#of the grammar of a language with as much nuance as possible

[blackwaves]

reading into irl ichiyo higuchi and dwelling on the statement that ichiyo was bound by the structure of acceptable writing for female writers at the time — having to recreate a performance of feminity which contradicted and moved around the actual way women spoke, & which notably did not come naturally to her — but managed to make it her own + express assertiveness within it nonetheless.

anyway this is all just to say that i'm so fond of the bsd higuchi-centric chapter which says she's not naturally suited the port mafia, but that she stays and tries anyway. the way she gains respect via throwing herself into a fight she expects to lose from the motivation of her love/loyalty for akutagawa. thinking primarily of ch.77 where tachihara's suitability to the mafia is defined in his recklessness, passion, and bravery— there is something to me there about how she makes those traits her own.

[thelingodingo]

BTS' Speech Styles

Like anybody, the members of BTS have their own speech patterns and language quirks that make their speaking unique to themselves. So I thought it would be interesting to make a post that goes deeper into the details of how each member speaks in Korean!

Jin: He talks in an old-fashioned manner (very exaggerated ahjusshi) and doesn’t use much slang. He also uses a lot of puns consistently, its quite impressive and cringy honestly. His vocabulary isn't as varied and wide as RM but his grammar is pretty spot on. Also very speedy at talking and hard to understand sometimes. On top that, he's great at getting his point across in serious situations without adding unnecessary emotion.

Suga: I think I once heard a fandom myth that he has a lisp (which he very much does not). But he does mumble a lot and stretches his ㅔ's, making it very difficult for even native Korean speakers to understand him properly. On top of that, Suga also speaks incredibly quickly, making it another thing that makes it very hard to understand him (no wonder he's a rapper). Sometimes, he speaks very swaggy. Sometimes, he speaks like an old uncle. Sometimes, he's like RM and gets very eloquent with his wording.

J-Hope: Because of his dialect, he sounds very warm and friendly. He also seems to enjoy using words such as 되게 (really) and 뭔가 (somewhat) veryveryvery often. His tone fluctuates alot and something about the way he pronounces words is very crisp and staccato-like. He can also be very serious and deadass as well.

RM: He speaks very intellectually and educated. Both his vocabulary and sentence structure is very high-level, sometimes choosing difficult and unconventional words. Every now and then he jokes around in the many different dialects he picked up from the rest of the members (he doesn't come from a place that speaks a different dialect like the others). His normal speaking is also very unique sometimes due to the influence he has from the different dialects of the members, over the years he basically created his very own dialect that's a mix of all the different dialects together. This makes his speech so nuanced and special and difficult to fully translate/convey.

Jimin: Has a very friendly and down to earth tone when talking to fans since he speaks informally. His speech pattern is very playful, sweet, and cheeky. During other occasions, he speaks formally to fans and has the most "feminine" sounding speech style. You can tell he selects words very carefully and delicately to be as nice as possible. In Korea, he has a nickname of Park DaJeong, meaning "Tender Park" due to his speech style. Sometimes, he slips into dialect which is when he sounds a bit "rougher".

Taehyung: Is a big fan of using and repeating adverbs such as 약간, 조금, 진짜, etc. In Korea, people call the way he speaks 태태어 (Tae's language) because of how interestingly different and lowkey peculiarly he speaks Korean. It doesn't have much to do with his dialect, he literally just speaks that way. (he can speak amazingly when needed, it's just that he has his own quirks when speaking in casual situations)

Jungkook: He speaks with hints of dialect quite often, making him sound very rough and most "masculine" sounding in Korean out of all the members. I think he has a very clear and smooth tone which makes it easy to listen to him, so if you're learning Korean he might be a good person to do listening practice. He's not as polished in vocabulary/grammar compared to RM and Jimin but he's still great at speaking.

Something I want to mention is that the younger members very commonly use honorifics/polite social conventions/formal speech towards the older members even with their closeness and family-like relationship. This is actually something about BTS that is highly praised among Korean society due to how professional and respectful it makes them seem.

There's probably more to analyze and delve into when it comes to the members' speaking styles and patterns but this post is just a general overview.

Please let me know if theres any inaccuracies or if you want more posts like this!

[sfstranslations]

how hard(?) would you say it is to translate? Ive been kinda curious about that, like does anything get lost in translation/ just not make that much sense without knowing the og language? or anything like that? 🤔

Hm, maybe 7 or 8 on a scale of 10? Though it can easily go higher at times, haha. (Always when Sung Hyunjae is in a scene because his name is a misspelling and it pisses me off.* This is a joke. Only half, though.) Basic word-by-word dictionary lookup is simple, which is why machine translators can do it well enough. But then you have to string all of it together in a sentence where you:

figure out and find a way to convey any difference in connotation between this specific chosen word and other words that mean the same thing (think the connotations of "regal" VS "royal" in English), and

do the same as above, but on a sentence-wide level translating the nuance of a particular grammar/sentence structure (thousand and one sentence endings in Korean, I swear -_-), and

make sure distinct character voices are retained or translated from the original Korean (think Song Taewon's stiff formality VS Han Yoojin's more casual speech VS Sung Hyunjae's middle-aged rich guy-type speech), and

make sure this sentence flows with the overall paragraph/chapter.

All those priorities have to be juggled throughout the chapter and add up to make it a fairly hard task. It definitely gets easier with practice once you're more familiar with the language (especially the nuance/connotation stuff), though, and I did get lucky in that my native language shares some aspects with Korean so the grammar is easier to intuitively grasp. Of course, I'm still learning, so I do have times I need to call in more experienced speakers for help.

(I definitely wouldn't say I'm good with the language period. Recently I've tentatively picked up a new novel—people following my personal blog will know which one—and it turns out I'm familiar with the way Geunseo talks and familiar with the vocabulary typical to dungeon fantasy novels, but kind of. Majorly hopeless when it comes to other stuff. The phrasing is juuust off enough that I keep getting tripped up and taking thrice as long to understand what's being said.)

There's definitely stuff that wouldn't make sense in English—certain idioms, cultural stuff, and all that, but that's why I try to localize wherever possible and add footnotes with relevant info/links if not. And there is stuff that gets lost in translation—you can look at the chapter titles from 302–307 for an example of that, where the joke is much more immediately obvious in Korean but had to be translated differently as chapter title VS in-chapter text messages and lost the clear parallel. I also remember being grumpy back during the virtual reality dungeon arc because Yoohyun would use 네놈 (ne-nom but typically pronounced ni-nom, a derogatory way to say "you", LMAO) towards Sigma and there was no concise way to get that across in English except having him be aggressive and direct. Especially since he isn't the type to swear by word of god, so I couldn't have him addressing him with "asshole" or "jerk" to convey it.

TL;DR: Fairly hard to translate, but gets easier with time, and there is stuff that's lost or difficult to understand, but I do what I can to make it understandable in English!

--

* Sung Hyunjae uses "ae" at the end, but that implies it's 성현재, which is wrong—the correct spelling is 성현제, which should be "Sung Hyunje". (If you wanted to go the full Revised Romanization route, it'd be Seong Hyeonje, but I've weathered my share of name changes and that's a step too far even for me.) I've been meaning to make a poll about changing it like with the Lauchitas spelling, but I keep forgetting.

[onigiriforears]

After approx. 2-3 months of studying Japanese I started to read free graded readers online and then graduated to a collection of short stories that I purchased off of Amazon. I thought that the reason I was starting to have trouble understanding sentences was because I didn't know enough vocabulary but it was because I neglected grammar completely. It was sorta drilled into my head off of Youtube creators to just study kanji, vocab and simple sentences as much as possible before even touching grammar. I feel absolutely lost, dude. I am at the 5 month mark now. I can "breeze through" kanji for the most part. (as in, I can actually retain it in a decent amount of time) I decided to study grammar about a week ago. It is SO FREAKING HARD. I don't know if there's something wrong with me or what. I don't know if it's supposed to feel like what I thought I knew is being ripped apart at the seams, stapled together, and then torn apart again....but it does.

Do you have any tips for learning grammar? Is this feeling normal? Can you tell me when the pressure in my skull will subside? I am using Bunpro's free trial but I'm unsure if this tool will actually help me. I write tons of notes to flip through but I still fail to give them the nuanced answer they're looking for. I really enjoy the setup of Bunpro and I want to like it since it's similar to WK but I'm not sure if I'm going too fast or there's a better way to learn. I stopped learning 5 new grammar points a day and started doing only 2. (I also have Genki I and watch GameGengo. He explains things in a way that's easy for my brain to understand.) Sorry for the long post but any insight would be appreciated. I'm a bit nervous asking people in the language learning community for help or insight because a lot of them treat it as a way to show how fast they learned/1-up others. Tumblr's langlearn community is a lot different with what I've seen (or maybe I'm just following the right ppl lol)

Hi! Thank you so much for waiting for this response--I'm sorry it took so long. Your message was one of the ones that popped up when they locked my ask box (they actually still haven't answered me on why it was locked so 🤷‍♀️). To make up for that, I'm gonna be longwinded because I think that this is a super valid and important question that others may also want to know the answer to!!

Pls pls PLEASE DM me if none of this is helpful or if you'd like to talk more about what you think you need help with!!

I think that sometimes when we're learning a new language that we know is so overwhelmingly different from our own language, we focus on the things that we think will be the main hinderance and sometimes we forget the key points. You might be thinking "how did I forget grammar?" but I would say don't beat yourself up about it! Many of us focus on the things that we think are our problems(--the last time I studied for the JLPT, I focused on my weak point too much and then was frustrated with myself during the exam bc I neglected the other areas.)

I don't want to lie to you and say that learning grammar will is going to get easier because that's not the case for everyone. Think of learning grammar vs everything else as learning different types of math or science--have you ever had a friend that was absolutely phenomenal at algebra or calculus but couldn't do geometry? Or a friend that was wonderful lab partner in chemistry but struggled in biology? They're struggling in biology because it requires a ton of rote memorization in comparison to practical application and math that's present in chemistry and rote memorization may not necessarily be their strong point. Personally, I think that's also why a lot of us struggle with certain grammar points. There are some that just click with us immediately and then there are others that we have to see over and over and over and over and over--you get the point--just for us to find a single sentence with it that we understand. If you're math oriented, we need to figure out a way to no longer make grammar points rote memorization for you, but to turn it into a formula of some sort. I actually write my notes out in ways that are like that--I use plus signs (+) in my notes not because the textbooks use them but because my brain genuinely reads it as "noun + particle + grammar point = a sentence that makes sense" because, for me, formulas don't fail. Your weak point doesn't have to be your weakness--you can turn the weakness into a strength that works just for you.

I've been going at this for years and every single professor or Japanese friend (or even people from the discord server) I have can tell you that I've struggled with pretty much any grammar point that included ~ように--and it wasn't because I wasn't trying, but because I couldn't find myself using any sentences that with those grammar points because I found the alternatives/similar ones to make more sense. Surprisingly, it wasn't until I was reading 夜カフェ for our book club that I was actually able to start grasping the meaning (ngl, I still haven't used it myself--I'm notorious for using alternatives); I was finally witnessing it being used in a way that made sense in my brain.

The frustration you're feeling when you encounter a new grammar point or overload yourself with too many things in one go is completely normal and I promise that a ton of us in the Japanese langblr community have definitely experienced it too! It probably feels like everything you know is being ripped apart because your native language may have a SVO (subject-verb-object) format while Japanese has a SOV (subject-object-verb) format--your 1-to-1 translations for your notes may not be helpful in the beginning because you're still trying to wrap your brain around the fact that your words still need to go in another order than you're used to. And then you add the new grammar points and concepts on top of that (like particles and other things) and it can become overwhelming and frustrating. Sometimes, you're going to find some grammar points just downright annoying--especially when you find that there's no equivalency to it in your own language. But don't give up!

I know this is a super cliché thing to say, but practicing them will help. If you can, I would make note of the grammar points that you're struggling with, try to make sentences with them, and ask somebody to check them and explain exactly why (or why not) they're working and then ask them for examples because they may have an even better way of explaining it to you than what you've come up with for yourself!

I can look back at old notes and see when I wrote a sentence as an example just because a textbook/professor used it but I didn't actually understand why it worked at the time and then I can also find notes where the sentences written as examples were added once I finally found something that clicked for me.

You've already done yourself a favor by learning a lot of vocab, kana, and kanji because now you'll be able to try out an array of ways to pick up grammar instead of just a textbook. (I will make a note that if you're looking to take the JLPT, I would recommend having a list of grammar points that you would need to know for the level that you're planning on sitting for because there's no guarantee of what will or won't pop up on the test.)

Another important thing while you're practicing: be comfortable with making mistakes. We all make them, but when you're learning a new language it's important to be ready to make mistakes and to welcome them with open arms because it gives you a chance to experience and learn in real time.

ALSO: for you specifically--because you're interested in reading, you might enjoy learning grammar through tracking the different grammar points through what you're reading and using the sentences as your examples because they're all going to be cohesive. And if reading books or other things totally turn you off right now, maybe games? Animal Crossing and Pokemon are very nice games to play in Japanese for people that are just starting out! You may also enjoy using Lingo Legend--it's an JRPG language learning app that I beta tested and I think that it's a nice way to review (it has some fun incentives). I'm not a big gamer, so I struggle with learning through games, but I've been picking up a lot of grammar through reading because I focus on finding things that I'm interested in, rather than things that are "at my level." When I start a manga, I will scour a ton of websites and forums and bug a ton of people when I come across a grammar point that I can't wrap my brain around because I want to be able to understand what's going on.

We have book clubs and gamers in my discord server, as well as places for people to post what they're practicing or to ask for help. We have people of all varying levels and different skillsets that love to share their wisdom with others.

I haven't used Bunpro, but I know that @sammilearns has, so she may be able to weigh in on that! And @tokidokitokyo @nihongoseito @chouhatsumimi @kanpeki-bekki @burgeoning-ambition probably also have even more tips that me--I'm trying to tag people that I know we all learn in different ways, so their tips and tricks might be just what you need!

Please weigh in, fellow langblr members! How have you been learning grammar? Are you game-ifying it? Have you turned it into math equations? Have you managed to tie it in with your special interest? I can't wait to see what people add to this post!

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Been sitting on this AU for a while and a discord conversation brought it back to my attention (thanks @felixravinstills) so here I am, typing it out on my one free day instead of writing like I should be doing.

The Capitol speaks in Panem's version of "standard" English, while the districts all have dialects that are so different from standard that they may as well be different languages entirely. Now, the districts can understand one another's dialect due to similarities and influences left over from the rebellion days, as well as due to inter-district trading and stories passed down through generations. However, the Capitol views these dialects and the accents they cause when a district citizen speaks standard English as a sign of being "lesser" so they stay as far away from it as possible, so they don't understand a word of it.

Come the 10th games where the mentors are forced to interact with the tributes, this seemingly random factoid about Panem turns into the thing that stops the games for good and brings Gaul's life to ruination. At first, the mentors are very snooty and classist about the tributes' accents, but when they start to care about their tributes it becomes an endearing thing to them. Slightly infantilizing but it's better than dehumanizing so the tributes that notice decide to take it. Now, I could go the depressing route and tell you the mentors try to learn their respective tribute's dialect post-games because it's the only thing they have of their tribute that isn't stained by the games. The stories they shared are nothing but memories, any item they have is sent back to their families. Anything they may have made for them was created with stuff from the zoo where the tributes were forced to stay and humiliated daily in the leadup to their brutal death. But their dialects? That's something the mentors can learn, and it's the only concrete thing they can have of the child that died on their watch that's from before they were forced into these horrifying circumstances. However, I'm gonna make this a fix-it instead :)

Now, this whole situation happens because none of the mentors die during the bombing, which means the Capitol is far less up in a tizzy about rebel activity. It doesn't mean much, but it leaves them just the tiniest bit more open to hearing positive things about the districts. While in the zoo, the tributes talk to each other in dialect because they can understand one another and it feels more like being at home that way. They won't let the Capitol force them into speaking standard when they don't have to and nobody cares if those Capitol pricks can't understand what they're saying. It's a positive, if anything. Some mentors are visiting and when one (probably Arachne because I'm ignoring the stabbing bit) gets prickly about them not speaking "proper" English with a comment about it being "a sign of lesser beings," Brandy responds by snippily asking her which one of them can understand the other either way. "If only one of us can speak both, who's the stupid one again?" Arachne is affronted (though her ego gets out of the way the next day and she realizes Brandy has a point, causing her to try to start over with her tribute by being a little nicer) but the other people present stop immediately to think about that. Especially those who know a lot about language. That whole dialect thing means the tributes know more vocabulary, more grammar than the Capitol citizens. And they have to seperate them too so they're not mixing languages! Clearly they're not that stupid then, so even if they are still lesser beings... Maybe it's worth being a little more nuanced?

Of course it never stays at just a little, in fact it starts spiralling quite uncontrollably. If the district kids are smart enough to essentially speak two languages... What else are they smart enough for? And with the extra scrutiny on the tributes their individual personalities and interests, and even more so their interpersonal dynamics and relationships, become utterly unavoidable. Coral's care for Mizzen despite how game-faced she is in every other facet of the games, Reaper's concern for Dill despite appearing to be the most dangerous amongst the tributes, Bobbin's anger that only seems to be gone entirely when it comes to Wovey, Treech and Lamina's complicated road of trying to figure out where they stand with each other when they clearly both know they'll have to leave one another eventually and the way it so obviously eats at them both, Marcus and Sejanus and whatever it is that's going on between the two of them. As all of this starts gaining traction in the Capitol, it becomes harder and harder for Gaul to keep up her narrative of "undressing humanity" and the districts deserving this. Especially when her biggest supporter, the president himself, ends up paying a visit to the zoo at Felix's insistence and sees first-hand the way these kids interact with one another as well as the visitors in the zoo. Their obvious disdain for their situation and those who came to oggle at them while they're literally being treated like animals, but also their small soft spots for the kids who don't know any better. The way they can't quite bring themselves to be mean to small children, even when those children see them as dumb animals put there for their entertainment.

President Maximinius Ravinstill is not a kind man. Nor is he a gentle, merciful one. He's cold and he's vicious. President Maximinius Ravinstill is a cruel man. But at the end of the day, he's just that. A man. One who has a son himself, though he's not been the best father he could have been. And while at first he'd thought he'd stay for five minutes to satisfy Felix and go back to his life again unaffected... Maximinius stays for hours, noticed only by those from the Capitol. Entirely unnoticed by the kids, though they watch him with curiosity at first due to the reactions of everyone outside the cage upon his initial arrival. Most of them don't even know who he is, and not a single one of them cares. That's how little they've been allowed to know of the outside world, and that's how little they care for the Capitol. All any of them are to these kids is the cause of their misery, and President Ravinstill may be a cold dictator, but Maximinius is a father who can only see his young son, hurt and bleeding and starving, in the faces of these young children. Especially in young Mizzen, whose face lacks the youthful chub it should have due to lack of nutrition the same way his son's had all those years ago. In Otto and Treech, who are of similar age and share just enough features with Felix to be discomforting, despite the district characteristics that had let Maximinius and everybody else in the Capitol write them off as "other" for a decade now. Long before that too, if he's honest with himself.

And President Ravinstill shouldn't care, but Maximinius can't help himself. For so long he's allowed differing physical appearances and a lack of education he himself reinforced to let him believe these kids were somehow lesser, but now that he's seen the parallels and the similarities he can't unsee them. And Maximinius is just a man, with the emotions of one and a heart that beats no matter how cold he's allowed it to become over the years. Part of him wants to go back to delusion, to ignorance and cruelty, but his heart won't let him. It aches and screams for him to do something because he knows he can. If anyone can it's him, and he'll never go back to the way he used to be before this realization. Since he already knows what Gaul will tell him, he talks to Dean Highbottom, the creator of the games, in hopes of solving this dilemma. It becomes the final straw that pushes him to accept the truth: he'll never truly live again if he allows this to continue, so he doesn't. He puts a stop to Gaul's machinations and ends the games right them and there.

Naturally, the situation in the districts also improves due to this shift in perspective, though it's a far slower and less sudden change. The tributes are finally given medical care, which saves Otto, Ginnee, Panlo and Sheaf from death. They all have to stay in hospital or under close supervision for about a month due to the drastic impact staying in a zoo enclosure, with no protection from nature while not being properly fed, has had on their health. When they're let out of hospital but deemed too unstable to travel they get to stay with their mentors. Of course, once they're finally deemed healthy enough to go home they're positively ecstatic but sad enough about leaving their mentors that they find ways to stay in contact and offer to show them around their home district at some point in the future, which the mentors of course happily agree to.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

I have a couple questions. First, I have a story in mind about four neurodivergent queer teenagers facing their struggles and other conflict (it's very anime inspired and also inspired by Deltarune). 2 kids are autistic and the other 2 have ADHD, although I'm thinking about one of the kids with ADHD is also autistic. One of the characters also has PTSD. I'm mainly wondering if you have any sources about writing neurodivergent characters and writing about PTSD.

Secondly, your blog really helped me learned about autism and ADHD and made more convinced that I'm most likely autistic and that my parents yelled at in past (and present) because of my autistic traits. Do you have any good sources for parents (as well as me) to learn more about autism so that they won't have a stereotypical idea of what autism is like anymore and to convince them to get me diagnosed (since I'm a minor)

Thirdly, I have a question if struggling learning grammar of your mother language can related to autism? Because I kinda suck at grammar and when I try to learn grammar rules I don't really actually learn. ( I guess that my teachers in elementary in school didn't know how to teach). I also really want to write my story and possibly get it published eventually.

Lastly, in your profile it says that you like rocks and fossils, so what's your favorite rock/mineral? Because I also like rocks and fossils.

Hi there,

Question 1:

I think the concept of your story is very interesting (even if I haven’t played Deltarune). And when it comes to PTSD, it can affect both autism and ADHD. Neurodivergent Insights has some great Venn diagrams showing the similarities and differences between the two:

If you want, you can add some of your own traits or your friend’s to the characters, which might help some.

Question 2:

This is difficult to answer, as I don’t know you personally and haven’t seen your home life. But I have found some sources that could possibly help:

I found this Reddit post from r/autism that has some tips that could help too:

Hopefully these can help.

Question 3:

Since people learn things at vastly different rates, some may be very good with grammar and English (it was my favorite subject and I got an associate degree in it). While others may struggle. In one study I read, it said:

The first studies on grammar and autism, published in the early 1980s, suggested that syntax isn’t a particularly big problem for children with the disorder. This work found that children with autism learn grammar in the same way that typical children do, but at a slower rate, in line with their overall developmental delay.

Since then, a couple of studies have suggested the linguistic picture is much more nuanced. For example, one study showed that children with autism don’t use correct verb tenses. Another found that they produce less complex sentences than do typical children or those with developmental delays

The full article will be below:

In one other article I found, it stated:

Linguistic and cognitive abilities manifest huge heterogeneity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some children present with commensurate language and cognitive abilities, while others show more variable patterns of development. Using spontaneous language samples, we investigate the presence and extent of grammatical language impairment in a heterogeneous sample of children with ASD. Findings from our sample suggest that children with ASD can be categorized into three meaningful subgroups: those with normal language, those with marked difficulty in grammatical production but relatively intact vocabulary, and those with more globally low language abilities. These findings support the use of sensitive assessment measures to evaluate language in autism, as well as the utility of within-disorder comparisons, in order to comprehensively define the various cognitive and linguistic phenotypes in this heterogeneous disorder.

The full article will be below if you’d like to read it too:

Question 4:

I have lots of rocks that I think are pretty cool. One of my favorite minerals is bismuth due to its cool properties. My favorite rock type is igneous because it’s a rock from a volcano/molten rock and it has its own properties too.

Anyway, I hope those answer your questions. Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ♥️

[ikuzeminna]

Hi! How did you learn to read Japanese? If I'm not wrong that you do, is the Japanese depiction of the GW characters' personalities different from their Western depictions?

Hey! Learning how to read Japanese is definitely an adventure in and of itself. For me, I had learned how to read and write hiragana and katakana from the Yoshida Institute’s site long before smartphones existed, along with a few kanji. I would use hiragana for my cheat sheets at school. (Yes, I learned a whole different alphabet just to cheat at history and geography instead of simply studying for my exams like a sensible person, even though I realized it was way more effort. I'm not exactly smart.) I started learning kanji properly years later with the kanji learning app Japanese Kanji Study, which I can't recommend enough, then took a brief language course and then accidentally ended up studying Japanese in college for 1.5 years, which is where I learned all my beginner's grammar (みんなの日本語 anyone?) and, as is totally apt for a beginner, hentaigana.

It’s funny when you can't string five sentences together without issue, but can make out Nobunaga's scribbling, something many natives are incapable of. Great, balanced education you thought up there, folks.

At least I got a laugh out of one Ranma ½ episode where Ranma found Kuno’s journal entry and couldn’t read it because of course that doofus would write it in the most archaic manner possible. 

Anyway, as far as reading aids go, I’m just gonna plug everything I’ve used over the years for anyone interested. The Firefox extension 10ten reader has been a lifesaver, as has been Jisho. When it comes to comprehension, Google translate is dog crap. I’d recommend Papago, which must have been trained specifically on East Asian languages as the results are much better. Not perfect, but better in my experience. Google translate has long incorporated OCR (image to text) so it may be less useful, but I’m very fond of the no-install Capture2Text which can convert manga speech bubbles to text, provided the scans are clean enough to read the kanji.

For grammar, I stuck to Minna No Nihongo. Bought all the books and slowly work through the lessons now.

The most valuable asset though is having a fluent or native speaker you can ask. Nuance is impossible to grasp if no one explains it to you. Even with vocab, you’ll run into plenty of words with the same meaning. Dictionaries often don’t distinguish in those cases. Having someone you can ask makes learning a lot easier.

Now for the Gundam Wing part of your question.

I’m not exactly sure what you mean by Japanese and Western depictions, or rather who you mean. If we’re talking official sub vs. dub then yes, there are a few differences. Heero isn’t perpetually constipated in the original (he actually has a sense of humor!) and Duo is a lot less flirty than his dub version. But it’s nothing grave. Certainly not Seto Kaiba levels of the dub rewriting his character to make him rant about not believing in destiny every time he opens his mouth.

Or Saber Rider being the leader of the Star Sheriffs. wtf I grew up with a lie D:<

Now, if you’re referring to fandom spaces, I am, without a doubt, the wrongest person to ask as I have never seen what the Japanese Wing fandom is up to and have never really been in touch with what the West is doing either. Have I seen fanfics and do I know 1x2 is the most popular ship? Yes. Have I spent 10 minutes looking at a manga panel, trying to figure out what is going on, only to hit the back button as fast as I could once I did? To the detriment of my poor eyes, yes. But when it comes to fandom differences, I think @muwi-translates could give you a proper answer. I can’t really say much as I’m not involved in the fandom in a way that lets me know such things.

I just sit here in my bubble, talking to myself most of the time.

[haneulislearning]

2024년 한국어 목표; Korean Language Goals

With my study abroad date coming closer and closer (only 19 days away ㅇ.ㅇ), I figured it was time to share some of my language/Korean specific goals for the year!

These aren't all of the things I want to "accomplish" for the year, and some are long-term while others are short-term goals, but it felt better to have something physical to look at to remind me of what I am aiming to do this year and have my thoughts organized.

The hardest thing about this is reminding myself (Hi, if you don't know me, I fear academic failure and set high expectations for myself), that it will be okay if I do these things only partially or if something didn't quite meet my expectations that it is okay.

There are some things that I want to aim for as a personal milestone that I didn't list here in an attempt to NOT overwhelm myself to get it done.

(Like trying to read Harry Potter in Korean, because 1. I am NOT at that level yet, and that will take quite the time to go through and 2. I want to buy the book second hand because JK Rowling is a bitch and I don't know yet where I could thrift the book while in Korea. Mostly want to read it because it is a book that I read over and over again as a child so the concepts/ideas/plot is familiar, just not the nuanced vocabulary and grammar)

So I am viewing this less so as a list of things to do before the year ends, and more as a set of remiders, affirmations, and sources for me to review throughout the year as I am abroad and expanding my use and knowledge of Korean.

There is so much to say about my goals and views of langauge learning, but I don't want to make this my longest post ever, so maybe some other day I will share some of my more abstract goals in another post.

Anyways, enough rambling, here's what is listed in my journal:

Listen to Korean podcasts

Become comfrotable reading short stories + news articles

Journal more often in Korean

Annotate + break down THREE songs in Korean (*not in my journal, but the goal is to understand, memorize, and practice reading speed and listening with this)

Read + annotate one book in Korean

Try learning AT LEAST 10 new words a week (*I see this one either not lasting long or turning more into 10 words every OTHER week lol)

Review each month what you've learned (*just trying to go back and refresh myself on things that I learned recently but may not have had the chance to put into practical use often)

Other notes:

Use your resoruces! I have so many Korean books and websites/apps saved, and I will use them for about a week before I forget they exist, so this is my reminder to look at them a little more often!

If you know how to say it, say it! Don't hesitate! The amount of times my friends and I have decided to speak in Korean to each other only to say something in English and then quickly realize we 100% know how to say that in AT LEAST broken Korean :/. Or when my professor would ask us to share what we did this weekend in Korean and think that my sentence or phrase is wrong, only for someone else to say something similar and realize I actually knew how to say it. Better to try and maybe be wrong and get corrected than to not try at all and learn nothing.

Keep it simple, but try to build your sentences! Actually a reminder from my Korean professor lol! If you don't know how to say it, look it up of course, but you can't pull out your phone in every conversation you have! Sometimes it is easier to keep it simple and short and others it's great to build on and connect where you can. The whole point of my last class was to work on using connectors and conjuctions for our sentences to lengthen them, but it's not always possible. Some days it is just easier to say 네 or 아 그래요 and move on if you know what I mean.

Any progress is good! There have been multiple times this year where I have literally gone to Korean tutoring and forgotten every Korean word I know and beat myself up over the fact that I feel like I "failed". Simply put, I burn out too quickly sometimes and take the minor victories for granted. Celebrate anytime you can when it comes to remembering a small vocab word or how to order food in Korean!

Consistency is Key! Seems obvious, but one summer in between semesters I didn't study Korean for at least a month and wanted to cry when I tried to self study again before the new semester because that sense of failure was kicking in and I couldn't remember a lot of what I had been practicing. Even if it is just reviewing vocab, watching a youtube video in Korean, or even a K-drama, consistency is key when it comes to learning. It doesn't have to be a lot, just something.

Explore ways to learn, make it fun for you! I have only been learning Korean for almost 2 years now, and now that I am going abroad I'm realizing that I will be in much more different situations in terms of school and socializing, so how I experience Korean is going to be different for a little while. This is just a reminder to take advantage of fun opportunities and see where and when you can learn Korean.

You're probably doing better than you think you are. Don't stress. I feel like nothing needs to be said here, but if you look at where you started versus where you are now I am sure the distance is actually farther than it seems.

[zeldaelmo]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by my wonderful friend @bahbahhh.

__

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

77

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

484,215

My goal for 2023 was to hit the 500,000 and I'm positive I'll reach it.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Legend of Zelda, all games apart from Zelda I, II, and Minish Cap (because I haven't played them so far)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

How to name a royal child

Stolen Kisses

Strangers in the Night

It's in his Kiss

Flour, water, salt, yeast, love

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Uh... in theory, I do. I love getting comments but I often feel stupid saying ten times 'thank you' in a row, so I end up answering mostly when I have something to say.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would be Lonely at the Top. I don't really write angsty endings, but this one is hurt/no comfort as it tackles Link visiting the Light Dragon who doesn't even react to him.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm...I'm not too fond of the fanfic version of the perfect happy ending, namely, proposal, sappy wedding, and omg, twins!, mainly because I love the nuance life teaches us. What a happy ending for a fic and a character is, is so often much more different than the fairy tale version.

That being said, I'd still go with Strangers in the Night, just because the two worked so damn hard for their happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hate is a big word, but I get negative comments and sometimes they are even personal, yes. Most people are lacking reading competence and/or don't understand how stories work. I mostly ignore those. Sometimes I complain on discord if it's very annoying. If someone insults me, I block.

I don't think that has to do so much with me, though. I have 1,346 comment threads on my stories. Of course, there are some idiots among them, that's life.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, occasionally. I think ten of 77 fics are explicit. Look, the thing is, I'm a story teller. So if the smut doesn't add to the story, I don't tell it. Rule of thumb is, that I keep it to a T-rating if possible to make the story accessible to most people. I only go for explicit stuff if I want to deliver some part of the character development/plot with the intimacy (or the lack of lol) that the smut offers.

Does that get me the most Kudos? No. But I'm not here for that or I wouldn't bother writing for 30 years old games. I'm here to tell a good story and have fun. :)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No. If you've read so far, I can tell you a secret as a reward: I find crossovers pointless. Ooops.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I am aware of! But I'd love to! Big fan of accessibility!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I've seen a few writing collabs end in fandom drama or otherwise go awry, so I decided that I only collab with artists. I might try with something short one day, but nothing novel-length.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Take a guess.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ah, so I have a half-written novel in my drafts. A story about writer!Zelda and fanartist!Link who are also princess and beloathed bodyguard. I'm very determined to go back to that one after I finished The Promise, but I'm a little scared. The story is complicated and my thoughts are chaotic. I already asked @mistresslrigtar to help me work it out next year, so I hope we'll manage.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and showing what's going on in the character's head who's not the POV character.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with simplicity sometimes, mainly because of the language barrier. I write something that's horribly complicated and I just know there must be a better way to put it, but I can't figure it out. Grammar is hard, lads.

I also have a weird relationship with descriptions. I love having characters interact with their environment but I loath big chunks of description. I plan to work on this during my traditional holiday self-study break.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

This is a weirdly specific question, but ok.

If you don't happen to write a book that's supposed to teach beginners the other language, then don't. You might end up othering the person who's speaking and that's something you don't want to dabble with lightly.

I already talked about accessibility: You will exclude people from your writing and you don't want that just to sound cool. If you must for plot reasons, make otherwise sure everyone is on board. Slightly different case if you actively hide something from your readers (and other characters), but that's probably not the most common case.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

LoZ

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I refuse to answer this. 77 fics are too much to choose from. I love most of them.

_

tagging: @mistresslrigtar, @airplanned, @jenseits-der-sterne, @silentprincess17, @deiliamedlini, @skyyknights

[nights-like-this17]

20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @thatbluelight cuz we be forcing each other to read each other’s fics even when we don’t know what’s going on…hate to say it but I lowkey miss reading ur peterick shenanigans…anyway

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

31…simultaneously feels like a lot and not enough

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

333,525

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Written for a lot of different fandoms, most recently for the Thai gl Gap, but in the past I’ve written for the Wrestling fandom (specifically Baysha/Charlynch), Power Rangers (2017), 1 for American Horror Story, 1 for Batwoman, and a couple old fall out boy sprinkled in.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Behind Closed Doors, How Could You Possibly Know?, Look Me In The Eyes, Don’t Look Back In Anger, The Fear of Falling Apart

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YES, I feel like there’s so much community in fic writing and I love being able to connect with otherwise strangers over media we both enjoy.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t purposely write angsty “endings” it’s more like I give up on an idea half way through before we can get to the happy ending, like “I Run Back Thoughts of You” is enemies to lovers but only has 1 chapter so we still in the enemies phase…

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Can I Break Down Your Walls? There’s so many ups and downs in that fic but like the ending is so cute and cheesy

8. Do you get hate on any fics?

Not a lot but I’ve definitely got a weird comment or two, I can definitely write some darker themes and people have been weird about it once or twice but it’s praise and support 99% of the time

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Ya, def grew into that, wasn’t something I touched in the beginning of writing fic, but like the last few years she’s become more prominent

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nah, it’s def not my cup of tea in my own writing style, but I can appreciate when other writers do it. Putting different characters/people together like that is a lot for my brain sometimes 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of…👀

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone contacted my a while ago asking if they could translate Behind Closed Doors into Spanish to like record audio of them reading for their YouTube channel…I said yeah but never really checked back 😂

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Ya, I co-wrote a like sequel one-shot of a Power Rangers fic years ago (I Hate To Say I Told You So)

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

…probably still Sasha Banks and Bayley even tho we getting crumbs these days…

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Sasha Hates Christmas, I usually update it every year around Christmas time and it follows a close to real life story line but I haven’t updated it since 2021

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel like there’s a good like general flow, like everything tends to move solidly if that makes sense. I feel like I’m also a poet at heart so I be killing it with the comparisons and like painting the scene with metaphors.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I could work on like making things more realistic, I feel like I always make endings perfect and don’t allow for like human error/nuance all the time.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue language in fic?

I have before sparingly, it’s not really my fav, I took 5 years of Spanish in high school…but still can’t w correct grammar/phrasing so I don’t really attempt it

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Hate to admit it but the first fic I wrote was like 2013 about Demi/Selena on wattpad and I was down bad

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

This is hard, I love a lot of my one-shots but I feel like the longer chaptered fics were truly like a labor of love especially with how many times I wanted to quit them. Soooo probably Purple Hurts But Blue Stings Worse or Behind Closed Doors

This was fun and introspective…✌️

Tagging @ahunter8056

[wistfulweaverwoman]

💞

thank you for the ask @thesweetnessofspring!!

💞 = what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

Well I for sure look to achieve a balance of all of these things, but I think the most important is the technical stuff. As a reader I will absolutely stop reading a story (fanfic or published book) if the basic sentence structure is off. I find it very off-putting, because instead of being able to immerse myself in the work I am constantly pulled out with having to work out what the author actually meant. So I end up not even getting to any of the other stuff on the list that the author may or may not have done well.

My first goal as a writer is to make the words flow well together, and the second is be as clear as possible to avoid confusion. The other stuff is really important too, though I really like nuance and adding in lil nuggets of information in bit by bit, because I really enjoy that as a reader.

As for the figurative language, I hesitate to go overboard with it because one of the first writing tips I received was to not write something in 10 words if I can concisely express the same thing with 5 words. I've always instinctually saved figurative language for more emotionally charged moments.

This is something that I wrote back in 2014 as a new writer (The Awkward In-Between) and while I'd change it a little I think it's a decent example of what I mean by saving the more poetic language for emotionally charged moments:

Looking up at Peeta, it's as if Katniss has never truly seen him before this moment. Like a moth, her silver eyes are drawn in. His hair has dried haphazard and wild, and the sun, now directly behind his head, haloes his curls, setting them ablaze. The mesmerizing azure of his eyes are intense as the blue center of flame. He is a vision. Her sudden terror isn't that his fire would ignite her, but that his own light would be snuffed out, and she'd be forced to flit around in the dark forever, his loss leaving her an empty shell.

I also see it as a finisher, something I often add in the editing process, though there are some things I see long before I get to that chapter that haunts me till I write it out, like this example.

For my latest fic, The Apothecary's Daughter, I've gone through the process of plotting the entire story out, in three acts, using a specific method. I love writing and I actively want to improve my skill in crafting good stories, so I challenged myself to write this fic as if I were writing a novel. While the main plot points are simple and echo bits of cannon, there is a much more complicated subplot that's only been hinted at so far, that I feel wound be a lot more difficult to pull off if I hadn't already plotted out the basic story with bullet points first. After I'd divided up the basic story into three acts I further divided each act into 9 chapters (like THG books). And then I plotted out each chapter. Some chapter bullets have a lot more details than others, but that's okay because I've gotten more ideas as I've written each new chapter and in fact had to move some plot points to future chapters to accommodate them.

A month or two back I read through my outline and went back to the structure I was following because I'd moved stuff around and the story flow felt off. The I fell into a hole of rereading all the articles (I have some of her books too but I was too lazy to get one off the bookshelf LOL). While I'd originally planned for each act to be 9 chapters I discovered that while this method worked for SC (she's a master) that for me this shortened what should be the longest part of the story (act 2) and made the other two acts much too long. The formula should be approximately 25%/50%/25% for the 1/2/3 acts, respectively. I really took the time to understand the difference between plot points, pinch points, and the center point, and the purpose for each.

If anyone is looking to understand the technicalities of plotting I highly recommend checking out that blog and her articles.

As for the characters, those are for sure incredibly important too... but since I'm writing fics right now and have not dipped my toe into OCs I don't have to worry about creating characters, just making sure I keep my characters as close to cannon as possible, which is only possible through character analysis, which I have been doing for THGs characters since before joining the fandom back in 2014. The most consistent feedback I receive on my cannon divergent fics is that my characters are some of the most in character representations that the reader had read. I am very very proud of that, honestly, because it's not always easy to suss out meaning or intention with the POV of a person that's not always specifically aware of those things themselves.

Character in my AUs are going to be in varying levels of OOC because they've had different experiences that cause them to feel and react differently than they would in a cannon divergent fic. Part of that comes from identifying what it was in the characters background that lent to a specific trait and either changing those circumstances, or starting the fic at an earlier age, like in The Shape of Us.

World building is super fun for me. Sometimes I pull from my other fics, like some of the merchant culture I'm exploring in The Shape of Us . Sometimes I already know ahead of time when I'm going to add something in, and sometimes I'm writing out the chapter and need to give some context to something that's been plotted. And while I'm following an outline I still end up adding things to the story spontaneously, like the bath scene I wrote in the last posted chapter of The Apothecary's Daughter.

[opinated-user]

(Sorry for any grammar mistakes, English isn't my first language) Hi, sorry if this sounds rude, but I saw you mention that the argument that "sex scenes don't do anything for plot" overlap with "Kink doesn't belong at pride"/Anti-kink/sex work ideologies, and I was wondering why. I am someone who agrees the former (though, take this with a grain of salt, as my interactions with any sort of content with sex scenes is video games or novels where any form of sexual or romantic content takes a backseat in a minivan with 4 rows of seating) but disagrees with the latter (That's an ideology I perceive to be sad at best), and I do want to know if such beliefs are influenced by any sort of stigma or stereotype regarding such a thing. Again, sorry if this sounds rude (I swear I'm not trying to be) or ignorant (I am extra not trying to be this), but I really wanted to know why these two things were linked.

the two positions reduce sex to a single characteristic and refuse to give it any more nuance than that. for SWERFs sex is inherently violent and it means a degradation of women in front of men (they might be homophobic as well but are less obviously vocal about it). it doesn't matter in what context it is, sex is tool that patriarchy uses to subjugate women and it can't be anything more than that. if the woman gave full consent to any form of sex work then she can only is a victim of brainwashing and abuse, no matter how much she claims otherwise. likewise, the position that "all sex scenes are just because the writer was horny and can't have a narrative purpose" is incredibly reductive and a clear example of projection from LO's part. since she only ever write sex scenes because she found them sexy (which should tell you a lot about the underage sex scenes on stockholm), she can't imagine that a writer could use a scene like that to tell something about the character, about their situation, about the relationship between two characters or to set a specific kind of mood. a sex scene well written can be unsettling and uncomfortable to watch for the reader of a horror story, it can reveal something important about the character's journey by allowing to discover their sexual identity (which in turn makes people with that same identity feel seen) or it can just be completely surrealistic absurd humour for the sake of making someone laugh. sex scenes, like any other scene, can serve any purpose that a writer wants. there's no real limits to what you can do with one. futhermore, by refusing to understand this very simple principle, LO is saying that something couldn't possibly be horny and at the same time have meaning beyond horny. while a SWERF would claim that because something kinky is horny that makes it abusive and LO would claim that is just being horny and nothing else, they both agreed that there's no real value to sex beyond the tiny parameters they both arbitrarely set up for it. this is the reason why you might find some people who call LO a puritan while at the same time call her out for her creepy behaviour. it's because of this attitude of somehow valueing her "wholesome" media (that she keeps decorating with incest, rape and abuse when she is on the writing chair) above "horny" media, while at the same time being a very creepy predator who shoves her sexual life to the faces of everyone that comes in contact with her, wether they want to or not.

[maralika09]

INTRODUCTION TO MALAYALAM – A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

Who speaks Malayalam

Malayalam is the spoken language of the South Indian state Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep. This constitutionally recognized classical languages of India, has a recorded history of more than 2000 years. Malayalam is a Dravidian language with distinct script, evolved grammar and rich literature.

Kerala state is divided into 14 districts. The capital of Kerala is Thiruvananthapuram (തിരുവനന്തപുരം).

How To Learn Malayalam

https://www.maralika.org/home/view/185

For a beginner, who is completely new to the language, it is always better to start with alphabets for systematic learning, rather than by starting with some phrases or catchy words. The alphabet sequence in Malayalam is known as Aksharamala. Malayalam Aksharamala consists of Vowels, Consonants and Chillaksharas.

Check out these free self-study courses and materials for beginners

https://www.maralika.org/home/view/199

https://www.maralika.org/home/view/207

Learning these Alphabets and understanding their correct pronunciation should be the first challenge. It is understandable that in the beginning it will be a bit difficult, but it will get easier with constant practice.

How to practice Alphabets

Each alphabet has its own sound. Some alphabets look similar, while some sound similar. But we know there are differences and each alphabet is unique with its own structure and sound. So the challenge is to recognize and distinguish different alphabets.

Check these free audio with text lesson https://www.maralika.org/home/view/200

To Learn alphabets, the easiest way is to listen to the audio, With image of the particular alphabet in front. Listening to audios of simple words along with the scripts of those words, can be very helpful to recognize and distinguish different alphabets for beginners. Listen as much as possible to be familiar with the language.

Watch this video lesson for listening practice and enjoyable learning

Subscribe and watch our YouTube channel for more video lessons https://youtube.com/@maralika1247

Once the complete alphabets and their correct pronunciation is understood, then we can proudly say that we have cleared the first level!!!.

Start Reading

At this point the students feel more at ease and will be confident that they now know the Alphabets. It truly is a great achievement!!!

It’s time to start reading. While doing reading practice, read out loud. As you read out, you can listen to your own voice.

Subscribe these free reading materials for reading practice : https://www.maralika.org/home/view/197

Reading out loud can be helpful not only to check and correct ourselves, but also it will be easier when we start speaking. Words will flow fluently if practice reading out.

Expand Vocabulary

With a minimum of 800 words one can communicate effectively in a language. Once the student starts reading, new words will be naturally added to the vocabulary. Mind is curious to learn new words and phrases. To make it more productive, target to learn and memories a minimum of 5 words daily. Gradually and effortlessly more and more words will be added to your vocabulary. Don’t skip listening along with the scripts and reading out even for a day.

Subscribe this free material to improve reading as well as vocabulary

Connecting Different Words

Now we can understand the language. We have covered a good distance in this journey. Shall we explore more?

Let us try conversation. If we start a conversation in a new language, at first we will get only words. We may not be able to make a complete and meaningful sentence.

To make a meaningful sentence, we should arrange words properly. For our convenience we have categorized words into nouns, verbs etc. There are some words that combines, relates or co-ordinate other words in a sentence.

Some Examples in Malayalam

• And – ഉം – Um • If – എങ്കിൽ – enkil • But – പക്ഷെ – pakshe • In – ഇൽ – il • Because – അതുകൊണ്ട് – athu kondu • Then – പിന്നെ – pinne • Therefore – ആയതിനാൽ – aayathinal

How to Ask

Interrogative words are a very important part of language. Conversation often leads to questions and answers. Make an effort to learn and memorise basic question words, while expanding vocabulary.

Important Question Words In Malayalam

• What – Enthu( എന്ത്) • Who – Aaru (ആര്) • When – Eppol (എപ്പോൾ) • Where – Evide(എവിടെ) • How – Engane (എങ്ങനെ) • Which – Eethu (ഏത്)

Yes/No words in Malayalam

If we are engaged in a conversation at the learning stage, we mostly tend to answer with yes or no. Yes, and No are the basic, simplest and most effective response one can express as well as understand. It is interesting that these two can be effectively expressed and understood without saying.

Yes / No words in Malayalam

Yes

•അതെ (Athe) •ആണ് (Aanu) •ഉവ്വ് (Uvvu) •ഉണ്ട് (Undu)

No

•അല്ല (Alla) •ഇല്ല (Illa)

Conclusion

Human mind is always curious to learn new things. Knowing new things or learning something new keeps the mind fresh, creative and happy.

Learning a new language has many advantages.

• It can improve memory and listening skills • Enhance focus and concentration, • It boosts understanding capacity, • Strengthens learning ability, • Uplifts confidence and self-respect.

It is said that everything is difficult before it gets easy. The same can be said for languages too. It is hard in the beginning and gets easier with practice. Important thing is to practice without break. Do practice every day, either by listening to audios, or reading. Learn new words daily. Do listen daily even if you are unable to grasp a word. Remember to read out daily even if it is not coming fluently or perfectly. Gradually and eventually it can be mastered.

HAPPY LEARNING!!!

[bourbon-ontherocks]

12 16 28 for writing asks!! ❤️

Thank you!! ❤️

12. If you write in more than one language, what's the difference?

Oooof, that's such an interesting question!!

I want to say that there are, in fact, many similarities in the act of writing, whatever the language, because the mental process one gets through in order to create a story tends to remain the same, and also writing in different languages is equally frustrating (that counts as a similarity, no?) but for different reasons lol!

Back then when I wrote exclusively in English, I sorta dreamed of how awesome it had to feel to be writing in your first language and I tended to envy the native English speakers for that. I though that if I were writing in my first language, I’d have a better grasp on words, nuances, connotations, I’d be able to play this gamut with much more subtlety, I’d have more vocabulary at my disposal and so much fun with it...

And all of the above is absolutely true. I do have all those things now that I’m writing in French, so did I get this promised bliss? Lol no, instead I got c r i n g e. See, being more aware of all the nuances of a language automatically makes you also more aware of the clunkiness and general mediocrity of your own writing. While English had this beautiful veil of mystery draping every sentence, French sounds so bland and cliché that I end up much more unsatisfied.

Also perhaps that’s the not-so-aware-of-clunkiness goblin in me speaking, but I definitely feel that English has more creative potential than French when it comes to writing. One can easily use a noun as a verb, slightly alter a preposition, and generally speaking the language feels more malleable, and that’s an incredibly enticing playground. On the other hand, French is more rigid, and I definitely feel this loss in terms of grammar liberty, but also perhaps I’m just more imbibed with French grammar rules than I am in English, which makes it harder for me to consider breaking them (that’s borderline Stockholm syndrom lol).

Oh and remember when I talked about widening my vocabulary when writing in French? Well, oddly enough, I feel like I tend to repeat myself WAY MORE in French than in English!

Tl;dr

English: lesser grasp of nuances, less vocabulary, harder for these reasons, richer creative possibilities, disminished sensitivity to cringe

French: better understanding of nuances, more playing-with-words and subtext potential, extended vocabulary, rigid grammar, cringe, cringe, cringe

16. Are one-shots really underrated?

As someone who's currently suffering throught the final chapters to a 70+k words story, YES!!! A thousand times yes!!! One-shots are life, one-shots are love.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Well, wiriting advices that work for me tend to come and go as I evolve in my writing habits, so for me, one advice that tends to work a lot for me now would be to just... write. Like, even when there’s no inspiration, no motivation, no momentum, just write down ideas, dialogue lines, snippets, settings, notes, anything, the bare bones of my story. It’ll always be time to flesh everything out later, but that’ll be at least a basis to start from because sometimes the blank page is too indimidating. I used to write pretty much out of instinct a few years back so this advice felt quite irrelevant for me, but this kind of writing mindset is getting harder for me to reach these days, and sometimes I just have to accept that the mojo isn’t here, but still I want to make progress in my WIP because the story is right here, I know what I want on the page, I just don’t have the spark. So I’ll just write the skeleton of it, for instance if it’s a dialogue I’ll just write down the character’s lines. Later I’ll add the muscles (speech indications, tones, gestures, etc...) nerves (character’s inner thoughts) and skin (prose embellishment). It doesn’t matter if I don’t get it all written down on the first draft, each step is still a step. And sometimes, doing so will trigger a much more satisfying stream of inspiration.

 Writing ask that I don’t remember reblogging lol

[studyjapanese01]

How to Master Japanese Language Through Immersion Techniques

Mastering the Japanese Language can be both a challenging and rewarding journey. Among the most effective ways to achieve fluency is through immersion techniques. Immersion allows you to learn the language in a natural, context-rich environment, simulating how native speakers acquire their linguistic skills. In this guide, we’ll explore how you can use immersion techniques to master the Japanese Language effectively and efficiently.

What is Language Immersion?

Language immersion is a method of learning where you surround yourself with the target language as much as possible. By constantly interacting with the Japanese Language, you improve your listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a more organic manner compared to traditional study methods. Immersion can be achieved by living in Japan or creating a language-rich environment at home.

Benefits of Immersion in Learning Japanese Language

Contextual Learning: Exposure to real-life situations helps you understand how the Japanese Language is used in context.

Enhanced Retention: Constant repetition and exposure improve memory retention of vocabulary and grammar.

Cultural Understanding: Immersion introduces you to Japanese culture, traditions, and nuances, which are integral to mastering the language.

Natural Pronunciation: Listening to native speakers regularly improves your accent and intonation.

Strategies for Immersing Yourself in the Japanese Language

1. Live in Japan

The ultimate immersion experience is living in Japan. Being surrounded by the Japanese Language daily accelerates your learning process. Here’s how to make the most of your time:

Engage Locally: Participate in community activities, attend language exchange meetups, and interact with locals.

Work or Study: Enroll in a Japanese school or secure a job that requires you to use the Japanese Language regularly.

2. Create a Japanese Environment at Home

If living in Japan isn’t an option, you can still immerse yourself in the Japanese Language at home:

Watch Japanese Media: Stream Japanese movies, anime, or TV shows with subtitles to improve listening comprehension.

Listen to Japanese Podcasts and Music: Surround yourself with spoken Japanese during commutes or daily routines.

Set Your Devices to Japanese: Change the language settings on your phone, computer, and apps to practice daily.

3. Practice Speaking Daily

Speaking is a crucial aspect of mastering the Japanese Language. Practice daily by:

Joining Language Exchange Programs: Connect with native Japanese speakers online or in person to practice conversation.

Talking to Yourself: Narrate your day or describe what you see around you in Japanese to reinforce vocabulary.

Hire a Tutor: Work with a professional tutor who can provide feedback and guidance.

4. Immerse Through Reading and Writing

Read Japanese Books and Articles: Start with children’s books or manga and progress to newspapers and novels.

Write Daily: Keep a journal in Japanese to practice sentence structure and kanji.

Use Flashcards: Create flashcards for new words and phrases to reinforce memory.

5. Attend Immersion Events

Look for immersion-based programs or events that focus on the Japanese Language:

Language Retreats: Join intensive language programs that emphasize speaking and listening.

Cultural Workshops: Participate in workshops on Japanese cooking, calligraphy, or tea ceremonies to learn vocabulary related to these activities.

Overcoming Challenges in Japanese Language Immersion

Initial Overwhelm: It’s normal to feel overwhelmed at first. Start with manageable tasks, like learning 10 new words a day.

Consistency: Immersion requires consistent effort. Set aside dedicated time daily for your language practice.

Fear of Mistakes: Embrace mistakes as part of the learning process. The more you use the Japanese Language, the more confident you’ll become.

Combining Immersion with Structured Learning

While immersion is powerful, combining it with structured learning can enhance your progress. Consider enrolling in formal Japanese classes, using language apps, or studying textbooks alongside your immersion practices.

Conclusion

Mastering the Japanese Language through immersion techniques is an enriching way to achieve fluency. Whether you’re living in Japan or creating an immersive environment at home, consistency and active participation are key. By integrating these strategies into your daily routine, you can unlock the full potential of immersion and take your Japanese skills to new heights.

[maiega]

A Simple Guide to Learning Fusha Arabic

Learning Fusha Arabic can seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach, it becomes much more manageable. Fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic, is the formal language used in writing and formal speeches across the Arab world. Here are some practical steps to help you get started.

1. Immerse Yourself in the Language

Surround yourself with Arabic as much as possible. Listen to Arabic music, watch movies, or read books in Fusha. This exposure will help you get a feel for the sounds and structure of the language.

2. Use Quality Learning Resources

Choose resources that suit your learning style. Online platforms, like Kalimah Center, offer a variety of courses tailored for different levels. These resources can guide you through the fundamentals of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation in a structured manner.

3. Practice Regularly

Consistency is key. Try to dedicate a little time each day to practice. This can include writing sentences, speaking with a language partner, or even practicing pronunciation by reading aloud. The more you use the language, the more comfortable you'll become.

4. Engage with Native Speakers

Connecting with native speakers can greatly enhance your learning experience. Consider joining language exchange groups or online communities where you can practice conversational Fusha. This interaction helps you learn colloquial phrases and cultural nuances.

5. Set Realistic Goals

Set achievable milestones to keep yourself motivated. Instead of aiming to become fluent quickly, focus on small goals like learning a set number of new words each week or being able to hold a simple conversation.

By following these tips, you can navigate the process of learning Fusha Arabic with confidence. For more structured guidance and resources, be sure to check out Kalimah Center—a valuable tool for anyone looking to enhance their Arabic skills.