Purangi's Log

[iguanamon]

Nice post, Purangi. It definitely shows how valuable learning the language is when visiting a TL country. Speaking Mandarin and Korean, my hat is off to you. I've limited myself, up to now, to the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Iberian peninsula. Being able to communicate with people really makes things easier and more enjoyable when traveling... even if only at an intermediate level.
Speaking with natives while traveling will definitely highlight weaknesses.

Still, you did quite well with what you had... a reason to be proud. I always enjoy your posts, Purangi.

[Purangi]

Comment les haricots?

I was approved for a 3-month leave from work. This is not an opportunity that comes along every day, so we intend to make the most of it. Our plan is to do a “grand tour” of South America, starting from Ecuador, going down the southern tip and then back up, ending in Brazil.

We are leaving in a few days. If everything goes smoothly, this promises to be a real hardcore immersion. Language-wise, I think this will be the ultimate Spanish test -- the last “boss”, so to speak. This is what I’ve been preparing for since I started learning Spanish by myself, here on this blog in 2018.

Problem is I really underestimated the amount of logistics needed for this kind of trip. Just booking airplanes tickets (18 in total) was a nightmare. As a result I did not do nearly enough language preparation for this trip. I managed to listen to some podcasts and do some repetitions drills over the last few weeks or so, but most of my time was spent on booking hotels, checking bus timetables, reading history books. Hopefully, my Spanish will kick in after a few days in-country. And I am not even thinking about Portuguese here -- that’s a bridge too far.

Korean:

Despite all this, I still found time to watch an ungodly amount of k-content:

- 형따라 마야로 – Travel show filmed in Yucatan. I actually learned a lot about Maya culture. Isn’t it nice when a reality TV show actually puts effort into educating its audience? Cooking scenes were boring beyond belief.

- 배우는 여행중 – Another travel show about two guys traveling around Scotland, playing golf and day-drinking whiskey. Easy enough to understand.

- 부산촌놈인시드니 – A show about four guys from Busan doing a work holiday in Sidney. It was quite interesting because they obviously take pleasure in using strong Busan dialect. It reminded me of the spectacular way people speak in Gyeongsang Province - that same rising intonation.

-카지노 - An amazing drama called Big Bet in English. Very entertaining, with good action scenes and good humor. It is an obvious Korean take on Narcos, except with gambling instead of cocaine and Philippines instead of Colombia. There’s a ridiculous amount of swearing: it’s very good for learners wanting to understand the 1000s variatons of새끼 and 씨발.

- I watched 범죄도시 1, 2 and 3. Fun cop movies. I was happy to catch some of the jokes. There is something about getting a lousy joke in a foreign language that makes the joke funnier than it really is. Again, the amount of swearing in both films is impressive. I found it difficult to gauge just how offensive some of these words really are. Even on Earth Arcade 2, some of the participants use좆… But isn’t it supposed to be a family show?

- 뉴욕뉴욕2: Lee Seo Jin’s latest trip to NYC. Easy enough to understand.



“I saw 리즈 on TV and couldn’t figure it out, turns out it’s a reference to a football team describing the best season of one’s life or career?”



- I recently realized 리즈 actually means rizz: apparently that what kids say these days for “charisma”. I feel so old sometimes.

- In one of the last episodes of Earth Arcade 2, one contestant had to guess a song’s title and the choices were: 다다다 or 타타타 or 따따따 or 닷닷닷. All different and yet barely distinguishable from each other! I can read them correctly when I see them written down, but no way I could catch which one is which in a normal conversation. See video from 7:50.

English:

- I read the book “We The Others” about the life story of a Greek Québécoise in Montreal and her takes on language and identity politics. Interesting enough and some refreshing takes, but I am not sure why the author choose to write the book in English, that seems to be preaching to the converted. Her main target audience seems to be the French majority.



- I watched the 2008 HBO drama “Generation Kill”. If not for subtitles, I would have understood little.

- I read the book “10 Years As A Spy” by Philip Agee, an ex-CIA case officer recounts his assignments in Quito and Montevideo in the years following the Cuban revolution. I was expecting more details about Spanish language training for officers, but there is not much, just passing comments.

French:

- I came across this hour-long interview with Louisianan singer Zachary Richard. He was on air to promote his book, which apparently is the first book published by a Louisianan author in French in 129 years. It tells the story of the ruins of the Secession War as seen by his grand-parents – the last generation of French unilingual speakers in Louisiana, and his own family’s entanglement with slavery. I pre-ordered the book and look forward to reading it.

His French is unique in that he seldom uses the subjunctive tense. He says he had to « fight » with his editor to have them accept the peculiarities of Louisiana French, i.e. very limited verb tenses. The interview includes an audio bit from Zachary’s own mother, and her French is precious: “Il faut que je connais la langue”, “il était dedans le high-school”... That’s where I got the Cajun greeting “Comment les haricots?” (Comment ça va?). If the beans are salty – that’s good, it means there’s enough money to buy salted meat. If the beans are bland – money is short and life is tough.

When he talks about Louisiana he’s both absolutely clear-sighted about the current state of French, but also quite optimistic about its future. He says statistics about the number of speakers are vastly exaggerated, but he points out that there’s been a fundamental change in the way English Louisianans see French. Not only they do not want to erase French, they are very eager to support and celebrate it. « C’est l’école et la piastre qui a tué le français louisianais, et c’est l’école et la piastre qui va sauver le français louisianais », as he puts it.

As Quebec is again plunged into a psychosis over language these last days, Zachary is refreshing: unapologetically French and yet American to the bone, resolutely optimistic about the future of French in America, and yet brutally realistic about the challenge ahead.

- I read a French biography of Lawrence of Arabia, in which the author talks a bit about how Lawrence learned Arabic. His abilities appeared to have been limited at best, which I found surprising.

- La Quatrième épée : l’histoire d'Abimael Guzman et du Sentier lumineux, translation of La Cuarta Espada: La Historia De Abima El Guzmán Y Sendero Luminoso. The author (a Peruvian) insists quite a lot on the Andean Spanish as spoken by Guzman, his female companions and his Sendorosos followers. I.e. Guzman speaks without using any article and particles se, le, la, etc.

- Les Paraguayens généreux: written by the wife of the French ambassador in Paraguay. A good introduction to Paraguay, with a strong emphasis on culture.

Portuguese:

- My alma mater’s library has been discarding books for some time now, putting them in designated places all over campus for people to pick them up free of charge. That’s how I came across a real bonanza: they replaced their entire Brazilian literature section and threw away the old books. I found about 50 classics in Portuguese in very good condition: Amado, Eca de Qeiros, Sales, etc. I resisted the urge to bring everything home - there’s no place to put them anyway.

Madarin:

- I watched a few movies from the "我和我的XX" series. 我和我的父辈 and 我和我的祖国 were basically propaganda, which I expected, but they were extremely boring propaganda. On the other side 我和我的家乡 was surprisingly funny and not total a waste of time. The first part with 葛优 was especially good, and really made me a bit nostalgic about Chinese humor.

Inuktitut:

- I noticed something intriguing in a park near my home. A company is doing pavement work and they put up warning signs around the park. Usually such signs are in French only, but this time they were trilingual: French, English and Inuktitut. I thought it might be a new initiative linked to reconciliation from the federal government, but not quite. A quick search online revealed that this company worked on the Iqaluit Airport a few years back – which explains why they ordered trilingual signs and are reusing them elsewhere. Interesting nonetheless!

***

I will try to post a few updates about how I manage in Spanish as I travel down there. Stay tuned.

[DaveAgain]

- I read a French biography of Lawrence of Arabia, in which the author talks a bit about how Lawrence learned Arabic. His abilities appeared to have been limited at best, which I found surprising.

So what language did your book say Lawrence used to communicate with the arabs? French?

[iguanamon]

Great post, Purangi. I have been listening to Zachary Richard for a long time, years. I have always loved his music, his pride in his heritage, and his activism for French language and culture. I went to one of his concerts a long time ago. I met him afteerwards and bought a CD from him (remember those). We talked for several minutes about Louisiana, Cajun and Zydeco music and French in Louisiana. He is an interesting and talented man.

Before Elon Musk killed Twitter, I followed several accounts promoting French and Creole heritage and language in Louisiana. It still exists and several people are diligently trying to make it more relevant and useful for people.

I got back from Brazil a year ago and, like you, booked a number of flights. Brazil itself is a massive country. I spent a month there. If you want to see the country and you have limited time, you have to fly. I only had four weeks and there is much I didn't get to see and do. I was worried about my Portuguese not having spoken it as much as I had in the past, but it came right back. I did read and watch some Brazilian TV beforehand. I will look forward to reading about your trip when you come back. I'm sure your other languages will see some use as well, perhaps even some unexpected ones like Haitian Creole.

¡Buen viaje! Boa viagem! Bon vwayaj!

[Purangi]

- I read a French biography of Lawrence of Arabia, in which the author talks a bit about how Lawrence learned Arabic. His abilities appeared to have been limited at best, which I found surprising.

So what language did your book say Lawrence used to communicate with the arabs? French?

No, he definitely spoke Arabic with Faisal I and the Arabs. Whether he was actually fluent enough to sustain a full conversation and conduct negotiations is more murky.

The author (Christian Destremau) supports this claim with quotes from Lawrence himself, taken from the letters he wrote home. Lawrence complains about his Arabic being rusty or limited, and he sounds pretty dismissive about his own language abilities. Now, whether it’s genuine modesty, self-deprecating British humor or the truth -- I don’t know.

This biography wants to contrast the “legend” with the actual man, so I guess it makes sense for the author to take Lawrence at his words.

[Purangi]

I went to one of his concerts a long time ago. I met him afteerwards and bought a CD from him (remember those). We talked for several minutes about Louisiana, Cajun and Zydeco music and French in Louisiana. He is an interesting and talented man

It's awesome that you not only saw Zachary perform live, but also got to talk to him!

I never heard the term Zydeco before, but wiki tells me it might be a deformation of "les haricots"? Pretty cool if you ask me!

I'm sure your other languages will see some use as well, perhaps even some unexpected ones like Haitian Creole. ¡Buen viaje! Boa viagem! Bon vwayaj!

Mesi anpil! Mwen espere m'ap gen chans pale yon ti kras kreyol nan sud.

[DaveAgain]

- I read a French biography of Lawrence of Arabia, in which the author talks a bit about how Lawrence learned Arabic. His abilities appeared to have been limited at best, which I found surprising.

So what language did your book say Lawrence used to communicate with the arabs? French?

No, he definitely spoke Arabic with Faisal I and the Arabs. Whether he was actually fluent enough to sustain a full conversation and conduct negotiations is more murky.

The author (Christian Destremau) supports this claim with quotes from Lawrence himself, taken from the letters he wrote home. Lawrence complains about his Arabic being rusty or limited, and he sounds pretty dismissive about his own language abilities. Now, whether it’s genuine modesty, self-deprecating British humor or the truth -- I don’t know.

This biography wants to contrast the “legend” with the actual man, so I guess it makes sense for the author to take Lawrence at his words.

A magazine article speaks of Lawerence having five years of immersion in Syria before WW1, so perhaps his self-perceived limitations was with the differing varieties of arabic dialects?

[iguanamon]

I saw this today on my social media feed, and thought you might find it interesting: Leçons à tirer de la Louisiane pour la francophonie and in English Lessons from Louisiana for the Francophonie.

Louisiana French is not politicized. It doesn’t divide. Language and culture are lived by choice and, above all, with pleasure

[Purangi]

A magazine article speaks of Lawerence having five years of immersion in Syria before WW1, so perhaps his self-perceived limitations was with the differing varieties of arabic dialects?

I think it's safe to assume so, and might explain some of his struggles. Like you mentioned, his "formative years" were spent in immersion in and around Carchemish, which could be a Northern Levantine area (?). Dahoum, his "language partner", is only described as a local Arab. And then the war started and he basically started hanging out with a bunch of Hijazi royalty and guerrilleros.

[Purangi]

I saw this today on my social media feed, and thought you might find it interesting: Leçons à tirer de la Louisiane pour la francophonie and in English Lessons from Louisiana for the Francophonie.

Louisiana French is not politicized. It doesn’t divide. Language and culture are lived by choice and, above all, with pleasure

Absolutely fascinating! I listened to some clips of Telelouisiane.com and they really go all in, they speak in that very Louisianan way from the start until the end. Not something you would hear on CBC. To my unexperienced ears, it sounds definitely like something out of New-Brunswick

This awesome dude named Jourdan Thibodeaux, cooking while speaking Cajun French, is probably the perfect embodiment of my idea of Cajun culture.