A Charcuterie of Certainties: Confidence Collated, Mastery in Reach

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rdearman
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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers: Planting Seeds for a Brighter Tomorrow

Postby rdearman » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:22 pm

Actually, I think V is probably the best of them.



But that is just my opinion, I don't really listen to the rest of them, and I didn't really listen to them as a group. :)
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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers: Planting Seeds for a Brighter Tomorrow

Postby eido » Sat Apr 01, 2023 8:18 pm

rdearman wrote:Actually, I think V is probably the best of them.
...
But that is just my opinion, I don't really listen to the rest of them, and I didn't really listen to them as a group. :)

V, in the group, was simultaneously in the beginning a very calming presence for his fellow members as well as a driving creative force that could at times come off as very bouncy and disorganized. The latter part of his nature is what he became known for in the first few years of the group's existence, and it's only been as the group has split up to do different things and take part in mandatory military service that he's embraced that calmer air and let more of that artistic side out in different ways - really, I'd say, in more mature, understated, and less underestimated ways.

I believe he still likes to take photos and post them to Instagram. I'm not going to search it up now, but there was a day on Google where the Google Doodle was entirely dedicated to BTS, and it explored their career through photos. I think V was one of if not the only member(s) to have his personal photos included in the collection; probably to showcase his love for the medium. So I think that's cool.

I don't really have a favorite member, and I always said my favorite was J-Hope when forced to choose because that was just the culture subscribed to by fans. But each member has his distinctive sound, and that's especially evident now. I listen to Jimin for his sensuality (not something I normally look for in an artist); I listen to RM for his reflective and sensitive lyrics; I listen to Jungkook for his melodic voice, and etc.

V always impressed me for how unapologetically "him" he came off, and maybe that's what you see, too, in his music. How did you stumble upon his solo stuff?

I'm constantly looking to expand my library of Korean-language music, so if you know of any good tunes, I'd be happy to take recommendations!

Here's a few more from me other people might enjoy:

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Re: April Showers Bring May Flowers: Planting Seeds for a Brighter Tomorrow

Postby eido » Sat Apr 22, 2023 2:22 pm

This weekend I managed to get some Spanish and Korean writing practice in. I made some stupid mistakes on the Spanish since I'm always in a hurry to get the journal entry complete and corrected (I mostly want to talk to people, not write out my thoughts - although that has its uses, too). I'm waiting to hear back on the bits of Korean I wrote.

I also studied a bit of Romanian, and took a look at a comparative grammar of French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish that had been recommended on this forum a while back and which I'd purchased.

Other than that, not much going on. I'm trying not to overwhelm myself, but make sure I stay in practice. Occasionally an article in Spanish will come up on my Google homepage and I'll click through to read it, but it has to be the right environment. Sometimes I think I have an attention disorder simply because, regardless of language, I tend to want to speed through these types of things. I click off stuff pretty fast if I'm on my phone, unless it's a niche interest or I'm exceptionally bored. It's gotten so bad in the past decade I can't sit still to read, but I never had a problem with it before; so, I think it's more down to having the right environs for study and concentration (for me, of course) than anything else.

On that note, I checked out some Esperanto and French books from the library and am looking to turn my focus there once again. With French, I would want to take a look at all varieties, as I do with virtually every language I come across. But I would pay particular attention, as I've mentioned in the past, to Québécois.

With that said, I do still have a wandering eye toward languages like Basque, Occitan, Japanese, and really, anything you could name. I enjoy the pleasure of learning. However...

Once I master a grammar system, I tend to drop the language since I see the intellectual challenge as conquered. But there's so much more to languages than just the grammar patterns... I really need to remember that. You may be wondering how I got as far with Spanish as I did, and knowing what I know about myself now? It seems like it never would've happened if I hadn't found this forum and had people tell me straight about their experiences and guide me along. So thank you.

I suppose that's it for this update. I'm sure I forgot some stuff, but what I've written here is the essentials :) Thanks for tuning in, and until next time, this has been me!
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Sun May 07, 2023 1:35 pm

So, after a few weeks since posting, I come back with good news! I managed to study quite a bit, a lot more than I have basically the whole year (and I'm counting since last May and perhaps prior). Because of my job, certain times of year are better for studying than others. So it's a waiting game.

However, I'm glad I got to do what I did in the past 2 weeks, which boiled down to studying not one, not 2, but 3 languages!

These languages were French, Korean, and Esperanto.

I own a lot of Korean grammar books as well as supplemental materials, and I picked up 3 the other day from a pile and just started reading the first in a series cover-to-cover. I'm almost done with this grammar book and plan to move on to the others in the series soon.

In addition to that, I went through a French (language) exercise book I got from the library and began to learn the key points of grammar over again as well as review words and discover new ones. It's a good book, and very simple to use, so I'm glad I checked it out :)

The Esperanto books I mentioned at the beginning of this log were still available at the library, so I checked them out again and just started reading like I had with the other languages on this list. One book had originally been published in 1907, so many people might not find its teachings as useful, but I love older vocabulary and styles of writing, so the blast from the past was a treat. I also visited an Esperanto learning website and covered several units from there.

I'd say my knowledge in these languages is progressing nicely. My next target is ASL, with maybe some Burmese, Romanian, Finnish, Occitan, Icelandic, Norwegian, etc. thrown in :lol: There are no limits when it comes to my curiosity and grammar-eating brain! :twisted:

It's Mother's Day in the US soon, so in honor of that, if you'd like to celebrate your mom somehow (but only if you'd like to), pop a confetti canon and offer your mum some flowers and the gift of her dreams for being awesome! 8-) See you all next post!
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Sat May 27, 2023 2:01 pm

Over the past couple of weeks I've studied the following:
  • Icelandic
  • Faroese
  • Korean and
  • Spanish
I've been on the up-and-up with these languages for the most part; however, as most people trying to learn Faroese can attest, pronunciation in this language is difficult. It sounds like people are trying to speak too fast for their tongues to catch up, thus making each individual sound mash into the other. But it's for this reason I find Faroese charming :) And a great, fun challenge.

I read at least 1 article a day in Spanish if cards are dealt right. Mostly I've been reading about movie releases, education, or literature. So my vocabulary and structure library has been expanding. Sometimes I watch videos, and it's my plan to watch a more diverse set of stuff than what I normally watch so I can gain exposure to that type of slang, manner, etc. I had a conversation session with a tutor and he said that compared to a year ago when I last had time to meet with him, my anxiety at speaking this language had virtually melted away. 8-)

Both Icelandic and Faroese are similar, both being closely-related Nordic languages, but I don't tend to put them in the same box. This is especially because I've been working with the former for longer. I love Icelandic so much. As I was working on it, I was reminded just how.

And finally, Korean: I've been practicing writing and listening, mostly. I found a few servers to join to practice writing, and I looked at one of @rdearman's recommendations for YT and watched a video there in addition to watching some other online courses.

BONUS: Conlanging! I know I've mentioned Esperanto, but I've also tried my hand recently at other artificial tongues such as Globasa, Toki Pona, and an East Asian auxlang, to name a few. I hope to dive deeper as more time becomes available to me.

See ya'll 'round! ;)
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby gsbod » Sat May 27, 2023 3:16 pm

Have you heard of the band Valravn? They were a kind of electro folk band with Björk-style vocals, and some of their songs are in Faroese.
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Thu Jun 22, 2023 8:47 pm

gsbod wrote:Have you heard of the band Valravn? They were a kind of electro folk band with Björk-style vocals, and some of their songs are in Faroese.

Nice! I'll have to check them out. Electro-folk sounds like just the combination of quirky and progressive (in terms of innovation in musicality) I'm looking for. Thanks for the recommendation! :)

Up until this week I've been doing the usual to maintain my languages, which is basically just reading articles from various news outlets on the 'Net. It's harder in Korean, so I have to read on Kids Dong-a, but it's getting easier--little by little.

This week, though, I really hit it hard on Cherokee. There's a lot to learn if you don't immediately catch on to the patterns (which, although I get them most times, sometimes I can be pretty dense). I love this language. It's so rich in culture and nuance (not that any other language isn't; this one is just different than any other I've studied). It's a real pleasure and privilege to be able to learn it.

I'm ramping up my study of French and Chinese as well. Hopefully I'll have time for all of this--I have other obligations that need my focus, as well. But these are all languages I need, or at least ones I've fallen in love with and am unwilling to let go of, so for the time being, I'll be a juggler :P

Thanks for reading my short update, and Happy Summer to all those in the Northern Hemisphere~
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Thu Jul 13, 2023 9:42 pm

Some of you may have seen my newest log for German and French, which introduces a newer, more focused me that wants to concentrate on those languages and stop fooling around for once.

However, I'm not going to abandon this log, because in between when I'm stuck in and hitting the books, I do like to play around. This is different from "fooling" around, and of course means that I don't want to drop the languages I study for fun. "All work and no play makes eido a droll canary," you know?

Anyway, I haven't had much of a chance to study any other languages in depth, but I am maintaining Spanish. I managed to pick up a book on Chinese grammar and flip through it. It wasn't much help - not that I didn't understand what it was trying to say; it just said it in a very awkward manner, such that it made it difficult to parse or enjoy. I get it, I get it. Language books are stereotypically dry and blasé. It would've been nice, though, to have a change of pace.

Motivation comes in fits and starts, but I've found over the years to just work with my personality and schedule as opposed to grinding against it and hating what I can't control. So this is a period of doing "little to nothing" but reading in Spanish is still something, and definitely a skill I wasn't as strong in when I joined this site. I'm now a fluent reader and can think in the language without much difficulty, so I have a lot of fun even if I'm not pursuing wanderlust.

Wanderlust is, I think, a learned habit of desirous scavenging and picking apart. It's acquired, not inborn. We see other language learners studying and rapidly gathering resources, struggling through multiple and compounded beginner's foibles over and over to reach "fluency" and claim victory. But we must remember why we came here. Was it necessity? Was it simple curiosity for just one tongue and its related culture? Perhaps we want our brain to stay young, or we are young and we don't know.

I've learned my lessons from wanderlust, and they vary in associations from negative to positive; however, on the whole, I enjoy surfing down the junkyard pile of collected knowledge and expanding the land of my business of poking my nose into new library shelves 'cross different worlds' libraries collections, thereby turning all the fresh greenery outside the bounds of the junk impound into roved-over and dissected, though well-loved, bobbles and bits. But, of course, exploring new places has taught me that there should be left some verdure for future generations, and I can't hog the Library of Alexandria to myself. ;)
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Sat Aug 05, 2023 12:30 pm

I'm happy to report that I have done some studying, though not much.

I realize I should probably be studying French and German, but my eyes have drifted back to Korean and Icelandic, as well as some other old favorites and some new contenders: Lithuanian and Armenian.

I'm getting pretty good (though I'm not perfect) at picking up a bilingual text or a grammar and deducing patterns that languages have. I'm in the business of knowing, and I make sure I know. ;) I let my curiosity run free, and it's great fun.

Lately I've taken stabs at reading the original The Little Mermaid in Danish ('Den lille havfrue'), short stories in Polish, some in Japanese and Icelandic, and the Bible in Korean. I really have fallen in love again with the idea of bilingual texts. They're so helpful, and gratifying, too.

I think when I have time to study this would be a really good method. I've never really tried it before, but it's proving to be decently effective in areas where I was deficient.

Anyway, that's all from me for now. If I think of something later, I'll be back, but I really should be studying. :lol: Happy August to everyone!
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Re: I Gotta Get a Message to You: Communicating in a Language Menagerie

Postby eido » Sun Aug 13, 2023 9:57 pm

So I really got into the Korean groove this week.

I went through level 1 of TTMIK again with their new course structure, even though I was about 98.5% certain on the grammar. I had an embarrassing italki lesson where I'd just reviewed the numbers and how to tell time, and the tutor asked me how to do just that - and I blanked. He wanted a quick answer (which, yes, has its merits), but numbers have always given me trouble and in Spanish, it was only years into studying it (i.e., within the past two of 12) that I finally felt able to do simple math and tell time in my brain. I could discuss politics and read Cervantes, but I couldn't do something most kindergartners have relatively mastered by the end of that grade :oops:

I'm shadowing Korean conversations from TTMIK and trying to read a few books I'd previously bought, but it's the vocabulary that's the problem at the moment for the most part. I've also found a cool number of channels, like that of 최수수, on YouTube.

I plan to really dig into this language when time allows in the coming months, but don't hold me to it... plans always seem to change with me. However, I've been learning Korean a long time now, and don't plan to give up no matter if there's no Hallyu wave to surf any longer. I love the language, culture, and country, and am still eager as ever to explore its world. It's so rich in history and beauty; there's no way I could stop.

I imagine other languages will make appearances from time to time, but I think doing the "spiraling" and switching after a decent amount of dedicated time toward one in particular should mitigate the effects of troublesome wanderlust. ;)

Ta-ta for now! See ya on the flip side :o
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