#SHOUTOUT AS WELL TO IJO KASIJO/CASIO TGTTOS... it got me properly in2 it initially

[ranboo5]

I've seen you talking about "toki pona" a bunch — what exactly is that? /gen

GRINS ATTENTION DEFICIENTLY

toki pona is a conlang (a constructed language)! It was first created in 2001 and a "dictionary" (record of common usage) was released a few years ago. It's got a thriving community and this is in part because it is intimidating in many ways to learn

It was created as an artlang with minimalism in mind – it's got an "official" core vocab of under 150 words, and while more exist as ppl can coin them, most speakers use fewer. Its grammar rules are also simple, strict, consistent, and allow for great flexibility With this tiny vocabulary, which is also off a phonology that's designed to be easy to pronounce and hear for speakers of most languages – this together makes it easy to get started, but learning how to express yourself in it and effectively parse it is a whole other beast. As something that uses a lot of jargon it's really interesting to me – toki pona is kind of anti-jargon! Its words have this like atomic quality and to talk about anything you have to actually, like, describe it with those broad base concepts. It's a really interesting way of thinking about speech and being cognizant of what you're emphasizing and why, and it's way more powerful than one may think

I've posted a decent amount in toki pona on here and on my main, mostly bc I'm currently hyperfixated on it and in a bunch of new servers about it. I really like toki pona – I've only been learning for a bit over two months, and I wouldn't call myself fluent, but I was conversational about a month ago and have been improving because uh my brain latched onto it like an alligator onto a gazelle (+ I have made a bunch of friends with whom I speak it, including the aforementioned jTepo)

YouTuber jan Misali is most people's (and my) entry point and that's bc they've made a lot of quite influential and quite excellent videos on the subject – their new lesson series is, while incomplete, very good! If you want to get started with it that's a solid option, or if you want more in depth lessons jan Kekan San also has a lesson series that's nearer to completion and generally slower-paced (and is also generally a pretty cool guy) (he also has a website where those lessons and more are available in text form!) Also, here's a text FAQ from the epic lipamanka that addresses . Well. Frequently Asked Questions that people new to tp frequently have