3 - Vocab. List #3

Continuing with my workplace theme, here are a few more Misc. School Vocab!

공립 학교 - public school

사립 학교 - private school

국제 학교 - international school

Note: some 학원 may call themselves private or international schools…but there are official requirements in order to be legally recognized as a legit international/private school. This is good to be aware of if you’re looking to teach in Korea!

학년 - grade level (i.e. 3rd grade = 3학년 [use Sino numbers])

초등학교 - elementary/primary school (1학년~6학년 = Korean age 7-12)

중학교 - middle school (1학년~3학년 = Korean age 13-15)

고등학교 - high school (1학년~3학년 = Korean age 16-19)

학원 - academy; kids often attend math/English/music classes at 학원 after school, but there are also tons of academies for adults that teach everything from foreign language to cooking. A lot of them focus on test prep. because even companies use exams for hiring & promotions.

서울시교육청 - Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education “MOE” (you can replace Seoul with other cities)

등교 - going to school

미나는 매일 걸어서 등교해요. // Mina walks to school every day.

하교 - returning home from school

오늘 1시 50분에 하교버스를 출발합니다. // Today at 1:50 the school bus will depart.

보결 - substitute

학부모 - parents of students

신입생 - new student [see also 신입 사원 for new employee]

방과후학교 (수업) - after school (class); schools often run their own after school activities/classes that are generally cheaper than 학원 classes.

대학수학능력시험 (“수능”) - college entrance exams; this is the big deal test that Korean high schoolers take, it’s only given once a year and many businesses & schools start later than usual in an effort to have less traffic in the morning while the test-takers are commuting to their test sites. The English section is notoriously ridiculous.

매년 수능일은 1교시 수업은 실시하지 않습니다. // Every year on the day of the college entrance exams, we don’t have 1st period. [This is part of a real announcement at my job.]

And, just for fun, here are some important workplace words that don’t only apply to teachers!

4대보험 - 4 insurances (these are the standard insurances that employees get through their employers)

건강보험 - health insurance

국민연금 - national pension

고용보험 - unemployment insurance

산재보험 - workers’ compensation insurance (in case you’re injured on the job)

월급 - monthly pay

[startledsilver]

大家好！Hey langblrs ✌️!

I picked up Chinese (simplified) august last year and was very into it for an intense 1.5 months, but as always intense focus must at some point come to an end and fell through with the habit! Turning this tumblr into a langblr (among many other things) is honestly a way for me to keep up with the habit.

You can call me Silver, which is part of my name in Chinese. I'm ethnically Chinese and was enrolled in mandarin classes since I was 4 for 12 whole years but due to cultural erasure and just me being a kid who refuses to learn things, I barely knew anything 😆! Based on the knowledge I have now I'm sure 16 yr-old me wouldn't pass HSK 1. But I did remember basic vocabulary, grammar (like how to verbalize time, how to ask basic questions) and the five tones. I honestly learnt far more (and still remember, even though I've definitely forgotten a lot too) in 1.5 months than in 12 years of lessons.

I hope I can make friends who are also learning chinese! 💗 Would try my very best to update progress here although definitely no promises 😗 - I have work and a gajillion other hobbies to suffer on as well!

(also psst I'm in my mid twenties so minors dni pls y'all are babies 😫)