#Fun fact I'm trying to apply my own advice to my german skills

[thyandrawrites]

You mentioned being Italian, how did you learn to speak or at least write English so well? Your Japanese translations are also pretty good too! I want learn Italian so what would you recommend that would help learn to read and write another language?

Thank you!

The genuine answer? Fandoms. Really. I've been studying languages for most of my life (english since elementary school, french in middle and high school, german since hs and japanese since college) but so far I've only gotten truly fluent in the only language I didn't just approach from a textbook learning angle. My fluency probably also comes from speaking english the longest, but what really improved my proficiency was consuming and engaging with my passions in my target language. Something that I struggle a lot with is staying motivated in the long run. I tend to run out of steam after a while, and I lose all the progress I made. But fandoms feed on my passions, so engaging with them helps me find the motivation to keep going, while also making it less like a chore that needs to be taken care of.

I was a B1 until I graduated high school, but then I started reading copius amounts of fanfic and meta in english, and began writing my own. Reading taught me a lot of common new words I had never encountered before in my textbooks, as well as several idioms, and the longer I kept at it, the more stuff I assimilated into my vocabulary. I spent a couple of years just reading ff, not thinking I had it in me to truly begin writing in my second language, but then it sort of... Just happened. I got a fic idea late at night and wrote a 6k oneshot in one sitting during an all nighter. The fact that I was tired and inspired probably lowered my remaining inhibitions and temporarily muted that part of my brain that was self-conscious. But suddenly, english didn't seem so scary anymore. When I reread what I wrote the next day, after getting some sleep, it wasn't as agrammatical and terrible as I had feared, and that motivated me to keep doing it. I find that a lot of the time what stops us from improving is the fear of making a fool of ourselves. I also didn't comment on fanfic for years in fear of outing myself, and on the rare occasions I did, I always prefaced my comments with an apology for my english. But when you finally get in the mindframe that people don't really care about any mistakes you might make, it was really liberating. Honestly, just have fun! Who cares! Native speakers make tons of mistakes too! I can see that so clearly now.

This was around the time I got into Tokyo Ghoul meta and timidly approached my first analyses. Meta is fairly different from creative writing, but it also helped me improve because it taught me essay writing better than my english teacher marking my mistakes in angry red. When you're trying to explain a concept so that others understand it, rather than just to get a passing grade, you will attempt to break it down into easier concepts and pace it better, instead of just paying attention to SPaG. This also had the side effect of teaching me how to better sort my thoughts and get them across clearly, which has always been a struggle for me in spoken conversations. My thoughts tend to be messy, and I trip over my words a lot (in my native language too), but thinking about going from point a to point b like I'm writing an essay helps me a lot, personally.

The last step was joining a discord server in 2019. I can't stress enough how language is constantly evolving, and how slang and everyday language isn't something you can passively learn from textbooks or online courses. Those are only good as the foundation of your skills. They teach you the grammar and the basic vocabulary, but then you have to engage with real people, you know? I've always struggled to hold a conversation because I'm socially awkward, but discord is useful to me because it is a group chat, so there is less pressure on my end to keep a conversation going. Interacting with people from all over the world taught me to be less self-conscious about my skills, and meeting people of different age ranges taught me a variety of slang expressions to pass for a not-boomer myself, at least at first glance :'D

Moral of the story, do follow courses and use textbooks (those are important!), but also keep in mind those are not the be-all end-all of language proficiency, like school and academia tries so hard to teach you. If you find yourself hitting a wall and not getting any better anymore, take it as a sign your grammar is good enough to take the next step in your journey. So then, try to think of something you have fun doing. A hobby of yours. And then think of ways you can engage with it in your target language.

I had different phases in my life where I explored various things thay way. I got obsessed with a band in middle school and started watching and rewatching the videos they posted online, trying to understand everything they said. This improved my listening skills considerably. Years later I got really into WoW and I learned vocab by playing it and by looking for tutorials online. If you read a lot, consider looking for titles in that language you want to learn. Stuff like this. Listening to music, watching movies or tv series with subtitles (esp if the subtitles are in your target language too). All this stuff helps a lot! And the added plus is that for however challenging it might be at first, you'll stay motivated because it relates to something you already enjoy

[scriptflorist]

Do the Japanese have their own separate "flower language" or did they largely adopt Victorian Europe/USA's? Because I know that some flowers (e.g. red spider lilies) have specific meanings and even folklore attached to them in Japanese culture that pop up sometimes (e.g. in imagery in Tokyo Ghoul or Inuyasha), but I also remember the "Sailor Moon R" movie from the 1990's, in English translation anyway, making reference to "the language of flowers" which made me think VFL so now I'm just confused

Hi vorpalgirl, long time no see!

The Japanese do in fact have a flower language of their own, it’s called Hanakotoba and we actually have a tag for it. You can find it right here!

Oh man, this is just reminding me of all the manga I need to finish reading at some point in my life. Without looking up the flowers in question (and hoping I can actually find something on Google to add at the end of this ask because wouldn’t that be neat), my best guess is that it’s a bit of everything. While Hanakotoba might be the obvious choice for Japanese artists especially if they lack the proper English skills, I’m not putting it past them to make use of the Victorian flower language just because they can. (Anyone remember Weiß Kreuz? There’s a 50% chance they just flipped open a German dictionary and were like “that word sounds cool.”)

And since it’s anime with a world all of its own, I wouldn’t actually put it past them to have a combination of Hanakotoba and the Victorian flower language as well as meanings derived from folklore within those universes. You pick what fits your story best is the general rule and since all three you mentioned are fantasy worlds a combination like that would be entirely possible.

Let’s try to decipher some of the flowers used, just for fun, yeah?

The first ending of Inuyasha features red spider lilies, which are also depicted in Tokyo Ghoul, their meanings derives directly from Hanakotoba and it’s never to meet again, lost memory and abandonment. They have no specific entry in the Victorian dictionary, which means they would be filed simply under lily. They mean majesty, purity and modesty, honour and purity of heart. However, it is unlikely that that meaning is the one we’re looking for.

Tokyo Ghould also features carnations, first white then stained red with blood. Carnations as well have meanings in Hanakotoba, which fascination, distinction and love. In the Victorian flower language, white carnations have their own meaning, being innocence, sweet and lovely, pure love and woman’s good luck gift. While in red their meaning changes to my heart breaks, my heart aches for you and admiration. In this case, we can say it is possible both Hanakotoba and the Victorian flower language have been applied.

I cannot say much about Sailor Moon, other than that the space flower breaks reality on all accounts.

Ultimately only the artists themselves know (or at least we should hope so) and if you really want to know I suggest asking them directly, given there is a way to do so.

- Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.