The iguana's tale- Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ladino

[iguanamon]

Nosssaaa! It's been almost a month since I've last posted here in my log. Too busy with work these days.

Spanish
Six months after Hurricane Maria, I finally got internet and cable back at the house. I find myself getting annoyed at television. I got used to not having it. It does mean that I get more exposure to Spanish by having CNN en Español, Telemundo, WAPA América, Discovery and History Channel en Español along with a couple of movie channels available in Spanish.

Now that I have high-speed internet back though, I find myself spending time with Deutsche Welle en español en vivo. I enjoy the magazine and general interest format that international broadcasters like DW, RFI (Radio Francia Internacional) provide. Spanish learners looking for live TV in Spanish- free and legal- can get a lot out of DW's programming. Their presenters are from all over the Spanish-speaking world and have a variety of accents. A wide variety of their programs are also available ala carte, on demand at their website. No geo restrictions and interesting programs.

Portuguese
Wow! There are so many people learning Portuguese on the forum now! It's a great language overlooked in the rush to FIGS and is worth learning for great travel opportunities, literature, films, music, tv and journalism. I read, listen to and speak Portuguese nearly every day. It's like another appendage to my body. I don't even notice it much of the time. I re-watched my dvd collection of "Mandrake", the 13 year old HBO Brasil series. Mandrake is probably the coolest lawyer who has ever been, an inveterate ladies' man and blackmail fixer who more often than not gets his comeuppance before winning, or losing, the day. The series has lots of banter, is well produced and well written. The DVD's sell for under $10 on Amazon The video quality isn't quite up to 2018 standards but the content is great.



Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol
Reading Deuteronomy in Rashi script in parallel with Haitian Creole- kapitulo 12. It's called "Devarim" in Hebrew. I found another 15 books in Rashi by using different search terms at the Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliográfico. I've found the rest of the Old Testament in Rashi plus commentaries. Also the 15 secular books, which should keep me busy for quite some time in the language. All are free and legal to download but the site is not user friendly.

Haitian Creole
Reading Detewonòm Chapit 12 in parallel with Ladino. I'm also going through the related half an hour podcast and script of Atravè Labib. Read and listen to Lavwadlamerik and a live station in Miami everyday. I speak only periodically and write in it about once a week. HC is more and more just a part of my everyday life. I very much enjoy it.

I'm also reading a book in English called "The World That Made New Orleans- From Spanish Silver to Congo Square" by Ned Sublette. This year, New Orleans celebrates its Tricentennial. I have a lot of friends from there and have traveled up there for many years. I consider it to be "the northernmost part of the Caribbean". The architecture, the food, the music, the lifestyle all fit in nicely with how we live here in the Caribbean. The back and forth between New Orleans, Cuba and Haiti is fully explored in the book. Sublette is a musicologist/historian and his style of writing is more pop than academic- and that's not a criticism. I'm getting up to the Haitian Revolution now which had a huge influence on the city, so I'm about halfway through the book. The back and forth continues to this day. I speak quite a lot of HC in New Orleans whenever I visit, given the large Haitian diaspora there. It also is relatively easy to understand Louisiana Creole with my knowledge of HC.
NYT Book Review

[iguanamon]

Haitian Creole Bonjou mezanmi! I am still reading Haitian Creole everyday. Right now, I am reading the Old Testament of the Bible and am at Chapit 20 liv Detewonòm now. The companion Atravè Labib, is extremely helpful and I'm enjoying broadening my knowledge of the language as I explore aspects of faith and Judeo-Christian philosophy. I will soon be finished with the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible- attributed to Moses). I'll probably continue on with the OT for a while. To balance things out, I am also exploring vodou, the syncretic religion developed by the African slaves. In addition, I am reading the news articles on Lavwadlamerik (VOA Creole) and following Michel DeGraff, a Haitian professor at MIT whose mission is to bring native Kreyòl language instruction to Haitian Schools. I write once or twice a week and speak maybe once a month. When I first got into learning Creole, I didn't plan to take it beyond conversation, but it has become quite important to me.

Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol
As I siad earlier, I have a bunch of books in Rashi text in pdf to keep me busy for a long time, so why am I reading Alisia en el Paiz de las Maraviyas again? Well, I was at the Evertype site the other day browsing and found that a new version of the book is available in what I thought would be modern Hebrew script in Ladino. It cost $15 US and I bought it. To my pleasant surprise, as is common with many Ladino books, only the title page and the chapter titles are in Hebrew text, the book's text is in Rashi script. Evertype is a cool site for language-learners with Alice having been translated into lots of small languages and many interesting variations... worth exploring. Evertype also has many translations of the Hobbit.
Besides, I'm quite fond of the Taushan Blanko- (white rabbit- March Hare). It's also interesting how significantly easier it is to read the book now after a couple of years, even in Rashi script as opposed to Latin. The Turkish, Arabic and Hebrew words are now familiar friends.

What confused me was this sample in Hebrew text from the translator's introduction. When I got the actual book in the mail, it then pinged with me that since I can't figure out how to type in Rashi with a computer, it must be difficult for the site too. Still, if the book can be printed in Rashi, no doubt utilizing a computer for its typesetting... so, why can't I type here in Rashi? The site, Ladinotype, lets me create Rashi from Latin script but saves the product as a jpeg and doesn't have a Rashi keyboard. Learning how to read in Rashi makes Djudeo-espanyol much more interesting and fun to me.

איל טריסיר אספיקטו איס טאמביין, אין מי אופינייון, איל מאס אימפורטאנטי אי דיפ׳יסיל: לה קאפאג׳ידאד די טראדואיזיר אוב׳ראס ליטירארייאס אי לינגואיסטיקאמינטי קומפליקסאס קומו אליסייה אין לאדינו, אונה לינגואה קי איסטה פידריינדו קאדה ב׳יז מאס סו אאודינסייה די אב׳לאנטיס. אאונקי איסטה לינגואה ג׳ודיאה אימפורטאנטי אאינדה איסטה אב׳לאדה, אין סיירטה מידידה, פור מיליס די פירסונאס, נו סי פואידי טופאר אויי אין דיאה נינייוס קי סון קריאדוס אין איסטה לינגואה. אי פור אוטרה פארטי, לה מאייוריאה די לוס אב׳לאנטיס די לה לינגואה, אנסי קומו מונג׳וס די סוס אינב׳יסטיגאדוריס, סון פרינסיפאלמינטי אינטיריסאדוס ​​פור איל אספיקטו פופולאר די איסטי לינגואז׳י אי פור איל ריקו פ׳ולקלור קי סי קריאו אין איל, אינייוראנדו קאז׳י קומפליטאמינטי לה ריקה קריאסייון קלאסיקה אין לאדינו. קומו אינב׳יסטיגאדור דיל לאדינו, דידיקו גראן פארטי די מיס איספ׳ורסוס אין איל דיסקוב׳רימיינטו אי לה פובליקאסייון די אוב׳ראס קלאסיקאס קי פ׳ואירון איסקריטאס אין לאדינו אה לו לארגו די סוס קיניינטוס אנייוס די איגזיסטינסייה (אל פרינסיפייו אין רילאסייון קון לה ליטיראטורה איספאניקה אי מאס טאדרי קומו לינגואז׳י אינדיפינדיינטי). אדימאס, אין לוס אולטימוס אנייוס טראטי די אינקוראז׳אר אונה מואיב׳ה קריאסייון ליטירארייה אוריז׳ינאל אין לאדינו אנסי קומו טראדוקסייוניס קלאסיקאס אין איסטה לינגואה (איל פונטו קולמינאנטי די איסטוס איספ׳ורסוס פ׳ואי לה פובליקאסייון די לה אודיסיאה קון אונה דובלי טראדוקסייון, אין לאדינו אי איבריאו, פור משה העליון אי פור מי-מיזמו, 2011, 2014). מי אסירקאמיינטו אה לה טראדוקסייון אל לאדינו איס דיספ׳ירינסייאדו אי דיפ׳ירינטי דיל פוריזמו די לוס איסקריטוריס אי טראדוקטוריס די לה איפוקה די לאס לוזיס די לה סיגונדה מיטאד דיל סיגלו XIX אי פרינסיפייוס דיל סיגלו XX. איסטוס טראטארון די אילימינאר ארטיפ׳יסייאלמינטי אילימינטוס לינגואיסטיקוס נון איספאניקוס דיל לאדינו אי טרוקארלוס פור ראאיזיס אי פאלאב׳ראס טומאדאס דיל פ׳ראנסיז אי דיל קאסטילייאנו. קריאו קי איסטוס אילימינטוס נון איספאניקוס (קי פ׳ורמאן קאז׳י און קוארטו די טודו איל ב׳וקאבולארייו די לה לינגואה!) סון אונה פארטי אינטיגראל אי אינסיפאראבלי דיל לאדינו, אי סון און קומפונינטי אימפורטאנטי די סו ריקיזה קומו לינגואה אינדיפינדיינטי אוניקה, אי דיפ׳ירינטי דיל קאסטילייאנו. לוס ליקטוריס איספאניקוס די איסטה טראדוקסייון פודראן דיסטינגואיר פ׳אסילמינטי איסטאס פאלאב׳ראס אי פ׳ורמאס (אלגונאס די איסטאס מויי באזיקאס) קומפליטאמינטי דיפ׳ירינטיס די לאס קי סי אוזאן אין קאסטילייאנו

Latin Script:
El treser aspekto es tambien, en mi opinion, el mas importante i difisil: la kapachidad de traduizir ovras literarias i linguistikamente kompleksas komo Alisia en ladino, una lengua ke esta pedriendo kada vez mas su audensia de avlantes. Aunke esta lengua djudia importante ainda esta avlada, en sierta medida, por miles de personas, no se puede topar oy en dia ninyos ke son kriados en esta lengua. I por otra parte, la mayoria de los avlantes de la lengua, ansi komo munchos de sus investigadores, son prinsipalmente interesa­dos ​​por el aspekto popular de este lenguaje i por el riko folklor ke se kreo en el, inyorando kaje kompletamente la rika kreasion klasika en ladino. Komo investigador del Ladino, dediko gran parte de mis esforsos en el deskuvrimiento i la publikasion de ovras klasikas ke fueron eskritas en ladino a lo largo de sus kinientos anyos de existensia (al prinsipio en relasion kon la literatura ispanika i mas tadre komo lenguaje independiente). Ademas, en los ultimos anyos trati de enkorajar una mueva kreasion literaria orijinal en ladino ansi komo traduksiones klasikas en esta lengua (el punto kulminante de estos esforsos fue la publikasion de la primera parte de la Odisea kon una doble traduksion, en ladino i ebreo, por Moshe ‘ha-Elion i por mi-mizmo, 2011). Mi aserka­miento a la traduksion al ladino es disferensiado i diferente del purizmo de los eskritores i traduktores de la epoka de las Luzes de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX i prinsipios del siglo XX. Estos trataron de eliminar artifisialmente elementos linguistikos no ispanikos del Ladino i trokarlos por raizes i palavras tomadas del fransez i del kasteyano. Kreo ke estos elementos no ispanikos (ke forman kaje un kuarto de todo el vokabulario de la lengua!) son una parte integral i inseparable del Ladino, i son un komponente importante de su rikeza komo lengua independiente unika, i diferente del kasteyano. Los lektores ispanikos de esta traduksion podran distinguir fasilmente estas palavras i formas (algunas de estas muy bazikas) kompletamente diferentes de las ke se uzan en kasteyano.
English:
The third aspect is also, in my view, the most important and challenging: the ability to translate literary and linguistically complex work as Alice into Ladino, a language that is increasingly losing its speaking audience. Although this important Jewish language is still spoken, to some extent, by thousands of speakers, you can’t find nowadays children who are raised in this language. And moreover, most speakers of the language, and not a few of its researchers, are primarily interested in the popular aspect of this language and the rich folklore that was created in it, ignoring almost completely the rich classical creation in Ladino. As a researcher of Ladino, I spend much of my efforts in exposing and publishing classic works written in Ladino throughout five hundred years of existence (at first in connection with Hispanic literature and later as independent language). Besides, in recent years I tried to encourage a new original literary creation in Ladino and classic translations into it (the highlight of these efforts was the publication of the first part of the Odyssey with dual Ladino and Hebrew trans­lations by Moshe ha-Elion and by me, 2011). My approach to translation into Ladino is distinct and different from the purism of the writers and translators of the Enlightenment period of the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. They tried to artificially remove non-Hispanic linguistic ingredients from Ladino and substitute them by roots and words borrowed from French and Castilian. I believe that these non-Hispanic materials (comprising almost a quarter of the whole vocabulary of the language!) are an integral and inseparable part of Ladino, being an important component of its richness and wealth as a unique independent language, different from Castilian. The Hispanic readers of this translation can easily distinguish words and forms (some of them very basic) completely distinct from what is in use in Castilian.

Spanish I am back to having Spanish TV back on in the background. My cable system has six spanish language channels. Oddly enough, given this fact, I find the free Deutsche Welle en español stream more appealing. The stories are more varied and interesting and well reported.

Portuguese
Now that I have internet back again, I can stream GloboPlay and live Brazilian television streams to my tv. In Brazil, life often imitates art and Brazilian politics now is as interesting as any novela. I continue to speak most days of the week and write.

Catalan
Having already read a book in Catalan- Els Viatges de Guliver, I started dabbling in Catalan. It's not serious yet. With the return of my high-speed internet and netflix, I discovered a series called "Merlí". It's a Catalan production about a high school teacher of philosophy, his son and his students. It's a well written "dramedy" (drama +comedy), fun and thought provoking. Each episode explores an aspect of philosophy and the dramedy between the characters. The audio is in original Catalan and dubbed Spanish, which I haven't listened to. It has English, Portuguese and Spanish subs. I'm only on episode 3 right now but I'll probably finish the series. I like it a lot

Orevwa pou kounyea, mezanmi,

[iguanamon]

Huracán, furacão, siklòn... hurricane. I'm dealing without electricity again. This time it's (allegedly) just for a couple of days while my condo building's meters get replaced. They were damaged in the storm. The hurricane is the "suck that keeps on sucking"! So I'm staying the night at a friend's house. I'm lucky in that regard at least.

Ladino Djudeo-espanyol
Esto dayinda meldando "Alisia" en letras rashi. I'm still reading "Alice" in rashi script. It makes for a nice break from Deuteronomy/Devarim.

Português
Nothing out of the ordinary. Have been watching Jornal Nacional in the evenings and listening to RFI Brasil in my morning walks and in the car. Twitter is also one of the ways I get exposure. I don't even think about it all that much it's such a part of my life now. I can't not get exposure to my languages as long as I check my twitter feed from time to time.

Español
Same as Portuguese. It's simply a part of my life now.

Kreyòl Ayisyen
I still have words to look up when reading but more like about three in every seven pages. I'm continuing with Atravè Labib most mornings and Lavwadlamerik (VOA Creole).

Català
Found and downloaded a pdf copy of "Alice" from the Bodleian Library in England online. The translation is by the famed Catalan writer Josep Carner and dates from 1927. I figure since I'm reading it in Rashi anyway I may as well have a go at it in Català too at the same time. I don't expect to get proficient this way, but it should get easier to read as I get further along in the book. Like the Ladino version, the book has been altered enough to be relevant to its target language culture. For a supposed "children's book", "Alice" is surprisingly multi-facted for a language-learner.

I'llk also try to work through the pdf for Catalan secondary school students - El gust per la la lectura- Alícia al país de les meravelles. It has exercises like these. I should be able to handle this, maybe. Veurem sobre això!

Capítol I. «Llodriguera avall» Responeu les preguntes següents:
1. En quin estat es troba, l’Alícia, quan comença la història?
2. Què li sobta, del conill que li passa corrent per davant?
3. Li fa por, a l’Alícia, escolar-se pel forat de la llodriguera?
4. Com és el forat de la llodriguera pel qual cau?
5. Com s’entreté, la llarga estona que cau?
6. Com es diu realment la localització que Alícia anomena «les Antipàtiques»?

The Generalitat de Catalunya has a lot of resources like this for school students in its El Gust Per La Lectura series and this kind of resource helps me to be more active with a book and get more out of it.

GlobalVoices introduced me to this Catalan band- La Troba Kung Fú


Edit: I finished "The World that Made New Orleans" in English. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it appropriate to read as it's the city's Tricentennial this year. There was so much influence on the local culture and music from Haiti and also Cuba. New Orleans is sometimes referred to as the "northernmost part of the Caribbean" and it does have some of that feel even today.

Se tout pou kounyea, mezanmi, orevwa!

[iguanamon]

Another week, another log entry. I'm extremely busy with work but am still making time for my languages.

Español
I had a four hour business meeting in Spanish today with a client who had four Spanish-speakers from Puerto Rico and a local Spanish-speaking colleague. I arrived a little late and my colleague said in Spanish. "We can continue in Spanish, he's a Spanish-speaker." That always makes me feel good.

Speaking of Puerto Rico, the New York Times today had a belated obituary for Julia de Burgos, the Puerto Rican poet described as the mother of the Nuyorican poetry movement. This is part of their "Overlooked" series for people of color and women who weren't taken as seriously by the mainstream press at the time of their passing. The article did it's job. It inspired me to find out more about Ms. de Burgos. I ordered one of her books. She was a feminist in a difficult era. She had a tough, tragic life, as many talented artists tend to have. She was honored with a US postage stamp.

¡Oh mar, no esperes más! (Oh sea, don't wait any more)
Tengo caído el sueño,
y la voz suspendida de mariposas muertas.
El corazón me sube amontonado y solo
a derrotar auroras en mis párpados.
Perdida va mi risa
por la cuidad del viento más triste y desvastada.
Mi sed camina en ríos agotados y turbios,
rota y despedazándose.
Amapolas de luz, mis manos fueron fértiles tentaciones
de incendio.
Hoy, cenizas me tumban para el nido distante.
¡ Oh mar, no esperes más !

¡ Oh mar, no esperes más !
Casi voy por la vida como gruta de escombros.
Ya ni el mismo silencio se detiene en mi nombre.
Inútilmente estiro mi camino sin luces.
Como muertos sin sitio se sublevan mis voces.

¡ Oh mar, no esperes más !
Déjame amar tus brazos con la misma agonía
con que un día nací.
Dame tu pecho azul,
y seremos por siempre el corazón del llanto...

Djudeo-espanyol/Ladino
Continuing with reading "Alisia" and Devarim (Deuteronomy) in Rashi script. Reading Ladino definitely keeps me in touch with Spanish too.

Português
The usual... read, listen, speak, write- every day. The new series 2 of Westworld is out. I can't find it yet in Portuguese dub, so I am watching it with Portuguese subs. Westworld is the type of series like Game of Thrones which inspires plenty of speculation among fans and there are several Brazilian blogs and sites discussing the details and plot lines of each episode. Can't wait to watch it again in Portuguese dub. The actors sound weird in English since I only ever watched it in Portuguese before. I'll get plenty of practice as I will have a Brazilian house guest for the next two weeks.

Kreyòl Ayisyen
Continuing with Detewonòm (Deuteronomy), Atravè Labib, and Lavwadlamerik (VOA Creole). I had a 15 minute conversation in the language on Sunday. I love what I can do with Haitian Creole. I treasure the opportunities I get to speak.

Català
On episode 5 of Merlí on netflix. I'm watching with Spanish subs, sometimes switching to Portuguese. I wish there were Catalan subs available. I'm also slowly going through "Catalán para dummies" and "Alícia". I've made a Catalan/Spanish parallel text of Genesis and found audio via converting youtube videos to mp3 with a free online converter. TV3 Catalunya is quite good with a high quality of programming, especially late at night with live recorded jazz concerts. The news and commercials are fairly easy to understand for me.

Another video from La Troba Kung Fú- half in English... sort of .


LETRAS / LYRICS Van dir-me que la meva rumba no interessava, que els hi suava a les espanyes, que era gallega, que era polaca, que era muy raro lo que mezclaba. Pero yo vi bailar Madrid, Guanajato, Léon, soltando el lastre de la convención, mira que el ritme que jo porto fa volar, tiene el amla de acordéon. Que si canto con fuego o canto com em surt i faig ballar qui segui m'entengui o no m'entengui, que on no m'arriba la paraula l'hi poso el ritme, gata maula, engego la rauxa. I don't know where is my passport, I just know where is my flow. I don't know where in my passport, I junt know where is my flow. I així, així, jo m'arribo a la capital, capitalist, on comencen tots els trips, a la Roma de l'imperi jo m'arribo jo m'arribo amb la meva rumba, ja sense culpa, camino Brooklyn, camino l'est, camino west, from the worst to the best everything is well dressed. My ventilator walks falling down the subway, everything is so cool, I'm a last gout in a swimming pool. But I walk patim patam patum, my groov breath out barrabum, I miss the other world cause everything feels right, now I have the light, all people dance by the subway night. I don't know where is my passport, I just know where is my flow. I don't know where is my passport, I just know where is my flow. I'm a lost cowboy, I'm a poor folky, I don't wanna be a trendy, I just want to jump like a monkey. From uptown to downtown I'm running with my rumba, I'm painting the skyline, the subway shines, nobody knows rumba, I'm just the carefree folky from the crazy side. Els dos cálos s'han menjat la nit, no hi ha millor camine que els d'aquests latin kids. Caminen ballant, la cuitat amb ells está flipant. Cara bonica, que et camelen els chavós de Barcelona, aquesta rumba té la gràcia, lé la raça, si vens amb mi, vida meva, et faré reina amb collar d'estrelles. I don't know where is my passport, I just know where is my flow. I don't know where is my passport, I just know where is my flow. Tots som cucs sotto Roma. Tots som cucs sur Seine. Tots som cucs a Barcelona. Tots som cucs Through New York. Tots som cucs També a Argentina. Tots com cucs by London. Tots som cucs od Praha. In New York the worms look so trendy. In New York the chicks look so cool.

[iguanamon]

It's almost eight months after Hurricane Maria and the suck just keeps on sucking. I lost my internet again Friday night when the electricity went out for half an hour and somehow fried my cable modem. So, it's back to tethering my cell to my laptop. I called them, they will allegedly come out tomorrow, but, I have my doubts. After having spent 6 months without it, to lose it again like this is a bit of a downer.

Português
It's all Portuguese all the time now as I have a Brazilian friend visiting- for the past week and next nine days she'll be here. Still, I work in English. There's no such thing as true immersion living in an English-speaking country, but the language of the house, the car and the beach is now Portuguese for me.

Espanhol
I'll be reading Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo along with the Spanish Group. It's a short book that probably doesn't lend itself to 20 pages here and another 20 pages there. I don't know yet when I'll start it. As I've said before, I couldn't escape Spanish here if I tried, besides, it's a part of my life.

Crioulo Haitiano
I'm still reading news on Lavwadlamerik and checking my twitter feed but not doing much else.

Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol
Still reading "Las Aventuras de Alisia en el Paiz de las Maraviyas". If I were to advise someone who was a monolingual English-speaker who would want to learn Ladino. I would advise them to learn Spanish or Portuguese first, even then there are words that throw them for a loop. My Brazilian friend (also a Spanish-speaker as a second language) can make most of it out except when she encounters words like these- halbu; taam; pishin. I just don't think it would be easy to try to learn Ladino without a background in Spanish, or Portuguese. Lets look at this passage from Kapitulo 5, "Konsejo de un guzano"/"Advice from a Caterpillar"

"Otrun kuento, halbu!" disho la Palomba, en un tono del mas profundo despresio. Tengo visto munchas ninyas durante mi vida, ama nunka una kon un kueyo komo este! No, no! Sos un serpiente, i no ay taam de niegarlo. Supozo ke agora me diras ke nunka avias gostado un guevo! ...Para mi ay grande diferensia" pishin disho Alisia ...
Lewis Carroll in English:
‘A likely story indeed!’ said the Pigeon in a tone of the deepest contempt. ‘I’ve seen a good many little girls in my time, but never ONE with such a neck as that! No, no! You’re a serpent; and there’s no use denying it. I suppose you’ll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!’... ‘It matters a good deal to ME,’ said Alice hastily...

These three words halbu; taam; pishin aren't critical to understanding the narrative but they do jump out as not being from Spanish or Portuguese. I only have one of these words in my dictionaries- "pishin" which comes from Turkish and means "immediately/quickly". I've never seen "halbu" or "taam" before. Halbu probably comes from Turkish too, maybe "taam" comes from Hebrew? So, despite the similarity to Spanish, Ladino has some curveballs to throw. I could probably figure it out if I had a Turkish/English printed dictionary to browse, or the time to go down "rabbit holes" (pun intended) in online dictionaries/google searches. It's enough to refer to context and/or the English translation to figure out the unknown words' meanings. The hard part is trying to figure it out from Rashi script where the letter pairs "o" and "u" and the pairs of "i" and "e" are represented by the same letters in Rashi. So "halbu" could be "halbo".

I remember when I first read the book in Latin script a few years ago, and it was a lot of work. First, it's more than just what appears on the surface as a children's book. It has surprising grammatical constructions and varied vocabulary that are not generally expected in a children's book. I think it lends itself well in translation to language-learning- not overly complex, a familiar story and with the English freely available in the public domain... which leads me to...

Catalão
I'm still going through the Catalan version of Alice and trying to answer the questions in the school pdf for students.

Orevwa pou kounyea, mezanmi! Até mais, meus amigos!

[iguanamon]

Portuguese
My experience in Portuguese "immersion" was nice, as usual. I sometimes forgot I was even speaking another language. I put immersion in quotes because you just can't escape English living and working in an English-speaking environment. It can be challenging to start speaking a language almost all the time. You have to be ready and prepared. I'd like to have more speaking in my life but, I take what I can get and make the best of it.
Listening to, reading and writing Portuguese is a daily habit. Speaking is a few times a week. That's not bad for living where I live on an island in the English-speaking Caribbean. I often don't mention what I do in the language because it is simply a part of my life. I don't even think about it sometimes.

Spanish
I'm at the halfway point of reading "Pedro Páramo" by Juan Rulfo. The writing is superb and evocative of Mexican "magical realism". Mexican culture is heavily influenced by indigenous, pre-Columbian, culture and this book is very evocative of this feeling. I can see why Gabo liked the book so much and how it could have been an influence on Macondo. As American author William Faulkner said of the South (US) "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." I think this quote speaks as well to Mexico's relationship with the dead and death- "it isn't even dead"!
The book has an almost surreal, "Twilight Zone", feel; about it. I remember an episode of the old black and white TZ series called “The Hitch­Hiker” where a woman has a near fatal car crash and is stalked by a hitchhiker (death) alongside the road. After a phone call home, she eventually realizes she actually died and picks up the hitchhiker. She just didn't know she was dead. What is death? What is life? What's the difference? In a linear, western mind- that's a no-brainer, but when the dead are never really "dead" and always with us, the living, then the lines can blur.
I come across a few uniquely Mexican words that I have to look up, but I have to do that with Colombian, Argentine and even Castilian Spanish occasionally.
Puerto Rico has been on my mind lately for many reasons, among which are the start of hurricane season again. I got my book of poetry from Julia de Burgos in the mail and have been reading a few poems.
Deutsche Welle Español en Vivo streaming live on youtube is quite enjoyable. Their journalism and coverage of Latin America is very good.

Djudeo-espanyol/Ladino
I have finished the Book of Devarim/Deuteronomy in the Bible and thus, now, the entire Pentateuch in the Old Testament in Rashi script. It's not a spoiler to reveal that the book ends with the death of Moses. Moses has been with me now for I can't remember how long, since Exodus. I will miss Moshe a lot now that I continue on with Joshua.

Haitian Creole
I read the Bible in HC in parallel with Ladino and I also do the accompanying Bible study Atravè Labib podcasts and text. This is quite enjoyable and useful for me as it gives me another context, more natural language and makes me think about what I've read. It's a habit. Sometimes, like this time, I power through and read two, three or five chapters in advance and then stop and go through Atravè Labib. It gives me time to reflect and think. It's funny how now, my religious study is via Haitian Creole and Djudeo-espanyol when I grew up as a Southern Baptist! When I think of God, I think in HC and Ladino.

I created the Haitian Creole Study Group here, somewhat reluctantly, as I know that few people will ever want to learn the language and I knew it would be a lot of hassle to create the resources post. Still, at least now, almost all the resources I have used are in one place with updated working links (for how ever long they may last) and anyone interested can replicate what I have done.. Even if you're not interested in learning the language, my resources post shows how a learner can find resources outside of typical places to look. HC would be a good language for doing the pure free and legal challenge.

Català
I pick up Alice, put it aside and pick it back up again. I'm on chapter five now. Yeah, some of it is too difficult for me and some of it is crystal clear. I wish I had a dictionary with etymology for Catalan. I like the word "ocell"/"bird". I wonder if it shares anything in common with the French "au ciel"/"in the sky"? It may be a coincidence but that's what I use to remember the word.
I'm not really taking Catalan very seriously at the moment. If I ever do, I have more than enough resources on hand to learn it. With my Iberian languages background, it is and it isn't difficult. What do I mean by that? See above. From previous experience, I know that the devil is in the details with similar languages and that it takes a lot of effort to "get it right".
My struggle with learning Portuguese after Spanish sent me round the bend at times because it does take a lot of work to speak and write it correctly and keep them separate. Part of me is reluctant to take it up because of knowing this and another part of me wants to learn it in spite of this... not logical, I know. I may be like James29 with his French with this language. I'm not willing to say I'm studying the language because I'm really more like just "getting used to it". Maybe I will study it for real, eventually.

Orevwa pou kounyea, mezanmi. M a wè ou pita.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I like the word "ocell"/"bird". I wonder if it shares anything in common with the French "au ciel"/"in the sky"? It may be a coincidence but that's what I use to remember the word.

I think of uccello (bird in Italian).

More info here:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ocell

[iguanamon]

Kreyòl Ayisyen
Josye (Joshua) has picked up the mantle of Moses and crossed the Jordan into the promised land (tè pwomis la) with the children of Israel. For an encore, God (Bondye) has parted the waters of the River Jordan for the people to cross.
So, I am still going with the OT in HC every morning. Still doing atravè labib podcasts and reading. I've also decided to finish "Zanmi Pèsonn" ("Nobody's Friend"/"Le Misanthrope"). Se yon adaptasyon pyès teyat Le Misanthrope, Molière te ekri. It's an adaptatoin of Moliere's "The Misanthrope" translated and adapted by Jean Lyonel Desmarattes- a journalist with VOA Kreyòl. I read his translation of "Robinson Crusoe"- "Woben Lakwa"
The artificiality of the rhyming couplets makes for some uncommon vocabulary I haven't seen before and means a few dictionary look-ups, but not too many. I'm a third of the way through it. I had started reading it before, and Ogrim warned me about the rhyming. I wasn't quite in the mood for reading it back then, but now, I feel like reading it.


Djudeo-espanyol/Ladino
I always read the same chapter of the Bible in Rashi after or before reading it in HC. In Ladino, Joshua is called "Yeoshua" probably the same in Hebrew. I've also delved into some of my Rashi haul from the Spanish library in pdf. I have "La ermoza istoria Robinson o la miseria" (Robinson Crusoe). It's probably more of an adaptation than a true translation. I'm about 10% of the way in now. I'm waiting til I catch up with "Alice" in Catalan (finish chapter 5) before I pick up my Ladino version again.

Català
In my non-study (a bit ridiculous, I know) of Catalan, I am midway through Chapter 5 of Alice. I've been doing the associated study guide for students in Catalan as well. The language of Alice in the Josep Carner translation isn't easy. My romance languages only take me so far. The dictionary gets a work out but only 2/3 of the words at best are in the creative commons dictionary that I have. If I were seriously working on Catalan, I'd be doing a course alongside reading and listening to Genesis. I really don't want to do a course right now. I should get back to watching "Merlí" on netflix.

Português
I've been watching the second season of "Westworld" in Portuguese dub. I don't even notice the dub most of the time except when there's an episode like episode 8 "Kiksuya" which is mostly in a Native American language, Lakota. So, I had to watch it mostly with Portuguese subtitles instead, since the Lakota was not dubbed, only the English. This episode was beautifully done with grand vistas of Utah's stunning landscapes and a heart touching story. Lakota is a beautiful language.
Westworld is an intricate and complex series with plenty of theories out there about what's going on and reviews and speculation ad-infinitum in TL abound. I should probably re-watch it in Spanish-dub when this second series ends.
If television can be considered an art form, we are truly in a golden age for series with a lot of really good, high quality series to watch nowadays. There's no way to watch all of them. We're definitely "spoiled for choice" as they say in England.

Español
Still reading and enjoying "Pedro Páramo". I'm over halfway done now. Spanish simply takes care of itself throughout the day.

The World Cup starts today and, since the US is not in it this year, I always face difficult decisions on which teams to support because of my love of Portuguese and Spanish and friends in a lot of those countries as well, plus the fact that I've lived in England and have strong connections there too. Of course, there's the sentimental favorite of Iceland and because of Serpent and vonPerterhof, I'd like to see Russia do well. Not that I'm really into football (soccer) all that much- hey, I'm still American after all, I'll be watching in Spanish while I work. The World Cup is always fun and exciting. I hope Brazil and Portugal don't end up playing each other! If they do, I'll have to cheer for Brasil- sorry, Luso.

[iguanamon]

Català
I finished Alícia en terra de meravelles this morning. I'll finish the reading guide this weekend and do the remaining exercises in Catalan. I've been reading a 1936 (free and legal pdf) translation by Josep Carner and the Catalan in it is an older form of the language. A third of my unknown words weren't in my dictionary. There's a more modern, recent, translation available that I may read later, by Salvador Oliva. Mr. Oliva is a Catalan poet and translator of Shakespeare. I found an interview with him in English regarding his translation of Alice in which he talks about the Carner translation:

I consider myself a very Carnerian person and I took considerable account of his version when I was translating. But although I think it is a wonderful version, my opinion is that it is of not much use nowadays because of the situation of the Catalan language during Carner’s period. It is a type of language which can be read by an adult but proves inadequate for a young readership.

After this, I didn't feel so bad that the Carner translation was so difficult at first. It got much easier to read after I'd finished two thirds of it. If I needed to know a word's meaning I could either infer it from context or check my Ladino translation or the original English and my familiarity with the story certainly helped.

The difference between a good translator and a great translator is how they handle puns. Alice has many puns.

When we were little,’ the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, ‘we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle—we used to call him Tortoise—’
‘Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?’ Alice asked.
‘We called him Tortoise because he taught us,’ said the Mock Turtle angrily: ‘really you are very dull!’

-. Quan érem petits - continuà la Falsa Tortuga de Mar
al capdavall, més calmada, per bé que sanglotant encara de tant en tant, - anàvem a escola dins la mar. La mestressa era una vella tortuga de mar, i solíem anomenar-la tortuga de terra ...
-Per què li dèieu tortuga de terra, si no n'era? - demanà Alícia.- Li dèiem tortuga de terra perquè ens ensenyava--digué la Falsa Tortuga de Mar iradament; - tanmateix esteu molt sòpita!

Here, the pun is with how the word "tortoise" sounds like "taught us" in British English- they don't have as a pronounced "r" as most Americans do, so, they sound alike (at least to Brits). I must admit, as an American, it took me a little while to get it and I used to live over there in Blighty, albeit up north. Carner translates the pun as "tortuga/tortoise" and "ens ensenyava/taught us"- which isn't a pun in Catalan. Here's how Salvador Oliva translated this:

—Quan érem petites —finalment va continuar dient la Tortuga, ja més calmada, però encara sanglotant una mica—, vam anar a escola al mar. La mestra era una vella Tortuga, però nosaltres li dèiem «Tortura».
—I per què li dèieu «Tortura», si era una Tortuga? —va preguntar l’Alícia.
—Doncs perquè ens torturava —va dir enfadada la Tortuga d’imitació—. Realment ets molt curta, eh?

So, here, we see that Oliva translates the pun and Carner doesn't even try to translate the sense of the pun. "Tortura" (torture) and "Tortuga" (turtle/tortoise) was an inspired choice! Oliva's Catalan isn't that far from Carner's, but there are many differences in vocabulary. I would have had less trouble with this version, though maybe not as much fun.

I'm still "getting used" to Catalan. I'll probably read a next book when things slow down for me with work. I have several from which to choose, including El zoo d'en Pitus which is a classic children's novel originally written in Catalan.

La novel·la ens presenta la història d'en Pitus, un nen que té una malaltia que només pot curar-li un especialista de Suècia. Els seus amics del barri del Raval de Barcelona muntaran un zoo per recollir diners i poder pagar-li el viatge.
The novel presents to us the story of Pitus, a boy who has an illness that can only be cured by a a specialist in Sweden. His friends from the neighborhood of Raval in Barcelona put up a zoo in order to raise funds and to pay for the trip. my own translation

TV3 Catalunya has a streaming video of the tv movie about the book and the Generalitat of Catalunya has a reading guide in pdf available. So it ticks off a number of boxes in being a good choice for a next book to read in Catalan. I have some great Catalan links to share from the Generalitat of Catalunya next time to help self-learners. The Generalitat of Catalunya is really concerned with promoting the language and reading.

Até mais... m a wè nou pita, mezanmi.

[iguanamon]

Català
For a guy who isn't studying Catalan, I'm spending quite a bit of time with it lately. I have finished my third book in the language: El zoo d'en Pitus by Sebastià Sorribas. The book is a children's book designed for kids around 10 years old. The story is a kind of a common trope along the lines of "We're getting the band together/ Let's put on a show".

The book is about a "gang" (no negative connotations) of kids from pre-teen to 7-8 years old in a Barcelona neighborhood. The leader is a pre-teen, en Tanet. The youngest member of the group is a boy called "en Pitus"- so called because he's so small. He's only seven years old. Everybody loves Pitus. He's such a happy go lucky kid. (The use of the article "en" before masculine proper names in Catalan is akin to the use of the article in Portuguese "o Paulo". The feminine article "na" has fallen into disuse.)

Though Pitus figures prominently in the story, his character is seldom seen in the story as quite early he is stricken by a serious illness and needs to see a specialist doctor in Sweden. His parents can't afford the trip and the associated costs, so the neighborhood kids, his "colla/gang" decide to put up a zoo in the vacant lot where they normally hang out and play in order to raise funds (centims/cents) for Pitus' trip to Sweden.

So the leader of the gang of kids goes to the monsignor of the church for some advice and gets the ball rolling. The kids then get in touch with a professional zoologist at the Barcelona zoo who gives some good advice. They organize themselves into leaders, animal gatherers/"hunters", cage builders, and public relations/advertising. Along the way they slowly make things happen and the zoo comes off spectacularly.

Having read Els viatges de Guliver and Alícia, which are also children's books, this one was significantly easier in many aspects but more difficult in other aspects. The other books are translations from English, older, and the stories were familiar to me. This book is an original Catalan book, more modern (1965) and I was unfamiliar with the story. There was more idiomatic Catalan, more unfamiliar vocabulary and, again, some of it wasn't in my dictionary. This time, there was no English original available for me to consult when in doubt.

I must admit to a certain amount of pride in being able to read in a language I am not studying, but of course, I do speak similar languages and I have done this kind of thing before. While Catalan is similar to Spanish there are a lot of aspects in the language which are quite different, vocabulary and grammar are similar in many ways and very different at times. The first third of the book is filled with notes about unknown words (which I looked up in my free and legal pdf dictionary). The next third had fewer unknown words and the last third was relatively a breeze to read. Still, it was a sweet, heartwarming book and I can definitely see why it won prizes and is so popular even today in the land of Catalan-speakers. I'm glad I read it.

I have several adult Catalan books, both translated and original. I've had a glance at them and actually found them to be, ironically and counter-intuitively, an easier read than this book. It shouldn't be a surprise as advanced language in Romance languages is closer to what I already know in English and my other languages.

It's funny how my language-learning tends to follow patterns- with Haitian Creole I started out learning all about the water cycle and then all kinds of nautical language with Woben Lakwa/Robinson Crusoe. In Catalan, it looks like the trend is leading to animals as I'm also watching 22 minute cartoon episodes of the Wild Kratts/Germans Kratt, inspired by reineke's example (thanks reineke!). This is a cartoon originally in English for the US Public Broadcasting Service designed to teach kids about wildlife and the environment. I can't handle dubbed episodes of adult shows yet and this dubbed cartoon suits me fine for right now and isn't a huge commitment.

Having learned other similar romance languages before, I know that the devil lies in the details and that to truly learn Catalan, I will have to buckle down with a good course and a good grammar book. I can read with a dictionary fairly well but I can't order in a restaurant, meet and greet or do other simple things in the language yet... because I haven't studied it yet. I have plenty of options available when the time comes that I may/will finally admit to studying it. . I just don't yet know what I want to do with the language.

Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol
I came upon a 12 page pdf of an early 20th century Sephardic Turkish Jew's account of life as an immigrant in New York written in "Soletreo/Solitreo". Solitreo is cursive script based on Rashi script, so still read from right to left. I enjoy puzzling it out. It's much harder for me to read than Rashi because, well, it's handwriting. This document is quite clear and the handwriting is more legible and easier to read. My solitreo reading skills are no where near as good as my Rashi reading is. I can read almost as easily in Rashi as I can in any of my advanced second languages. I just haven't had anywhere near the amount of reading practice in it as I've had with Rashi. Hopefully, this will help. Still reading ladinokomunita forum and working my way through the Rashi text of the Book of Joshua/Yeoshua in the Old Testament.

Portuguese
Brazil, Brazil, Brazil... saddened by the World Cup loss and now more political turmoil with Lula and the coming election. I don't need to watch a new novela because the nightly news is becoming the equivalent... just like in my own country.

Haitian Creole
News, email, working my way through the Book of Joshua/Jozye in the Old Testament and the Atravè Labib podcasts.

Spanish
I've been watching a lot more of telemundo than I usually do because of the World Cup. A lot of the island still doesn't have cable or satellite TV back so many folks are tuning in over the air from Puerto Rico's telemundo broadcast, which I do anyway. I get asked for translations from time to time by my friends.

As Andrés Pastor says on telemundo- "El árbitro dice que no hay tiempo para más" entonces/entonses/então/llavors/eben- adéu-siau! Orevwa mezanmi pou kounyea.