#language nerd

[sertralineman]

old polish* names are metal as fuck, cause they can literally mean something like "the destroyer of peace" (Kazimierz), "the rage has come"(Przybygniew), "the one that praises killing/murdering" (Morzysław), "the one that does not know peace" (Nieznamir), or, my personal favorite, "the one that avenges his comrades" (Mściwoj).

it gets even more badass - because the pre-christian slavic traditions and language were rather poorly documented, and throughout history, there have been attempts to erase the records, we can't actually know for sure what exactly some of them were supposed to mean, or how were they used. we're left with names that could belong to a demonic antagonist in a fantasy book, their sound harsh, their origin shrouded in mystery.

*many of those are names in other slavic languages, too, but i'm talking specifically old polish names because i am polish and that's the language i know the most about.

[anonyunknownonearth]

Jason is the type of nerd to know all the actual meanings and layered intentions behind book quotes, references, famous quotes, lit quotes, philosophical quotes, but still make jokes & quips about their literal meanings in daily life. But can anyone else do it? Oh HELL no! For How could someone be so shallow, uneducated, dumb, and illiterate regarding old classics?

Behold an Example below:-

All bets are off if anyone else even tries, and Jason calls in backup if needed. The backup is slightly more terrifying than Jason himself on a normal day, but in this situation? She’s just a confirmation of the offenders demolition. No kidding, it’s Barbara effing Gordon

[clever-ludicrous]

How to Actually Learn a Language (Without Wasting Time)

Polyglots will do anything to sell you something, so here’s the fastest and most basic technique based on my research.

—

Step 1 – Getting the Absolute Basics In

This is where most people already get lost. If you search social media for how to start, the advice isn’t necessarily bad, but it often makes you dependent on a single resource, usually an app that will eventually try to charge you. Duolingo, for example, has turned into a mega-corporation that perfected gamification to keep you on the app.

Remember: free apps make money by keeping you on their platform, not by helping you become fluent.

At this stage, the goal is not to gain conversational skills but to avoid overwhelming yourself and get a feel for what you’re actually getting into. All my recommended resources are free because I believe learning a language should be a basic right. I wouldn’t advise spending any money until you’re sure you’ll stick with it. Otherwise, it can turn into a toxic “but I paid for this, so I have to keep going” mindset that drains all the fun out of learning.

• Language Transfer – Highly recommended for Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, German, Greek, Italian, Swahili, and French.

• Textbooks – Simply search for [language] textbook PDF, or check LibGen and the Internet Archive. Don’t overthink which book to choose—it doesn’t matter much.

• Podcasts – Coffee Break is a solid choice for many languages.

• YouTube Channels – Join r/Learn[language] on Reddit and find recommendations.

—

Step 2 – The 20/80 Principle

The idea is that 20% of words make up 80% of everyday speech.

What you’re going to do:

Search “Most common words [language] PDF”.

This list is now your best friend

For flashcards, I highly recommend AnkiPro. It lets you import pre-made lists for Anki/Quizlet and has an archive where you’ll definitely find the most common words. But it lacks audio. The real Anki program has it, but only on PC (unless you’re willing to pay $30 for the mobile app). Use AnkiPro for now—we’ll come back to repeating phrases later. In the meantime, find a YouTube video with the most common words pronounced, or use Google Translate for audio.

(Knowt is a free alternative for Quizlet if you prefer that)

These lists will spare you from learning unnecessary vocabulary at this stage. Spaced repetition (which Anki uses) can take longer, but it’s worth it because you want these words to stick. Anki will only introduce a small number of new words per day. Once you start new words, write phrases using them. Doesn’t matter if they’re random just try to use them.

—

Step 3 – The First Breakup With the Language

This isn’t really a step, but I have to mention it. For me (and for other language learners I’ve talked to) this is where motivation crashes.

The dopamine rush is over. Your ego boost is gone. You’re stuck understanding just enough to notice how much you don’t understand, and topics are getting more complex. Everything feels overwhelming, and motivation drops.

This is normal. You have to push through it.

I’ll write a separate post on how I manage this phase, but for now:

• Take a step back and make sure you understand the basics.

• Find something that keeps you motivated.

• Consistency is key. Even if it’s just five minutes a day, do it. (Edit: You can search online for inspiration on scheduled plans. I found one that organizes language exercises into different categories based on how much time you have each day, which seems helpful. https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/s/sSGUtORurM

Personally, I used AI to create a weekly plan kind of as a last resort before giving up on the language, but try looking for pre-made ones first.)

I personally enjoyed story learning during this phase. And don’t forget the frequency lists are still your best friend. For story learning check out Olly Richards books!

—

Step 4 – Immersion

Your brain needs active and passive immersion. The earlier steps were mostly active, and now you’ll start the fun part.

How to Immerse Yourself:

1. Join some kind of community.

• I enjoy Reddit/ r/lean[Language]. Do this in your target language, but also in the language you already speak. Post that you’re looking for a chat partner in your target language. The most people are nice, and the mean ones will just ghost you anyway.

2. Watch shows.

• Subtitles only in your target language or drop English subtitles ASAP.

3. Listen to podcasts.

4. Read

I personally dislike media made for kids (except on low-energy days). For real immersion, pick something for adults.

5. Translate, write, and speak.

Before this, you wrote simple sentences using vocabulary. Now, put them to work:

• Translate texts.

• Keep a diary.

• Write short stories.

• Complain about the language in the language.

It doesn’t matter, just use it.

—

Step 5 – Speaking

Start speaking earlier than you think you’re ready. Trust me. This is probably where most people disagree with me. I do think you should start by focusing on input, but the importance of output isn’t talked about enough.

Now, the real Anki (or any program with phrases + audio) comes into play. At lower levels, it doesn’t make sense to just start talking, since you wouldn’t even be able to recognize your mistakes. Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Repeat phrases out loud.

2. Record yourself speaking.

3. Compare your recording to the original audio and adjust your pronunciation.

If it’s a tonal language (or if you struggle with accents), start this even earlier.

Other Speaking Strategies:

• Shadowing – Repeat after native speakers.

• Reading aloud – Your own texts, books, anything.

• Talking to yourself.

• Talking to natives (if you’re brave).

I’m not here to fix social anxiety, but I am here to help with language learning, so just speak.

—

Final Thoughts

• These steps overlap, and that’s fine.

• This is supposed to be fun. Learning just because you’re “too deep in” or because of school won’t cut it.

• If you’re lost, take a step back.

• I’m not a professional. I just think a straight answer is way too hard to find.

—

If you have anything to add, feel free to share.

[deep-down-in-drowsy-town]

One Song in Every Language

Okay, tumblr. Let's try something.

I want to make a playlist with one song in every single language. Of course, this is impossible- the spotify playlist limit is something like 5,000- but I want to try. Of course, I can't do this alone, and so I'm sharing the project with the entire online language nerd/ music nerd community. Together we can celebrate linguistic diversity- and find some really cool music :)

Here's how it works. This spreadsheet will document every song and language represented. When you want to add a song, first look in the spreadsheet to see if that language is already represented. If it isn't, add the song to the playlist, and then add it to the spreadsheet.

What counts as a language? This is, as we all know, a fundamentally political question (Russian/ Ukrainian? Hindi/ Urdu? "Chinese" and its "dialects"...) We don't have to solve those debates here. My thinking is: the point is to celebrate linguistic diversity in as many forms as possible. If you can make a reasonable argument for why a song and its linguistic variety should be represented, go ahead and add it.

Yes, this means conlangs count (cause conlangs are SICK!) This also means dead languages count- throw in all the Latin and Classical Nahuatl you like. Glossolalia (à la Sigur Ros) and semi-linguistic scat-esque nonsense (à la Kobaian)? Sure, why not!

I'm calling this one song in every language, but we also want to highlight small and minority languages. So maybe we don't want ten different French songs, but if there are two or three different artists singing in Sami (especially different varieties of Sami), throw it in!

Let's make this awesome. Let's make this huge. Spread it around to every language nerd and music geek you know.

Thanks, dankon, merci, etc :)

[thebellekeys]

Recommendations for media about translation, interpreting, and foreign languages

Movies and TV

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020) The Interpreter (2005) The Last Stage (1948)

Books

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri The Interpreter by Suki Kim Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok Translation Nation by Héctor Tobar Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip Translation State by Ann Leckie

Other Important Topics and Subjects

La Malinche The Rosetta Stone The Tower of Babel The Adamic Language Esperanto Philology Goethean World Literature

Documentaries and History

The Interpreters: A Historical Perspective The Nuremberg Trials Biblical Translation St. Jerome - patron saint of translators Shu-ilishu's Seal (first depiction of an interpreter)

[chiara-klara-claire]

Snailmail I wrote in Japanese talking about my trips🎌

[sisi-learns-languages]

Russian Vocabulary: Around the House

Russian — English

• Дом — house

• Комната — room

• Гараж — garage

• Лестница — stairs

• Диван — couch

• Лампа — lamp

• Телевизор — television

• Ванна — bathtub

• Душ — shower

• Раковина — sink

• Мыло — soap

• Туалет — toilet

• Чашка — cup

• Вилка — fork

• Нож — knife

• Микроволновка — microwave

• Тарелка — plate

• Холодильник — refrigerator

• Ложка — spoon

• Кровать — bed

• Одеяло — blanket

• Подушка — pillow

• Стул — chair

• Патио — patio

• Бассейн — pool

• Двор — yard

• Чердак — attic

• Подвал — basement

• Потолок — ceiling

• Стена — wall

• Дверь — door

• Пол — floor

• Крыша — roof

• Окно — window

[victusinveritas]

(Posted for interest, not to start a linguistic nerds fighting with--if you wish to fight with each other about this, though, go at it with my blessing and may your tongues drift and phonemes malform or whatever.)

[bnt-2dadheen]

« الــلَكتة، الـعسل، والـفاميليا أَساسيان للصحة المُمتــازة »

« Ayc, Θḥama, akk Θidjil n wemdan s-sin n θmetta »

A sort of ✨introduction✨ for anyone who comes across my blog/account 💅🏼 || This’ll include some various infos about me, my life, & my interests; as well as some DO’s & DON’Ts considering my dm’s will always be ✨OPEN✨ for new friends or anybody who wants someone to yap to 🤗

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Do’s - Be able to hold conversations! Be a good person! Be Interesting! Be drinking water! Be happy! Be curious! Be open with your personal interests & hobbies! Be funny but don’t try too hard!

Don’ts - Don’t be gross! Don’t be creepy! Don’t be dry! Don’t harass me in anyway! Don’t ask for pictures! Don’t be racist or homophobic! Don’t be antisemitic! Don’t be sexist! Don’t be close-minded in general! Don’t dm me with the intentions of a relationship!! Don’t attempt to RP with me!

——————————————————————————

HELLO 👋🏼 you can call me Rosa, I’m Moroccan Amazigh & I’ve got AuDHD! I was born on the 8th of March, 1997! I’m super super suuuuper into things like languages, conlangs (i wanted to make, & have the very beginnings of my own conlang & have said basics in a notebook somewhere lol) countryballs, dinosaurs, (alt-)history, ancient or obscure religions, anthropology, palaeontology, philosophy, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Stargate SG1, Bladerunner, music, travelling, culinary, baking; anime like JJBA, AoT, Black Clover, Goblin Slayer, Cowboy Bebop; video games like Bangon Balls, Crusader Kings 3, Hearts of Iron 4, EU4, BG3, Stellaris, WH40k, Fallout, Rimworld, TW series, Telltale TWD, FTWD, Assassins Creed & honestly learning anything in general; I love to learn new things!! I like camping, hiking, swimming, doing cardio or squats for work out stuffs, rock-climbing, cave-diving; i just enjoy being outdoors in general & because of this love for the outdoors, i also play Soccer, Volleyball, & Softball :D I’ve lived all over the place & visited lots of different countries. Currently, I’ve visited Kuwait, Iraq, KSA 🇸🇦, HKJ 🇯🇴, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, UAE 🇦🇪, Greece, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Israel/Palestine, Liberia, USA, Germany, Canada, France, UK, & Italy 🙂‍↕️☺️

I’ve worked a few cooking jobs here & there; baking sweets & pastries, making pizzas, italian cuisine, spanish cuisine, making candy, japanese cuisine (kokunai), etc. in a couple different countries!! I’ve also worked as a coffee barista, in masonry, woodworking, harvesting crops like oranges, grapes, olives, tomatoes, dry-walling, & as well as in a Nursery for various plants & crops 🤗!! But I’m currently working in an apprenticeship for Commercial/Residential Electrical Technician/Maintenance for units like HVAC, Digilocks, Motion Detectors, Smoke/Heat Detectors, etc. thru a few hotels in my region, as well as studying to get my PhD in Historical Linguistics! I currently have a BA & a MA 🤗 Next goal will be a PhD in Palaeontology! 🤩 or maybe Palaeoanthropology? or perhaps Palaeoclimateology? 🤔 Too many choices!! I can speak Darija (C2), Djebli (C2), Ghomara (C2), Chaldean Syriac (~A1), Hebrew (roughly ~A1), Nusayrieh/Shamieh (Arabic dialect, C2), Hassanieh (Arabic dialect-ish, C2), Tamazight/Tarifiyt (C2), English (C2), Türkī (not Turkish, ~B2ish to ~C1ish), Farsi (~C2ish), & Kurdish (B2)!! I can also speak Romaničib (~A1), Interlingua/Saber (~A1), & Interslavic (~B1)!! I’d love to learn more languages but I don’t think my brain can handle anymore for now 🙃🪦🤲🏼

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« أشـــهَدُأن عشق علي حيـــاة »

« ⴰⵢⵛ, ⵝⵃⴰⵎⴰ, ⴰⴾⴾ ⵝⵉⴷⵊⵉⵍ ⵏ ⵡⵎⴷⴰⵏ ⵙⵙⵉⵏ ⵏ ⵜⵎⴻⵜⵜⴰ »

If you have ✨any✨ questions, concerns, curious-inclinations, or just want to talk some more about whatever then you should ✨definitely✨ dm me & let’s be moots !! 🤗 ♥️

[lilysandhyacinths]

I just know Peter Pettigrew was the biggest language nerd ever

Like Sirius would say a joke in French and Peter would hear it and understand it so he would start laughing while everyone was confused

Same goes with James when he speaks Spanish and Remus when he speaks Welsh

[baudouinette]

@aurianavaloria and I talking abt Old French

old French playlist

[flicktheguy]

Been on Xiao Hong Shu checking out the vibes... honestly a lot less addictive and toxic(maybe a little boring cause everyone is so nice). Anyways learning Mandarin does make me better than everyone...though learning Mandarin, Greek, and Spanish together is very funny (and definitely inefficient). Because in English we say "It's all greek to me." And in Greek (and maybe Spanish) they say "it's all Chinese to me." So now I've effectively made all of these idioms obsolete in the most inefficient way possible. Except learning the language of ghosts... maybe I should consult a necromancer or something....

Anyways I drew Southern US Snakes for New Years, according to the fortune tellers I'm going to have a good year (year of the dog)...I sure hope 🥲

新年好!!

[karasbroken]

While I was in deep need of distraction, one of my Discord buddies asked me my thoughts on a couple of Farscape linguistic mysteries and invited me to nerd out. It's self-indulgent, but I enjoyed my on-the-fly invented head canons, and thought I'd preserve the noodlings here. This is the second.

The question, paraphrased was:

In contrast to the first word puzzle about the use of Chimera, a human mythology term, between two Peacekeepers with no humans to overhead, we have the problem of Lerg. As in "Lt. Reljick: Found him sir, section 18, lerg 8."

Is Lerg just PK for "level"? If so why don't we hear them say level? This is another PK to PK exchange. Why don't PKs say level? Even on Moya they say "tier".

My response (here there be geek speak):

So like my other answer, we start with principles. Whether it's PK to PK or John is there to hear it, I don't think the show, unlike some, is going to gratuitously use a space word just to use a space word. I mean the writers do occasionally, to make it more sci fi feeling, but there is (mostly) a consistency to it. Which is that on Farscape they only use an alien word when the English equivalent isn't an exact match. So a cycle isn't exactly a year, a microt isn't exactly a second, a weeken isn't the same as a week, etc.

Here's the examples of lurg/lerg:

S1E3 Throne for a Loss

John: Location?

Zhaan: Delta 6 - Primno 9 - Lerg 8.

S1E19 Nerve

Heskon: Your quarters have been assigned. Level 4, number 6-lerg-5.

S3E11 Incubator

PA system: Ionized indicators are holding steady at 4-lurg-9.

---

Scorpius: (slowly reciting as he remembers the gently rotating streams of mathematical symbols) Voken 9. Exponent 9. Devera 4 - 3 - 1. Equivalence mastered. 9. Palonic square. Equivalence interval. 9. Volker hypercube. Brelmatic. 6-lurg-1. That's everything I recall.

S3E15 Infinite Possibilities Part 2 - Icarus Abides

Furlow: Coils are almost ready.

Jack/Ancient: What's the tolerance?

Furlow: Lurg 3. Close as I can get 'em.

S3E20 Into the Lion's Den Part 1 - Lambs to the Slaughter

LeanPK: Got 'em sir. Junction 3 - lurg 8

__________________________

So this word has been used in front of John as well as between PKs, but in both cases it's used because there isn't a clean translation. "Level 4, number 6 lerg5." It doesn't mean level... So what does it mean?

It's often used in combination with numbers to identify location. It's definitely used as one axis in a directional vector. The most confusing reference is the one from Infinite Possibilities, where it's a tolerance measurement....

My theory? It's part of the Sebacean alphabet/writing system. (I've always assumed Sebacean is written in either syllable or ideogram, or both because it has significantly more symbols than the English alphabet.)

We use letters all the time in science and math to stand for variables and vectors. We also use letters in combination with numbers in IDs too.

And the most pertinent clue is in the first time we see the word used, "Delta 6 - Primno 9 - Lerg 8." Doesn't that look a lot like an X,Y, Z point in space? They even use a Greek letter delta for one of the coordinates. (Maybe the 4th symbol in an ancient Sebacean writing system was close enough to the 4th symbol in an ancient human writing system for the translator microbes to make the connection.)

So that's my theory, lerg is the name of a language symbol that is also used on its own as a shorthand identifier and it doesn't translate directly into X or Z because we don't have the same alphabet.

I think that a couple of these examples, the science ones and when Furlow talks about machining tolerance, are something like really big or small numbers, that lerg here might be the equivalent of our E for exponent, used in numbers like 3E6 for 3 million.

So what do you think? Could I be on to something? Have I missed an official explanation for the word lerg? Do you have any Farscape linguistic potholes for me to spackle over with nonsense?

[clever-ludicrous]

I haven’t been really active lately but I came across something I wanted to share.

It’s a free language learning app called Lingo Legend, and I’m honestly a bit surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.

It’s basically just a vocab game where you’re a farmhand. The game is split between working on your farm and going on adventures.

You can choose what theme of vocab — though it doesn’t seem to be possible to put in your own — and set the pace you wish to play. There’s a daily energy limit, which you can refill by watching ads but there are no ad interruptions.

Supported languages are:

French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.

Maybe I’m just late to the party and everyone already knows about it but I rarely see it talked about.

[cosmogyros]

Okay, Last.fm is down, so let's pass the time by seeing which drink wins out from all the error-page drink recommendations:

English: tea German: Tee (tea) Spanish: té (tea) French: café (coffee) Italian: caffè (coffee) Japanese: nothing?! Polish: herbaty albo kawy (tea or coffee) Portuguese: chazinho (tea) Russian: чая (tea) Swedish: te (tea) Turkish: çay (tea) Chinese: 好茶 (good tea)

Conclusion: tea wins by a mile!

Thoughts:

- Very cute that Chinese specifies you should make GOOD tea (although I wonder if this is just another example of that Chinese-language quirk where it sounds better to insert a generic adjective before the noun to make it into a two-character phrase?)

- I like that Polish is equal-opportunity. Whatever drink you want is okay with them! However, it's spelled "Polskie" – isn't that the wrong gender for the name of the language? I thought it was "język polski".

- The word for "German" is also misspelled, and the Chinese translation doesn't include the term for "Chinese" at all, unless I'm missing something. Looks like they just randomly bolded the first two characters of the tea-making suggestion itself, which is rather silly.

- Fun to notice that Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese use one word for tea (cha/chai), while English, German, Spanish, and Swedish use a different one (te). It looks like Polish belongs to this second group as well, based on the final syllable of "herbaty".

- Deeply disappointed on behalf of the Japanese that they don't get a drink recommendation. My condolences, Japanese-speakers.

[troythecatfish]