Not all those who wander are lost

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sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Sun Sep 19, 2021 8:43 pm

I'm not sure if the link will work, but one of the nightmares about the drought and fires in California is coming true right now. A fire is buring througha grove of the world's largest trees...
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/18/sequoia-national-park-fire-flames-enter-giant-forest-home-to-worlds-largest-trees/?ab_source=20210919btnR&utm_email=5446F5B555B1A585D42195C329&g2i_eui=FAILRBXqm4rLxYYVeEJBuO1Yori6oR4d&g2i_source=newsletter&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2021%2f09%2f18%2fsequoia-national-park-fire-flames-enter-giant-forest-home-to-worlds-largest-trees%2f%3fab_source%3d20210919btnR&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-crime-watch-nl&utm_content=curated

One thing to remember is that any tree that is 3000 years old has seen drought and forest fires before. Some of them were standing tall when Julius Caesar was a kid.

By the way Sequoias are named after Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee writing system.

Sequoyah was probably the son of a Virginia fur trader named Nathaniel Gist. Reared by his Cherokee mother, Wuh-teh of the Paint clan, in the Tennessee country, he never learned to speak, read, or write English. He was an accomplished silversmith, painter, and warrior and served with the U.S. Army in the Creek War in 1813–14.

Sequoyah became convinced that the secret of what he considered the white people’s superior power was written language, which enabled them to accumulate and transmit more knowledge than was possible for a people dependent on memory and word of mouth. Accordingly, about 1809 he began working to develop a system of writing for the Cherokees, believing that increased knowledge would help them maintain their independence. He experimented first with pictographs and then with symbols representing the syllables of the spoken Cherokee language, adapting letters from English, Greek, and Hebrew. His daughter helped him to identify the Cherokee syllables. By 1821 he had created a system of 86 symbols, representing all the syllables of the Cherokee language.

Image
9 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Wed Sep 22, 2021 1:00 am

I'm giddy right now. Most of my extended family in the Philippines is getting vaccinated (I think) as I type this. :D
They're getting Pfizer.
There was a little grumbling yesterday, things like, "I have a cough, maybe I should wait." We piled on hard to encourage everybody. My nephew, an HIV positive guy in Manila, who has had covid twice, told them that they were crazy, that there were millions of people who wanted to get vaccinated, shut up and get to the center. I've been looking at pictures of the wonderful pack of nieces and nephews I have there waiting in chairs to get vaccinated...

Please let it all work out... :o

I had a good trip to San Francisco yesterday, and I have two new dual citizens in the family. I knew where two bathrooms were before I got there. I ate in a nice restaurant while my wife and daughter were in the consulate, and I had to show proof of vaccination to get in.

I did a bunch of FSI today and read some of Falcó, all in Spanish. It seemed pretty easy.
Now I'm doing "Whale Road" cards.
I also bought Alice in Wonderland in Irish, Old English, and Icelandic. I held off on the Gothic version... :lol:
7 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:33 am

AAACHHH.... :(
The people giving the vaccine are turning people down if they have a runny nose or if they cough.
People have allergies and things.
Nothing I can do here. I hope most can get through.

I'm watching my nephew on line try to talk people through it. He became a big anti-AIDS campaigner when he tested positive and is a big public health advocate. He's about 30. Great guy. Much of the family only learned he was HIV positive when he started appearing on TV. I'm hoping we can get most of the college age kids vaccinated q5 least; I think they are a little smarter about answering health questions and blowing their nose before they go to the screening interview.

It won't be the clean sweep I was hoping for; I'm surprised how passive some people are. Strong people are like, " Gee, I heard that I can't get vaccinated if I have the sniffles, so I'll just stay home." Come on people, this is your life!

I have to keep my mouth shut, because nobody wants to hear from the know it all American. :D

It is amazing how many weaknesses covid has revealed. Right now, we're pretty OK here in my part of California, but you know how it goes. Three months from now???

Sorry about the off topic posts, but I'm all worked up.

One thing that is certain is this. I sure can't speak or read Cebuano. Even people in the Philippines call their languages dialects. I speak Tagalog and I can make out only maybe a third of what is going on, and that is because words like vaccine, covid, and immune system are in English. :lol:
3 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4957
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:46 am
Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby Cavesa » Wed Sep 22, 2021 1:44 pm

If they are postponing their vaccine because of an accute illness, they are doing it right. That's a valid and important reason to postpone a bit. I am pro vaccine, but it is unwise to not believe in side effects (most people will have light ones, and of course a small % of people will have worse ones), or in the usual counter indications. Don't worry about them postponing for such a reason, they should be fine. Better than if they added a vaccine to their current respiratory infection for example. But I agree they shouldn't give up completely.

I held off on the Gothic version...

I admire your self-control!
5 x

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Thu Sep 23, 2021 12:20 am

I know I'm not a doctor, but some people seemed very afraid of it. There is a lot of nonsense about vaccines on Facebook...
1 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:42 am

Well, I'm less worried now. The vaccine people will be back in two weeks.
We gave a sack of rice to anybody who would take the vaccine, so Facebook is full of a bunch of people standing showing a bandaid on their shoulder and a sack of rice by their sides.
A bunch of my college age nieces made a picture where they are all lined up with shoulder with bandaid facing the camera and big smiles. I guess I can't put the picture up without violating their privacy, but they are very cute.

I did FSI up to lesson 6.
I also did a bunch of Irish today. I'm at my furthest point in Myles Dillon's Irish book right now.

Uh, and I ordered the Irish version of Game of Thrones...
All is well.
8 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

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IronMike
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby IronMike » Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:57 pm

sfuqua wrote:Uh, and I ordered the Irish version of Game of Thrones...

Where'd you order it from?
0 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Mon Sep 27, 2021 12:25 am

There you go:https://leabharbreac.com/Teideal/cluiche-na-coronach-game-of-thrones/

addition later:https://leabharbreac.com/Teideal/tain-bo-cuailnge/ looks cool too. Game of Thrones was partially shot in Ireland and had a lot of Irish actors in it. I always crack up when I see Jack Taylor with the Khaleesi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Taylor_(TV_series)

I know we just had that long thread about the problems with reading books in translation, but I'm sort of excited about this.
I read it in English, and I remember a page turner, which is what I will need to keep going in Irish. Now to get a good paper dicitonary and approach in "old school." :D


I am trying to concentrate on only Norse/Icelandic and Irish. I keep trimming things out of my anki deck.

I need to cut down on the time I spend on anki. Anki is not a complete language program and I need time for other things, like reading... :o

We are shifting over to Fall weather. The birds that live in the tree just outside the window of my bedroom have a new set of babies that sound cute getting all excited about food whenever a parent arrives. I swear that the squirrel that I mentioned in an earlier post is messing with me. He runs out in front of me on the footpath with a nut and waits until I walk close to him before he runs away. over and over again. I suspect he is showing off that I can't get his nut from him. Since he stays on the footpath and watches me walk up, I'm pretty sure that it is intentional. :D

He must be very bored. :lol:
6 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
x 6298

Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:01 am

It's a beautiful day in California, and I'm mad at my doctor. It's sort of stupid to let somebody get under your skin, but he seemed to go out of his way to let me know that he was wasting my time talking to me. I suppose he has more important things to do than talking to his patients. I sort of take my health serioiusly, but I guess I just shoudln't worry. I suppose that he doesn't think I'm in any danger, and who knows what he was facing with the next patient.

I let a busy doctor hurt my feelings, so I'm the fool. I hope I never made a student or parent feel that I had more important things to do than talk to them... :roll:

Anyway, I'm back on the whale road. My Irish recently has been exploding. Things are really falling into place. I've been doing anki and shadowing audio files from the Teach Yourself Irish 1961 book, and I'm making progress thrugh it. I'm going to start reading while I work thorugh the Learning Irish book after this. I also have AJ Hughs's _Bunchomhrá Gaeilge agus Gramadach_ on deck that will give a taste of the Ulster variety of Irish and additionally help me do some CEFR prep, in case I get brave enough, rich enough, and have enough time to take a test next year. I'm really pounding this right now. :D

Old English and Icelandic continue to interfere with each other. If I find I don't have time for all three languages, I'll probably drop Old English, but I hate to; it is so cool. :lol:
4 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

User avatar
sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
x 6298

Re: Not all those who wander are lost

Postby sfuqua » Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:43 am

Munster Irish, the kind of Irish I am studyig right now, has a bunch of verb forms which are not used much in the rest of Ireland, but which were common before Irish began its decline last century. The "correct" form of Irish inspires some passion in Ireland, and as a foreigner, I am not qualified to have an opinion on it. I have limited goals for my Irish, which include being able to be polite to any Irish person who wants to talk to me in Irish, and reading a few books in Irish. Considering that I don't live in Ireland, I'm probably going to read and watch media way more than I'm going to talk to anyone.

And also, I have to admit, learning to speak any Irish at all as a white haired foreigner should blow a few people's minds. Not everybody in Ireland is a big fan of Irish, and a foreigner running around speaking Irish could be annoying so I will pick my spots. Many people in Ireland remember it as a painful school subject. I still remember a long conversation with a teenaged girl last visit about how much she hated Irish class, how uncool it was, and how much cooler it would be to live in California, where they wouldn't make her waste her time on a dead language. Many people love the idea of Irish, and I hope I might find a conversation group or something next summer to practice a bit. I've got a bunch of work to do to get as far in Irish as I can.

A longer term goal would be to try to get CEFR B1, just for bragging rights. I'm not sure if this is a practical goal without a chance to live and practice the language daily for at least a little time. Our trips to Ireland are family affairs, and I wouldn't have much time away from the gang. Every day is precious, and I'm very conscious that the time to send my baby girl off to college is coming up very quickly. I wish they gave the test and then assigned you a level, instead of making you pick a level and then passing or failing. I guess everybody who does a CEFR test has similar thoughts. Maybe I can do an online course or something to get ready, because there are parts of the CEFR test which are not really general language knowledge. I could take the A1 test right now I guess, but that isn't much bragging rights.

I'm not really desperate to start practicing with anybody right now; I think I have some basic skills to learn before such practice would be useful. I'm more excited about my Irish books, which are going to be a challenge. I have Harry Potter, the Hobbit, and in a few days I will have Game of Thrones. I have complained about reading HP in Spanish or French, but it sounds interesting in Irish...

My impression is that Irish is amazingly regular, and that the strange orthography is actually extremely logical. The language, however, is very different than English and much of it is unfamiliar. I've been working on it for a while, but there is still a lot to get control of.

My real motivation to learn Irish is because Irish is a part of Ireland, a place I loved from the first second I saw it. It just seemed "right". I don't know why. It just seemed that way. I felt the same way about Samoa when I first saw it. I grew to love the Philippines, but it sort of scared me when I first saw it. Ireland, however, just seemed right.
8 x
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...


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