languagesandstuff - Tumblr blog

[languagesandstuff]

what the fuck

saxo cere comminuit brum

what the actual fuck

[languagesandstuff]

Hi Jumblr if you're interested in endangered Jewish languages, you should check out Endangered Language Alliance! While the website doesn't teach you any of the languages, there are small histories written about them and most (if not all) of the Jewish languages listed have videos of native speakers. The website has Ladino (called Judeo-Spanish), Judeo-Isfahani, Judeo-Shirazi, Judeo-Kashani, Bukhori, and Juhuri.

[languagesandstuff]

Bonjour maman ! Est-ce que tu as des conseils pour améliorer la prononciation (bien sûr parler aide, mais j'ai trop peur).

Merci beaucoup !

Hello dear,

To improve your pronunciation:

Listen to native pronunciation on Forvo (Deepl for sentences)

Study phonetics to understand sound making

Study nasals specifically

Use a phonetic converter for hard words

Dictate a paragraph to your computer

Read the physical book as you listen to the audiobook

Record yourself reading and listen to your audio while looking away to see if you can understand it

Watch subtitled content muted, try saying the line, play it again and listen to it to compare

Hire me (honhon)!

Get a learning buddy on Reddit, join a language group in your city, go to a museum or the library and make friends

Hope this helps and good luck! x

Fanmail - masterlist (2016-) - archives - hire me - reviews (2020-) - Drive

[languagesandstuff]

i need to know every language immediately

[languagesandstuff]

German Vocabulary: Drawing

der Bleistift (pl. die Bleistifte) – [lead] pencil der Drehbleistift – mechanical pencil der Farbstift – coloured pencil der Filzstift – felt-tip pen die Feder – [nibbed] pen die Kreide – chalk das Papier – paper der Radierer – eraser der Spitzer – pencil sharpener die Tusche – India ink die Zeichenkohle – charcoal

die Abstufung – gradation, shading das Aktzeichnen – figure drawing; life drawing der Fluchtpunkt – vanishing point das Glanzlicht – highlight der Kontrast – contrast die Kreuzschraffur – cross-hatching die Linie – line die Perspektive – perspective die Proportion – proportion der Punkt (pl. die Punkte) – dot die Schraffur – hatching die Skizze – sketch die Strichzeichnung – line drawing die Studie – study die Zeichnung – drawing

radieren – to erase schattieren – to shade schraffieren – to hatch; to shade skizzieren – to sketch zeichnen – to draw

gebogen – curved gerade – straight grafisch – graphic grob – rough schattiert – shaded stilistisch – stylistic zickzack – zigzag

[languagesandstuff]

eastern slavs: ш

western slavs: szcszčsczš

[languagesandstuff]

my friend and i were going to study a language together and wound up having to cancel our plans due to scheduling pressures, but! through research we came across a really cool resource for reading in a TON of languages: bloom library!

as you can see, it has a lot of books for languages that are usually a bit harder to find materials for—we were going to use it for kyrgyz, for example, which has over 1000 books, which was really hard to find textbook materials for otherwise. as you can see it also has books with audio options, which would be really useful for pronunciation checking. as far as i can tell, everything on the site is free as well.

[languagesandstuff]

after too long in exile

I hear Yiddish and feel immediately at home.

I hear Yiddish and the rhythms sound like family.

I hear Yiddish and my heart yearns for more.

I hear Yiddish feel Yiddish want Yiddish am Yiddish

I hear Yiddish and I do not understand a word.

[languagesandstuff]

being in ur twenties is just [drinks coffee] [has an existential crisis] [goes out for brunch for self care]

ig: @studylustre

[languagesandstuff]

So let’s talk about language representation.

I’m probably beating the ultimate dead horse here—I figured I might’ve been able to go a year of Tumblr without scolding Langblr/Lingblr over linguistic diversity but somehow it kinda always comes to this? I guess that’s the issue of being in a position where you can feel and see an issue first hand.

Look, straight up, if you’re going to post about languages outside of Europe for the sake of diversity don’t do the least amount of research for a quick post. That’s just... not helpful. At that point it becomes a question of why you’re doing it because is that actually a respectful way to go about it? And yes there may not be anything negative intended but it becomes a question of respect. If you can’t give the same level of energy to a language you a aren’t actively learning or learning about that you do to one you are, are you really treating them at the same level?

This has been bothering me for some time, I even had my own instance where I saw my language written about and was pretty offended by part of it and had to correct it while gritting my teeth in seething anger internally because that’s how deep rooted the offense was—and it wasn’t even that the author had malintent! The author is a very nice individual! But the research wasn’t there. I didn’t feel the respect was either for that matter. The level of research you put into writing about a language matters. The level of respect you put into that research matters. If you’re just going for a one off, that’s your choice, but it can come off as very disrespectful and disingenuous.

There’s gotta be some sort of point where it isn’t problematic to highlight that respect has to go across the board and representation has to go beyond pulling a Disney Star Wars level of effort. It’s genuinely annoying to continue trying to overlook the matter so we can tap on the supposed better angels of our nature.

[languagesandstuff]

Loneliness is so stupid, let’s learn Latin and avoid responsibility together instead.

[languagesandstuff]

Motivation is overrated. No amount of motivation would’ve gotten me through hours of my accounting textbook. No “vision” is enough to keep me awake til the crack of dawn on an essay that I don’t even know if the professor will check. Discipline is what determines how far you go. On those days when your cute little list of #goals and vision of yourself 5 years from now aren’t enough, discipline will pull you out of bed and get you to work. I wish I knew this in high school because I thought I couldn’t work without motivation. I wasted so much time trying to find purpose before I realized that working now, albeit blindly, will ensure that I could chase any purpose I discover in the future. Sure, motivation is crucial, but it’s not consistent. It’s not reliable. You can only rely on yourself and your grit. 

[languagesandstuff]

5 German films to watch (that aren’t dark and gritty or Lola rennt)

1. Honig im Kopf

(lit.: Honey in the head)

The story of a girl and her grandfather, who has Alzheimer. The film follows the whole family coming to terms and dealing with the illness. Starring Germany’s Til Schweiger, who’s otherwise known to make kind of silly rom-coms with weird titles that nobody really likes (at least I haven’t met anyone yet). Bittersweet and sad at times, yes, but also doesn’t paint the story in too dramatic colours and always keeps a bit of the light-hearted atmosphere through out the film. Everyone was going nuts when it came out though, guess it was kind of the surprise of Til Schweiger doing something that was actually good?? I don’t know. Just watch the film, don’t ponder too much about it.

2. Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimnis der blauen Eulen

(lit.: Bibi Blocksberg and the secret of the blue owls)

My childhood. I’m not kidding. Bibi Blocksberg is a popular German children’s character - she’s like, what, maybe 11 years old? Anyway, she’s a witch and her mum’s one too, her father’s named Bernard, her mum, who’s also a witch by the way, is named Barbara (because of ALLITERATION) and she has a broom called “mashed potates”. That’s kinda all you need to know to start. So I rewatched the trailer now, and I cringed a little bit at how 2004  it is, but it’s glorious. I don’t remember much of the plot to be honest, just that Bibi is … at a summer school and there’s a labyrinth under the school, which is where the secret of the blue owls is hidden. Bibi and her friend Elea, whose parents died in a car accident when she was young and who now uses a wheelchair, are determined to find out more, but the evil witch Rabia (whom Bibi more or less successfully banned to the Devil’s Moor in the first movie) is back and already plotting for revenge. Is it a kid’s movie? Yes. Should you watch it anyway? YES.

3. Systemfehler - Wenn Inge Tanzt

(lit.: Systemfehler (name of the band) - When Inge Dances)

Dude. I’ve never watched this movie, but I heard it’s really fricking funny. A mix of Germany’s adaption of Camp Rock, Rock It! (I’ve linked the trailer but that doesn’t mean you should go watch it honestly don’t do that to yourself) and the actually really funny Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück (lit.: Groupies don’t stay for breakfeast), that didn’t make this list for the simple reason that “6 German films to watch” would break the tradition of using either 3, 5 or 10 for these kind of posts. And who am I to anger the langblr ancestors?

Anyway ABOUT THE MOVIE. So Max is the singer of a small band called “Systemfehler”, which he founded with his friends. Recently they’ve landed a surprisingly big hit with a song making fun of their more eco-friendly activist classmate Inge, which…the name alone. Any German will understand. It’s no Kevin, but … just don’t call your child Inge if you want it to make friends on the Pausenhof. The song, called “Wenn Inge Tanzt”, blows up so much that manager Dan Biermann offers them to be the opening act of the band Madsen (they’re moderately big Germany, trust me). But oh no! Their guitarrist Joscha breaks both of his hands! Just when it seems their dream of fame will only remain a dream, Inge offers to replace Joscha, under one condition…that they won’t play “Wenn Inge Tanzt” at the concert. Genuinely funny! I haven’t watched it but I definitely want to!!

4. Rubinrot   (English Trailer)/(German Trailer)

(lit.: Ruby Red)

I think this is the only film here with an English dub (not going to comment on the quality here, or the fact that they all have American accents even though the film CLEARLY takes place in the uk…beggars can’t be choosers).

It’s a fantasy film, based on the YA Novel by Kerstin Gier, which was an internation success and I think it even made it on the NY Times bestseller list (correct me if I’m wrong).

Gwendolyn Shepherd never felt like she was anything special, because even though she lives in midst of her big family in a posh mansion in Mayfair, as far as she can remember all attention has been on her cousin Charlotte. You see, Charlotte is the Ruby, last in a line of 12 people (each with pretentiously assigned symbolic gemstones) that possess the gift of time-traveling, spanning through out history. All of Gwen’s family is part of the Lodge, an underground club made up of England’s upper ten thousand dedicaded to protecting the secret, who have been training and preparing Charlotte and her time-traveling partner aka Mysterious Arrogant Hottie aka Gideon De Villiers aka Kotzbrocken all their lifes. But in the days before Charlotte’s first time jump, Gwen’s stomach does some weird things and instead of the school cafeteria, she finds herself back in 1823.

What is she supposed to do? Tell the Lodge that their century-old calculations are wrong? Face the blistering wrath of her aunt and cousin? Learn how to dance the minuette? All that plus one thing: Under no, NO circumstances fall for handsome-but-devilishly-arrogant Gideon de Villiers. Which turns out to be harder than it seems.

This is 2011-you’s day dream, jokes aside. A posh mansion in London with a quirky family? Check. A secret society of time-travelers? Check. Doing adventerous stuff in a ball gown with an arrogant hottie that would drop everything for you in 0.2 seconds? CHECK.

(btw if you’re about to shit all over them bc you’re ~edgy and ~cooler than the rest of us, fricking FIGHT ME 12 year olds deserve all the cheesy time traveling heroine stabbing bad guys in ball gown fantasies they can get)

I WORSHIPPED these books and I wish the film had done them justice, because even though clearly written for 10-15 year olds, they’re funny and full of original ideas and plot twists. Unfortunately, they fell victim to the Percy Jackson Phenomenon, where in comparison with the book the film is an abyss of badness, but sufficiently entertaining when viewed as a stand-alone. If you’re into fantasy and you had a long day in school/at work and just want to get some daily target language input without having to think too much about plot deepness, this exactly what you’re searching for.

5. Fack Ju Göhte

(lit.: well…kind of self-explanatory.Goethe is a very famous German poet, if you didn’t know. Smart guy.)

(If you’re a beginner you maybe shouldn’t start with this film. The characters talk very fast, use incorrect grammar, slang and all in all it’s not very easy to understand).

You knew it was coming. You knew it. @ German person that clicked on this list, curious, whispering to themselves “but will she mention … that film??”. Yes. Yes, I will. This list could not be complete without this film. My life and the lifes of thousands of other German students would not be complete without this film.

Okay, let me explain. You can argue with me all you want, but right here is a work of immensiously contemporary importance in the German society, arguably the peak of German cinema. Everyone has seen it at least twice. Kindergarten children repeat the punchlines one to another. Make the mistake to say the name “Chantall” out loud in a classroom full of 7th graders and you’ll be greeted with a chorus of delighted “HEUL LEISER”‘s.

I could write a the whole plot out here and go into a deep analysis of how this film criticises the German education system and in particular its neglection of everyone who comes from a lower social class or the place and role of turkish immigrants in society and what problems they face, but. Imma be honest. That film is first and foremost fricking hilarious.

It’s an ex-bank robber called Zeki Müler who ends up as a substitute teacher on accident, assigned to now teach the “Problemklasse” (usually the class with the worst reputation, made up of kids that don’t study and find joy in disrupting class (in this case all clichées of the German lower classes) of the school. Throw in a bag of money that’s buried under the gym, a doomed reenactment of Romeo and Juliet, a paintball gun and an overly correct teacher prone to hysterics that can’t seem to mind her own business and you got yourself a movie that Germany won’t forget so quickly.

(the title is a pun - an intentional misspelling of F*ck You, Goethe since the name of the school where the film takes place is the Goethe Gesamtschule).

A colourful, goofy, exagerated portrayal of school in Germany. All teachers show it in the last class before summer holidays. Iconic. If you want to immidiately get on the good side of a German teen, drop a few references. Just- watch it.

So, I hoped you all liked this collection of films and I could help you out a bit. Who knows, I think I might make a post about popular German YA literature. You see, these are the things that help me enourmosly when learning a new language - pop cultur, wether it is recent or a bit older. Often it shows the spirit of a country and you’ll always have something to talk about with native speakers!

[languagesandstuff]

And this is just a small part of variations of the word “pierdolić”.

[languagesandstuff]

crying blood thinking about the loss of jewish linguistic diversity throughout the levant and the diaspora. dying wasting away ripping out my throat.

[languagesandstuff]

Last minute study for my French Literature exam ! (From my boyfriends balcony - my fav place to do work.) This semester we analysed Cœur du Sahel by Djaïli Amadou Amal and it was surprisingly my favourite read of this year :)

[languagesandstuff]

academia things that genuinely make me happy

large textbooks filled with extra papers which hold the answers to the problems you thought were too brilliant to be thrown away, or the simple short summary of a part you were struggling to understand before

having your textbook absolutely ruined by highlighters and sticky notes all over it, those little tips and ideas you picked up from the lesson. anyone who opens that book immediately knows that you’ve studied the crap out of it and know the concept by heart. “this is the most annotated book i’ve ever seen” is literally the highest form of compliment for me.

solving math or chemistry problems to a soundtrack album or ambient sounds, extra points if it’s in afternoon lol

when you’re so focused and keen on getting to the final answer that your hand physically can’t keep up with your eagerness so you end up with the most incoherent solution. but you’ve finally got the answer right!

being self-taught in a subject or a few chapters of the textbook, and still smashing the quizzes and the exams

coming up with a new solution to the problem, or seeing the problem from a new perspective, and finally being able to solve it because of just that.

confidently walking out of the exam room. 0 doubt in your mind that you crushed it!

actually feeling how you’ve grown academically, and how much more knowledgeable you are compared to the beginning of the semester

casually and confidently having conversations with a professor about your studies, exchanging ideas and discussing the existing theories, methods, on-going research and all

all of this is everything i want in life- god