#rants about language

[languagestudymaterials]

Japanese writing style

and how it differs from English.

Have you ever wondered why reading Japanese texts is… difficult? And I’m not talking about kanji. I'm talking about...

Paragraph organization/structuring

Different cultures equal different ways of expressing thoughts, and the Japanese way of expressing thoughts is different from my native culture and English culture.

It's also worth noting that some cultures are reader-oriented and some are writer-oriented.

Read-oriented means that the author focuses on the reader and tries to compose a piece of text that is easy to consume, and easy to understand for the reader. This could refer to:

lack of sophisticated vocabulary

short sentences

short paragraphs

lots of examples

straightforward examples and lots of contexts

Writer-oriented means that the writer, it might sound harsh, is more focused on themselves. The writer through their composition tries to, in simple words, show off. Yes, the author tries to prove to the reader that they are a competent person and that they know what they are talking about, but they don't necessarily care if the reader will understand their text. They shift the responsibility of understanding the text to the reader. You can expect:

difficult vocabulary

wordy sentences

poor explanations

the author sort of assumes that the reader knows or has a similar knowledge level as the author

Of course, it also depends on the target audience, the field, and the purpose of the composition. Some texts are written by professionals for professionals, so the author can safely assume that their target audience will comprehend their work.

To learn more about this, get acquainted with high- and low-context cultures, a concept coined by Edward T. Hall.

High and low context refers to how a message is communicated. In high-context cultures, such as those found in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the physical context of the message carries a great deal of importance. People tend to be more indirect and expect the person they are communicating with to decode the implicit part of their message. While the person sending the message takes painstaking care in crafting the message, the person receiving the message is expected to read it within context. The message may lack the verbal directness you would expect in a low-context culture. In high-context cultures, body language is as important and sometimes more important than the actual words spoken. In contrast, in low-context cultures such as the United States and most Northern European countries, people tend to be explicit and direct in their communications. Satisfying individual needs is important. You’re probably familiar with some well-known low-context mottos: “Say what you mean” and “Don’t beat around the bush.” The guiding principle is to minimize the margins of misunderstanding or doubt. Low-context communication aspires to get straight to the point. (Source)

Now we know what may cause problems with understanding Japanese texts.

Let’s move to some basics: definitions and rules governing English paragraphs and Japanese paragraphs.

What is a paragraph?

Merriam-Webster defines a paragraph as

“a subdivision of a written composition that consists of one or more sentences, deals with one point or gives the words of one speaker, and begins on a new, usually indented line.”

Pretty straightforward, right? The most important part of this definition is that a paragraph in an English text contains ONE POINT/IDEA.

Japanese danraku

On the other hand, the definition of a Japanese paragraph (danraku) is not so clear. Kazumi Kimura and Masako Kondo of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies did research on that topic and what they managed to establish is that:

“The definition and functions of danraku are vague, and the requirements for danraku are not clearly stated in most composition textbooks.”

"According to Shinmura (2001), danraku is defined, as “a major division in a long passage"

"Matsumura (1999) also defines danraku as: a part of a long passage and a division group of the same content."

"In other dictionaries, no clearer definitions for danraku are found, either. Moreover, no book suggests the rules or requirements for danraku."

So, what’s the conclusion?

There are some rules and commonly accepted conventions governing English paragraphing, while the Japanese treat the idea of paragraphing in a more relaxed way. They don’t see it as a standard unit of text organization.

Japanese Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu Format

An interesting article.

Kishōtenketsu (起承転結) is how (most commonly) the Japanese structure their narratives. Why should you care? Because this pattern affects other types of narratives too!

Robyn Paterson explains what each syllable in the name stands for. Let’s take a look.

Ki – In this stage, we get a character and situation, and that character demonstrates a need, usually one based on a derivative of basic human needs.

Sho – The character makes a plan, and tries to follow a path they think will fill that need.

Ten – The character faces an obstacle to their plan, and must figure out how to overcome it.

Ketsu – The character is done facing the current obstacle(s) and now has either fulfilled their need or moved closer towards fulfilling it.

How is it different from the Western narratives, then?

Western narratives tend to write about conflicts. It is always about people struggling to win something, to become someone, to fight against someone. Stories usually start off with a problem, then the problem is followed by all the events and actions that should help solve the problem, and at the end, there’s “and they lived happily ever after.” Sounds familiar, right? Such an approach is reflected in more scientific writings too. Introduction, body, and conclusion. Rigid and organized pattern.

The Japanese way of writing stories is more about the interactions between living organisms. They don’t see the world as a constant battlefield. They see it as a cooperative system. Sure, there are conflicts, but the approach toward solving conflicts is also different.

That’s why the Japanese writing style may seem chaotic and random to us, Western people. In Japanese stories, there is no “thesis” or “problem statement” at the beginning. Japanese narratives and other writing styles are more relaxed and not problem-oriented.

I sometimes think that Japanese people just write whatever comes to their minds, but that’s just my conclusion.

Robyn Peterson summarized the differences in two short statements, and they are great!

American story – Man conquers outer space. Japanese story – Man finds his place in outer space.

Japanese paragraphs

Kazumi Kimura and Masako Kondo carried out research in which they analyzed English essays written by Japanese students. While the research focuses on English essays and the goal here is to help English teachers teach better writing to Japanese students, the two authors pinpointed some features of Japanese paragraph structure.

A Japanese writer’s interest is in decorating with an emphasis on surface effects to move readers rather than that in presenting a message or information clearly.

The purpose of writing is often different between the two languages (English and Japanese).

Japanese essay writers generally aim to move their readers, and they are not concerned about how to clearly convey information as English writers are.

Kinoshita’s (1981) observes that ‘most Japanese writers may end a paragraph because they think they have written a lot in a paragraph’ (p. 61).

A writer can put more than two main ideas in one danraku because the strict organization of a topic sentence and a supporting sentence is not required.

They [the Japanese] organize paragraphs as they would for danraku, without any logical combination of a topic sentence and supporting sentences. They also often place more than two main ideas in one paragraph because in danraku that is possible.

Japanese writers tend not to pay attention to stating a clear topic sentence which is followed by appropriate supporting sentences. Therefore, Japanese students should realize that danraku and paragraphs are not identical, and they should not write English in a danraku style.

During the research, one of the common problems was that more than a few students wrote their English essays only in one paragraph, and such paragraphs contained many different ideas.

The second problem was that two topic sentences sometimes appeared in one paragraph and different ideas were discussed.

The third problem was that a topic sentence was often absent from many paragraphs.

Japanese writing style lacks conjunctions and connectives. They separate thoughts with commas, and that feature bleeds into English texts as well.

(I haven’t changed the wording. The original is the same)

These are just basic differences! However, I feel like reading Japanese articles will be much easier from now on: I know the features and I know what to expect.

An interesting article on the topic here. It also tackles the conventions of spoken Japanese and argument organization.

References

“Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu- a Japanese way to structure your stories. | RobynPaterson.com.” Site. August 06, 2020. Publisher, Web. August 06, 2020. (website no longer exists)

“Effective writing instruction: From Japanese danraku to English paragraphs.” Site. August 06, 2020. Publisher, Web. August 06, 2020. 

“Publications - Do Asian authors have a different style of academic writing from European authors? - Academia Stack Exchange.” $site. August 06, 2020. Publisher, Web. August 06, 2020. 

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[mssoapart]

Day 7

Free-day (Out of order and late) Alenoah as Sherlock/Moriarty.

I like it when two characters play mind games and scheming against or with each other.

I didn`t plan to create an AU, but – my rant and bits of literature/character analysis (The Vision). Also, draw concept sketch.

Noah (Detective Sherlock Holmes). I mean, they're both geniuses, introverts who don't care about social opinion and some versions depicted him as being good with dogs. In Victorian England, I totally see Noah opening a detective agency, because you either go working on a plant or you might use your geniuses’ intelligence to solve crimes, like game puzzles, and make monies to pay bills and buy new books because in 1800 many books were expensive and produced in small quantities.

Plus! I might look at this too far, but I think the Sherlock and Watson analogy was implemented in London episode when they strip team Chris just to Noah and Owen for investigation.

Owen (Dr. Watson). Basically in the original books, Watson plays the role of the guy, your typical visual novel MC, well narrator, who has character, but his whole purpose is just to be a witness to detectives doing, asking questions for the audience. This leads to usually representing Watson as either annoyed with Sherlock's antics or (usually in kids' media) naïve but with good intentions because of this simplification, to show his kindhearted nature in cartoons and caricatures he is portrayed as chubby, which is what we need! But all of them did service in the Anglo-Afghan War, even Disney version mentioned it. (Also if you want to do Nowen version of Jhonlock I don`t mind, sure go for it)

Alejandro (professor Moriarty). Do I really need to explain? Both archvillains in their stories. Professor, respected in society for his talent and achievements, wealthy, but behind all of that façade he`s "Napoleon of crime". He doesn’t usually do crimes himself but rather, schemes, orchestrates the events, or provides the plans that will lead to a successful crime, like paying money to a court so that someone can be released from prison.

Heather (Irene Adler). OK, in the original books (all books written not by Arthur Conan Doyle are basically fanfics) her character and Sherlock don`t date (But if you like, it`s fine). She was more like “I know what you are” towards him.  I want to base it more on Warner Bros Sherlock where Irene works with Moriarty, but they also try to get rid of each other. She is also famous for blackmailing royals, If it isn`t most Heather thing I don`t know what is.

Eva (Mrs. Hudson). The landlady. I think it would be funny, she yelling at them to pay their bills in time.

See you next week

[90stvqueen]

when i was 11 and first got obsessed with wicked, i had no idea i was shipping these two women. which is insane because i'd already been reading fanfiction for years at that point. but with elphaba and galinda it was "their friendship is so beautiful and meaningful..." and it honestly wasn't until adulthood that i was like "...and also they lez out like crazy"

[omrarchive]

i was looking at episode 2 for my simon gif series and i came across this small moment:

and i just had to make a separate post to talk about it because simon is so painfully endearing here. he just told his friends that he has bigger dreams than staying in his bjärstad forever, and you can tell he feels out of place when the awkward silence follows and his friends react in a way he wasn't really expecting. simon has a very selfless, kind and pure heart, and it's clear that he really values the opinion of the people he loves - seeing him feel down or inadequate when he believes he's "disappointing" them is just like a kick in the guts because my son my baby you're perfect and good and good enough. and it's okay to have your own dreams and be your own person, you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. it's such a small moment but i think it really shows a lot of who simon is

[touchyluffy]

part one

In the days it takes you to heal from your injuries, Luffy comes to your bedroom to sleep next to you every night. He does try, the night after the first, to sleep in his own bedroom but he can't. Usually sleep comes easy to him, especially after a long day of adventure but not now. He closes his eyes, trying to think of your wounds healing, your soft breathing, your warm hand holding his, but he can't fall asleep. He huffs in irritation and rises from his bed, sulking across the ship to knock on your bedroom door and opening it slowly. You put down your book, you were also struggling to sleep, and open the covers for him. You smile at each other as he excitedly hops into your bed.

And so it becomes routine for you two. Even as your injuries heal completely, as the sunsets and the crew walks off to their separate bedrooms, Luffy follows you into yours and you let him. It becomes normal to roll over in the middle of the night and snuggle into his warm body, to wake up in the morning with his arm wrapped around you, to feel him pull you closer in his sleep, to giggle at his sleep-talking, to hear your name in his mumblings. You offer to let him keep his toothbrush and some clothes in your room, he accepts.

Sleeping together becomes so routine that you have trouble sleeping without him. There were times when you two would be separated by a foe that Luffy challenged and each night you would stay awake staring at his side of the bed, worry clouding your mind and making it impossible to sleep and eventually when Luffy defeated the foe, he would be covered in bandages and it was your turn to listen to his soft, even breathing as he slept. There were times when you be working late into the night and he would come find you, curling up on the floor next to you to sleep in your presence until you eventually finish and drag him back to your bed so you can both sleep comfortably. There were times when you would get angry at him for putting the crew in danger with his recklessness and you'd slammed your bedroom door in his face and toss and turn, your anger at him turning into desperation for him to just come to bed already, eventually you get up to find him and as you open your bedroom door, Luffy's sleeping frame falls on your legs. He'd been sleeping against your door. Smiling you pull his rubbery body into bed and cuddle up next to him, his heartbeat your lullaby. He smiles in his sleep and his arms come up around you. Whenever he's missing his hat or sandals, you find them by your bed.

This new routine of you and your captain sleeping together left your other crewmates with their mouths on the floor several times. They still hadn't gotten used to you two waving goodnight and walking into the same bedroom. When they would ask, you tried to explain but there really wasn't anything to explain. You and their captain couldn't sleep unless you slept together. That's all, why do they always stare at you in such surprise when you say that? Their shocked faces didn't discourage you both into cuddling up to each other at night, finding relaxation, warmth, safety, and comfort in each others arms. What was once your space becomes "our bedroom", "our closet", "our bathroom".

[hijinxinprogress]

The JL keeps trying to stop Captain Marvel from talking to the media (and it’s not working)

The jl held a meeting about marvel’s conduct with cops bc he got a little too excited and suplexed a cop completely fucking forgetting he’s a 7ft buff ass man (the video goes viral for months) and the press is having a fucking field day with this bc ‘Captain Marvel Hates The Government!’ ‘Justice League Member, Captain Marvel, Shows His True Colors…?’ ‘Fawcett Superhero Attacks Civilian!’ ‘Captain Marvel Sends Police Officer to ICU!’ ‘Philadelphia Hero Puts Public Servant In Coma’ and shit like that is on the front page of every newspaper, magazine, and tabloid for the next eight months at least

so they’re like ‘hey you gotta say something! The people think you hate the us government esp the police!’ and he’s just sitting there confused before he says very slowly and clearly ‘But I do…I fucking despise them’

Barry and Hal are fucking losing it bc this is the guy that says ‘darn!’ in the heat of battle and has said on multiple occasions ‘Well, that’s not very nice, now is it?’ to opponents that destroy worlds for fun

like this guy still tries very hard not to make faces at the broccoli on his plate in front of the jl (and fails)

this guy hears a yj member or even the very adult titans cussing and going on the longest rant bc ‘I’ve not heard such foul language in all my years-!’ and what’s this ‘‘I’m an adult’ nonsense?? I’m older than Ravens grandfather 🤨 When you get to be my age-’

they’re all so pissed when they hear him cussing like a sailor playing video games on cyborgs phone the next day and he’s playing fucking temple run at that

[marzipanandminutiae]

I miss people using non-medicalized terms for other people's passions

like. well and good to talk about "hyperfixations," "special interests [in the context of an autistic person's favorite subject]," or "infodumping" if you have ADD/ADHD or autism, or are talking about someone who is, but...that's not everyone who feels strongly about something, obsesses, or loves talking about their interests. those words mean specific things, associated with specific forms of neurodivergence

don't assume everyone is comfortable with that language

"rambling" is a word; so is "ranting." "obsession" is a word. "passion" is a word. learn them and use them

[royalarchivist]

[A sad violin song plays over an image of a sad hamster]

Pac: This doesn't have anything to do with me – I wear a blue sweatshirt, you're crazy, this mouse doesn't even have a sweatshirt, this hamster! [Reading chat] Am I a depressed hamster?

[ Transcript continued ↓ ]*

–

Pac: Actually– that's fine! I embrace that idea – of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy? [He hits his desk, then starts counting off people on his fingers] Fit is gone, Richarlyson is gone, Ramon is gone, Bagi and Empanada who were always there when we were there are also gone, I haven't seen them! It's just me and Tubbo, and sometimes Philza shows up.

Pac: I lost Chume Labs, I lost the Favela, I lost Murder Mystery, I lost Ilha Chume Labs, it's crazy! Look at how much I've lost, and I've gained nothing! Of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy?! How am I supposed to be happy?!

Pac: [Reading chat] "You have us Pac," that's true, thank you. No, that's true, sorry.

* NOTE: Please note that this is an incomplete transcript, as I was primarily relying on Aypierre's translation mod at the time and if I am not confident of the translation, I do not include it. As always, please feel free to add on translations or message me corrections.

[meichenxi]

UK accent bias, discrimination, minority languages and the question of the 'default, normal' english speaker

today I came across something overtly that is usually a covert problem, and I wanted to take a chance to talk about the questions it raises about what it means to be 'normal' and speak 'normal english' in an anglocentric, global world.

let's start at the beginning. I was aimlessly googling around and came across this article, discussing ergodic literature:

I hope that you will see what angered me right away, but if not:

brogue? inaccessible, insufferable brogue? that is so difficult to read you might want to relieve your frustrations by harming a housepet, or striking a loved one?

what????? the fuck??????

my dearly beloathed. this is not a made up sci-fi language. this was not written for your convenience.

this is the glaswegian dialect.

this is how it is written. scots, which is very similar to this, is a language whose speakers have been systematically taught to change and hide and modify their speech, to not speak it in the classroom, to conform. this is NOT comparable to any of the made-up dialects or ways of writing in cloud atlas or any other specularative fiction. the suggestion of ir is deeply insulting.

(the line between various 'dialects' and 'languages' I speak about here is by definition sometimes political, sometimes arbitrary, and often very thin. what goes for the glaswegian dialect here in terms of discrimination goes for scots in general - which is, in fact, even more 'inaccessible' than glaswegian because it has a greater quantity of non-english and therefore non-'familiar' words. speakers of different englishes will face more or less discrimination in different circumstances. caveat over.)

you can find it on twitter, in books, in poetry; and more than that, on the streets and in living rooms, in places that this kind of england-first discrimination hasn't totally eradicated.

an imporant note - this book in question is called Naw Much of a Talker, and it was written originally in Swiss-German and then translated into Glaswegian to preserve similar themes and questions of language and identity. rather than detracting from anything I'm saying, I think the fact this is a translated piece of fiction adds to it - it has literally been translated so it is more accessible, and the article writer did not even realise. it also highlights the fact as well that these are questions which exist across the globe, across multiple languages, of the constant tension everywhere between the 'correct' high language and the 'incorrect, backward' 'low' language or dialect. these are all interesting questions, and someone else can tackle them about german and swiss german -

but I am going to talk today about scots and english, because that is how the writer of this article engaged with this piece and that is the basis upon which they called it 'insufferable brogue', the prejudice they have revealed about scots is what I want to address.

so here, today, in this post: let's talk about it. what is 'normal' english, why is that a political question, and why should we care?

as we begin, so we're all on the same page, I would like to remind everyone that england is not the only country in the united kingdom, and that the native languages of the united kingdom do not only include english, but also:

scots

ulster scots (thank you @la-galaxie-langblr for the correction here!!)

scottish gaelic

welsh

british sign language

irish

anglo-romani

cornish

shelta

irish sign language

manx

northern ireland sign language

and others I have likely forgotten

there are also countless rich, beautiful dialects (the distinction between dialect and language is entirely political, so take this description with a pinch of salt if you're outside of these speaker communities), all with their own words and histories and all of them, yes all of them, are deserving of respect.

and there are hundreds and thousands of common immigrant languages, of languages from the empire, and of englishes across the globe that might sound 'funny' to you, but I want you to fucking think before you mock the man from the call centre: why does india speak english in the first place? before mocking him, think about that.

because it's political. it's ALL political. it's historical, and it's rooted in empire and colonialism and all you need to do is take one look at how we talk about Black language or languages of a colonised country to see that, AAVE or in the UK, multi-cultural london english, or further afield - the englishes of jamaica, kenya, india. all vestiges of empire, and all marked and prejudiced against as 'unintelligent' or lesser in some way.

and closer to home - the systematic eradication and 'englishification' of the celtic languages. how many people scottish gaelic now? cornish? manx? how many people speak welsh? and even within 'english' itself - how many people from a country or rural or very urban or immigrant or working class or queer background are discriminated against, because of their english? why do you think that is?

if you think that language isn't political, then you have likely never encountered discrimination based on how you, your friends, or your family speak.

you are speaking from a position of privilege.

'but it's not formal' 'but it's not fit for the classroom' 'but it sounds silly'. you sound silly, amy. I have a stereotypically 'posh' english accent, and I can tell you for a fact: when I go to scotland to visit my family, they think I sound silly too. but in the same way as 'reverse racism' isn't a fucking thing - the difference is that it's not systemic. when I wanted to learn gaelic, my grandmother - who speaks gaelic as her own native language - told me, no, you shouldn't do that. you're an english girl. why would you want to learn a backward language like gaelic?

discrimination against non-'english' englishes is pervasive, systematic and insidious.

it is not the same as being laughed at for being 'posh'. (there's more about class and in-group sociolinguistics here, but that's for another post)

and who told you this? where is this information from? why do you think an 'essex girl' accent sounds uneducated? why do you think a northern accent sound 'honest' and 'salt of the earth'? what relationship does that have with class? why does a standard southern british english sound educated and 'intelligent'? who is in charge? who speaks on your television? whose words and accents do you hear again and again, making your policies, shaping your future? who speaks over you?

think about that, please.

and before anyone says: this is so true except for X lol - I am talking about exactly that dialect. I am talking about that accent you are mocking. I am talking about brummie english, which you think sounds funny. I'm talking about old men in the west country who you think sound like pirates, arrrrr.

(actually, pirates sound like the west country. where do you the 'pirate accent' came from? devon was the heart of smuggling country in the uk.)

so. to this person who equated a book written in scots, a minority and marginalised language, to being 'insufferable, inaccessible brogue':

and also to anyone who is from the UK, anyone who is a native english speaker, and anyone abroad, but especially those of you who think your english is 'natural', who have never had to think about it, who have never had to code-switch, who have never had to change how they sound to fit in:

it might be difficult to read - for you. it might be strange and othering - to you.

but what is 'inaccessible' to you is the way that my family speaks - your english might be 'inaccessible' to them. so why does your 'inaccessible' seem to weigh more than theirs?

and why does it bother you, that you can't understand it easily in the first go? because you have to try? or because perhaps, just perhaps, dearly beloathed author of this article, after being catered to your entire life and shown your language on screen, constantly - you are finally confronted by something that isn't written for you.

and for the non-uk people reading this. I would like you to think very carefully about what a 'british accent' means to you.

there is no such thing. let me say it louder:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BRITISH ACCENT

there are a collection of accents and languages and dialects, each with different associations and stereotypes. the clever aristocrat, the honest farmer, the deceitful *racial slur*. there are accents, languages and dialects that you hear more than others because of political reasons, and there are accents, languages and dialects which are more common than others because of discrimination, violence and the path of history.

if you say 'british accent', we - in the UK - don't know exactly what you mean. much more than the US, because the english-speaking people have been here longer, we have incredibly different accents just fifty miles away from one another.

but we can guess. you probably don't mean my grandmother's second-language english - even though, by american conversations about race, she is the whitest person you could possibly find. you don't mean my brother, who sounds like a farmer.

you mean my accent. tom hiddleston's accent. benedict cumberbatch. dame judy dench. sir ian mckellen. and they are all wonderful people - but what sort of people are they, exactly? what sort of things do they have in common? why is it that you associate their way of speaking with all of the charming eloquence of 'dark academia' or high levels of education, and my family's english with being 'backward' or 'country bumpkins' or 'uneducated' or, more insidiously, 'salt-of-the-earth good honest folk'?

we are an old country with old prejudices and old classes and old oppression and old discrimination and old hate. my brother speaks with a 'farmer' west country accent; my aunt with a strong doric accent that most english people cannot understand; my father with a mockable birmingham accent; my grandmother with a gaelic accent, because despite the fact that she is from the UK, as scottish as you can get, english is not her first language.

these people exist. my grandmother is a real person, and she is not a dying relic of a forgotten time. her gaelic is not something to drool over in your outlander or braveheart or brave-fuelled scottish romanticism, the purity and goodness of the 'celt' - but there are fewer people like her now. and I would like to invite everyone to think about why that is the case.

if you don't know, you can educate yourself - look up the highland clearances, for a start, or look at the lives of anglo-romani speakers in the UK and the discrimination they face, or irish speakers in northern ireland. like many places, we are a country that has turned inward upon itself. there will always be an 'other'.

and then there's me. raised in southern england and well-educated and, however you want to call it, 'posh'. so why is it that it is my voice, and not theirs, which is considered typically british all over the world?

I think you can probably figure out that one by yourself.

when you talk about the 'british accent', this is doing one of two things. it's serving to perpetuate the myth that the only part of the UK is england, rather than four countries, and the harmful idea that it is only england in the UK that matters. (and only a certain type of people in england, at that.)

secondly, it serves to amalgamate all of the languages and accents and dialects - native or poor or immigrant or colonial - into one, erasing not only their history and importance, but even their very existence.

dearly beloathed person on the internet. I have no idea who you are. but the language scots exists. I'm sorry it's not convenient for you.

but before I go, I would like to take a moment to marvel. 'insufferable, inaccessible brogue'? what assumptions there are, behind your words!

is it 'insufferable' to want to write a story in the language you were raised in? is it 'inaccessible' to want to write a story in the shared language of your own community?

I don't think it is.

I think it takes a special sort of privilege and entitlement to assume that - the same one that assumes whiteness and Americanness and Englishness and able-bodiedness and cisness and maleness and straightness as being the 'standard' human experience, and every single other trait as being a deviance from that, an othering. that's the same entitlement that will describe Turning Red as a story about the chinese experience - but not talk about how Toy Story is a story about the white american middle class experience.

people do not exist for your ease of reading. they do not exist to be 'accessible'. and - what a strange thing, english reader, to assume all books are written for you, at all.

and despite the fact that the text that prompted this was written by one group of white people, translated into the language of another group, and critiqued by a third - this is a conversation about racism too, because it is the same sort of thinking and pervasive stereotyping which goes into how white people and spaces view Black language and language of people of colour around the world. it's about colonialism and it's about slavery and it's aboutsegregation and othering and the immigrant experience and it's about the history of britain - and my god, isn't that a violent one. it's inseparable from it. language is a tool to signify belonging, to shut people out and lock people in. it's a tool used to enforce that othering and discrimination and hate on a systemic level, because it says - I'm different from you. you're different from me. this post is focusing more on the native languages of the UK, but any question of 'correct language' must inevitably talk about racism too, because language is and has always been a signifier of group belonging, and a way to enforce power.

it is used to gatekeep, to enforce conformity, to control, to signify belonging to a particular group, to other. talking about language 'correctness' is NOT and never CAN be a neutral thing.

it reminds me of a quote, and I heard this second hand on twitter and for the life of me cannot remember who said it or exactly how it goes, but the gist of it was a queer writer addressing comments saying how 'universal' their book was, and saying - no, this is a queer book. if you want to find themes and moments in it that are applicable to your 'default' life, 'universals' of emotion and experience, go ahead. but I have had to translate things from the norm my entire life, to make them relatable for me. this time, you do the translation.

I do not speak or write scots or glaswegian, but I grew up reading it and listening to it (as well as doric and gaelic in smaller measures, which are still familiar to me but which I can understand less). for me, that passage is almost as easy to read as english - and the only reason it is slightly more difficult is because, predictably, I don't have a chance to practice reading scots very often at all. it isn't inaccessible to me.

(I was about to write: can you imagine looking at a book written in french, and scowling, saying, 'this is so insufferably foreign!' and then point out how ridiculous that would be. but then I realise - foreign film, cinema, lyrics increasingly in english, reluctance to read the subtitles, the footnotes, to look things up, to engage in any active way in any piece of media. this is an attitude which even in its most mockable, most caricature-like form, is extremely prevalent online. *deep sigh*)

because. what is 'inaccessible'? it means it is difficult for people who are 'normal'. and what is 'normal', exactly? why is a certain class of people the 'default'? could that be, perhaps, a question with very loaded and very extensive political, social and historical answers? who is making the judgement about what language is 'normal'? who gets to decide?

I'd also like to note that this applies to everyone. it doesn't matter if you are a member of an oppressed group, or five, or none, you can still engage in this kind of discrimination and stereotyping. my scottish family, who have themselves had to change the way they speak and many of them lost their gaelic because of it, routinely mock anglo-romani speakers in their local area. I have an indian friend, herself speaking english because of a history of violence and colonialism, who laughed for five minutes at the beginning of derry girls because the girls sounded so 'funny', and asked me: why did they choose to speak like that? my brother, who sounds very stereotypically rural and 'uneducated', laughs at the essex accent and says that he would never date a girl from essex. I had a classmate from wales who was passionate about welsh language rights and indigenous and minority language education but also made fun of the accent of her native-english speaking classmate from singapore. it goes on and on and on.

take the dialect/language question out of the topic, and I think this reveals a much broader problem with a lot of conversations about media, and the implicit assumptions of what being 'normal' [read: white, anglo-centric, american, male, straight, young, able-bodied, cis, etc] actually means:

if something is written about an experience I do not share, is it inaccessible? or is it just written for someone else?

so, please. next time you want to write a review about a dialect or language you don't speak, think a little before you open your mouth.

the rest of the world has to, every time.

[parkakeet]

I grew up thinking that the way I spoke was normal. the 'correct way' and then I moved, and all the sudden people start correcting the way I talk. 'stop dropping words' 'stop talking lazy' 'I can't understand you when you do that'

except 'talking lazy' is wrong now. I have to say 'speaking lazily'

because apparently it matters, even if you understood me, that I speak the way you speak.

and suddenly I realize that when I talk with my dad and when I talk with the batista at the Cafe. I'm speaking differently.

cause dad says, 'oil needs changed on my car' and I say to my roommate, 'my car's oil needs to be changed'

and I try not to talk lazy cause, talking lazy gets you mocked.

cause apparently you can't understand me if my vowels get a little fuzzy and I say 'it's helling outside' instead of 'it's hailing outside'

I want you to listen to my grandpa speak. because already from him to my dad to me, we speak more like you. but my grandpa still says 'tuesdee' and 'kai-yote' and 'bachry', and I'll understand and understand and understand till he dies.

I'm not putting my damn voice up for debate. understand. or don't fucking talk to me.

[languagestudymaterials]

Pre-translation text analysis and language learning

based on Katherina Reiss’ and Christine Nord’s translation theories

I had always regarded science as a universal and believed there are no differences in science at all between countries. But I was wrong. People with different cultures think in different ways, and therefore their science also may well be different. (Motokawa 1989, p. 489)

This quote resonates with me a lot! It highlights the impact of culture on our use of language; how we express ideas and document them. Being aware of the variations in styles—whether in writing or speaking—and genres can significantly accelerate the learning journey, enabling us to acquire a more authentic command of English or any other language we're studying.

This post will guide you on how to compare two languages, including where to begin and what details to consider.

Pre-translation text analysis 

Pre-translation text analysis involves examining the source text before translating it to ensure accuracy, clarity, and consistency. This process helps identify potential issues such as ambiguous terms, cultural references, technical jargon, or complex sentence structures. Such analysis can help translators produce a more accurate and contextually appropriate translation. 

In simple words, you pinpoint characteristic features of a text. 

I already made such an analysis in this post - I analyzed the Japanese writing style and tried to determine how it differs from the English style. 

More on that here

How will that help me learn a language then? 

In short, it will help you:

Improve your understanding of the target language. By that, I mean identifying grammar points, difficult or unusual vocabulary, or complex sentence structures.

Identify challenges. Once you’re done analyzing the language layer, you can highlight challenging points, allowing yourself to focus on specific language challenges. 

Build cultural awareness. It helps recognize cultural nuances in the text, which improves the ability to use language in context.

How do I start such an analysis? 

According to Katherina Reiss and Christine Nord, German linguists and translators, you can start off with determining:

extralinguistic factors of a text. 

intralinguistic factors of a text.

Extra means that something “comes from the outside” and linguistic refers to language. You’re looking for features that aren’t related to the language itself (elements from outside the text). This means that you want to determine:

Function. What is the text trying to say/convey? Authors have intentions. Texts are written for a reason. What is the text’s function in its source culture? To inform, to evoke emotions, to educate, to entertain? 

The recipient. Who is the target reader/audience? Doctors, teenagers, politicians? Depending on the target audience, the language will differ as well (different vocabulary, syntax, register, and so on).

Time and place of reception/publication. It might seem unimportant, but if the text was published 30 years ago, it would give a rough idea about the language conventions and standards prevailing at that time.

Medium. Was it a book? Was it a magazine? Was it displayed on a screen? A medium can affect language too. What if there was not enough space and the text had to be shortened. We don’t think about it on a daily basis. Still, when we communicate in the online world, we use ungrammatical language, and we compose short messages (often omitting words because they are clear from the context).

Intra means “inside,” so we need to analyze the language itself. Try to answer these:

What is the text about? What is the subject matter of the text? Does it require any special terminology or background knowledge?

How is the text organized? Chapters, subchapters, paragraphs, layout, any characteristic features that seem off to you because in your culture you don’t do that. Any visual features.

How would you characterize the vocabulary? (technical, jargonistic or colloquial, are there collocations, idioms, keywords, words chosen for particular effects, lots of acronyms or abbreviations, neologisms, particular lexical fields, examples of regional or social variation)

What are the features of the sentence structure? (long or short sentences, simple or complex ones)

How would you characterize the style? (Journalistic, rambling, colloquial, smart, etc.)?

What about grammar? What tenses are used in the text? Any other grammar structures? What about punctuation?

Example

it’s a fake memo

Let’s start with extralinguistic factors first

Function ⇒ providing information. The memo's primary purpose is to provide important logistical information about the parking lot's temporary unavailability. Employees are expected to adjust their parking arrangements based on this information, so the text is practical and prompts immediate action.

The recipient ⇒ Employees. The memo is directed at all workers in the organization who typically use the parking lot.

Time and place of reception ⇒ in this case, this information is unimportant because it’s a very fresh memo.

Medium ⇒ e-mail message. It could also be printed out and pinned on the notice board in the office.  

Intralinguistic factors up next: 

Clarity and simplicity: The language is straightforward, using simple vocabulary and short sentences to ensure that all employees, regardless of their role or education level, can easily understand the message.

Formal tone: The memo uses a professional tone, as it is an internal communication addressing all employees.

It avoids technical jargon, ensuring it applies to all employees, from administrative workers to maintenance staff.

It’s brief, focusing only on necessary details—dates, alternative parking, and an apology for the inconvenience (no necessary explanations, they don't need to know why the parking lot will be maintained).

Now you know how to write a short memo to all employees informing them about an important issue. 

You can go even deeper, and analyze grammar structures as well - is the memo written in passive voice or active voice? Are there any conjunctions? What about modal verbs or conditional sentences? Are there any words that can be substituted with simpler words (vehicles ⇒ cars).

If your language intuition is already sharp, then you won’t need to go that deep, you will take a look at the memo and intuitively know how to recreate it. However, if you struggle, you can look for examples online, perform the analysis, and then write your own memo. 

In this article, you can also find some tips on how to write business letters/memos.  

References:

Wytrębowicz, J. (2009). O poprawności językowej publikacji naukowo-technicznych. Zagadnienia Naukozanwstwa. Kemp, A. (2007, May). University of Central Florida. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from Electronic Theses and Dissertations: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/3223

Tabakowska, E. (1999). O przekładzie na przykładzie. Kraków: Znak.

http://www.tree-genie.co.uk/Translation/Analysing%20your%20Source%20Text.pdf

Reiss, K. (2000). “Type, Kind and Individuality of Text, Decision making in translation.” In L. Ventui, The Translation Studies Reader .Routledge.

Sawaki, T. (2016). Analyzing Structure in Academic Writing. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Motokawa, Tatsuo. “Sushi Science and Hamburger Science.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 32 no. 4, 1989, p. 489-504. Project MUSE, HYPERLINK “http://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.1989.0023” doi:10.1353/pbm.1989.0023 .

“High-Context Culture: Definition & Examples.” Study.com, 21 May 2015, study.com/academy/lesson/high-context-culture-definition-examples-quiz.html

[ganondoodle]

with every thing i learn about what the directors of totk said in interviews it all just gets worse huh?

the thing about the shiekah tech just vanishing and nobody caring enough to look into it was already rough and now i learn they said that -after botw zelda wondered if hyrule as a kingdom was still needed but then totk happens- just sounds like she wondered if hyrule as a kingdom still needed to exist in the way it had been (which would be an interesting change for once and also make sense for her character) and then they took her back into the distant past with the super good guy king of a godly race to teach her the lesson what her place is and that yes, their monarchy needed and good and really given to her by "gods" and what if big evil black man shows up again

i dont have the energy to get into it further but needed to say soemthing about it bc it keeps bothering me :(

[anghraine]

It feels extremely silly that only today did I realize that pantry and panadería are slightly similar-sounding for a reason >_>

(The English word pantry is one of the many, many common modern English words derived from Anglo-French: in this case, panetrie, from Old French paneterie, "bread room" ... Spanish panadería also has a complex etymology, but all are related to Latin panis, "bread.")

[they-didnt-last]

anyone interested in talking about the iconic 2000's middle-grade-bordering-on-ya book series gallagher girls??

[initialcellar]

I have a lot of beef with the Empyrean series (only Fourth Wing and Iron Flame so far cause I'm waiting for the audiobook to drop), but my BIGGEST pet peeve the way Rebecca Yarros describes sign language.

Sign language is so beautiful because it's not just "a language of hands flying around," it is a language that is completely based on you showing the other person what is going on through your entire body. That means hands, facial expressions, lips, moving your body around.

Have you ever tried showing the layout of your kitchen in sign? Cause I have. It is fucking difficult, I can tell you that. You have to remember that space, then choose a corner to start describing it from, remember that corner, then go around the perimeter, paint the picture of the first object, then figure out how to show that something is on top or nearby that object, and literally paint a picture in the air as though you're in an acting class and having to use your imagination instead of actual objects.

My sign language teachers (they are all deaf, by the way) are some of the most expressive people I have ever seen, and my writer soul keeps trying to find the words to convey the way they communicate because it is truly fascinating. I once asked one of the teachers how old she is, and she frowned, made a contemplative face, and then went on to sign, "I don't remember, it was a long time since I checked, I'm gonna have to see later." And that's hilarious, actually???

Another time, one of my classmates said she doesn't have any weekends because she's working all day, every day, and the same teacher paused, her lips tightened, she side-eyed her slightly, her eyes went a bit wider, and she put one finger on her cheeks and drew tears on her cheeks.

Also, when we learned about parts of deaf culture (at least in my country), we found out that it allows you to point fingers at someone, even though hearing people consider it rude. It also allows you to tap on the person's forearm to get their attention. It is also considered rude to look away when someone is singing at you because it is equal to a person covering their ears when you're speaking to them. It's also expected to tell a deaf person when something makes a noise (if it's necessary), like a phone buzzing, and you have to check it out; because they can't hear it. And don't even get me started on sign names.

There are so many ways to describe sign language, just like how there are many ways to describe spoken language. But if in spoken languages we describe voices and speech, in sign we describe facial expressions and hand/body gestures.

"His voice became cold, cutting her off in the middle of a sentence with a stern, low 'no'."

"His brows furrowed in disapproval, his eyes darkened, and his hand cut the air with a sharp 'no', interrupting her speech."

Anyway, this has been a sign language appreciation post because I have an exam in a week, and I'm anxious about it, but I have also grown to love the language.