#multilingual characters

[thelastunicornflipouts]

Headcanon turn into canon: Schmendrick being fluent in multiple languages. It is confirmed both in The Last Unicorn and The Green-Eyed Boy that Schmendrick is multilingual and knows multiple dead languages as well as current, in-universe languages. I mean, a wizard MUST know at least a few languages and dialects!

Please list in the comments the languages you think Schmendrick knows, I am curious!

[pearlcaddy]

MYTHIC QUEST 3.07

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Childhood Bilingualism

Bilingual language acquisition, or simultaneous bilingualism refers to the acquisition of two languages simultaneously from infancy

About half the people in the world are bilingual or multilingual

In many parts of the world, bilingualism (or multilingualism) is the norm

The Easier Word

As during monolingual language development, young bilingual children will first acquire what is easy in their languages:

Example: A bilingual child might find a word or structure much easier or more obvious in one language than in the other and use the easier word or the easier structure in both languages.

With time, the child will be able to process more and more language cues and eventually this strategy will be dropped and the correct form will be used in each language.

Short Words

Short words are easier for young children than long words.

Example: Young children shorten words and say nana instead of banana.

If mum's word is shorter than dad's, the bilingual child naturally goes for the shorter option.

Sound Combinations

Some sound combinations are harder to say than others.

Example: Young children change chair to tair.

If the word in one language has complex sound combinations and the equivalent in the other language does not, choosing the word in the other language is much the same as what monolingual children do when they choose a simpler word over a more complex word.

Frequency of Word Use

How often a child has heard a word is important.

Like monolingual children, words which are used all the time are learned first.

Example: Car, or its simplified form tar, is learned before the word van, unless there is more talk about vans in the child's environment than about cars.

Grammatical Structures

Frequency of use and simplicity of grammatical structures.

Examples:

The six verb endings in Italian are acquired very early by monolingual children because there is one ending for each person (I, you, he etc.) and they are used all the time - in present tense, in past tense, for the future and for the conditional.

The German system uses its verb endings all the time as well, but there are only four distinctly different endings for the six grammatical persons, which means that some endings overlap. As a result, German children master the verb system 6 to 12 months later than the Italian children.

There is only one personmarker in English, and it is only used in present tense (he runs). This takes the longest to acquire because it makes verb markings so infrequent in English.

Such differences may be reflected in bilingual children's acquisition. They may show themselves in the child learning a functionally comparable structure first in one language and only a few months later in the other.

In the meantime, the bilingual child might choose to draw on what s/he has already acquired to fill the gap.

There might be aspects of the grammatical development in the Language Other Than English (LOTE) which the bilingual child will never conquer 100%. There isn't much one can do about grammatical structures which are so unsystematic that children need massive amounts of input over many years to fully master them completely. An example of such structures are the article systems in German or French.

Consistency

The parent's consistency in language choice is very important.

Initially, the child will not know what a language is, but only understand that, for example, Mummy and Daddy speak in different ways.

Example: If the mother is consistent with their language choice, it is much easier for the child to realise that everything they say belongs to one system and everything the mother's partner or the grandparents or the staff at the child care centre say belongs to another. In time, the child will learn both systems.

Code-switching

Bilingual children engage in code-switching:

The alternate use of two or more languages within the same utterance or during the same conversation

The alternative used by bilinguals of two or more languages in the same conversation

Situational Code-switching

Also called transactional code-switching

Two different languages are assigned to two or more different situations. An individual may have knowledge of all the languages associated with different situations. Conversational etiquette, however, requires the use of only one language at a time.

Example: Speaking one language at home and switching to another at school.

Examples of Spanish-English Code-Switching

Switching between sentences: “I was going to tell you something. Pero no me acuerdo que, es.”

Switching between sentences—first sentence repeated in the second language: “Ella es bonita. She is pretty.”

Switching in the middle of a sentence: “I just can’t no puedo concentrame con tanto ruido.”

Borrowing & Loanword

Bilingual children also engage in borrowing:

The incorporation of lexical elements from one language in the lexicon of another language

The introduction of single words or short, frozen, idiomatic phrases from one variety into another

A loanword can also be called a borrowing:

Loanwords are words adopted by the speakers of one language from a different language.

Example: of an English loanword into Spanish dealing with organizations, restaurants, or institutions is, “Vamos al la United Nations en el carro” or “nos vamos al Disney World a ver a Mickie Mouse.”

Here we see a mixing from Spanish to English with the name of an organization and a restaurant used.

Examples. Spanish borrowing from English: “parqueadero,” “sandwich,” and “garaje.”

Examples. English borrowing from Spanish: are “armada,” “armadillo,” and “bravado.”

Take Note:

Contrary to popular belief, bilingual children acquire all the language milestones within the range of what's normal for monolingual children.

Rate of language development is more likely to be due to the child's abilities and the quality of interaction than hearing two languages as such.

Children who code-switch are not confused, because they are able to use their two languages appropriately with different people. In fact, the ability to switch back and forth between languages is a sign of mastery of two linguistic systems, not a sign of language confusion.

Children as young as 2 are able to code-switch in socially appropriate ways.

Bilingual children do not develop more slowly than monolingual children just because they are hearing two languages. Differences between monolingual and bilingual learners do exist but have nothing to do with delays or impairments.

THEORIES OF BILINGUAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Unitary system hypothesis - the idea that the child initially constructs only one lexicon and one grammar

Evidence for: language mixing similar to codeswitching; lexical items existing in only one language

Evidence against: there is a lot of overlap in the lexicon for each language, and children may have gaps because each language is used in different contexts and they can only learn so many words each day

2. Separate systems hypothesis - the idea that the child builds a distinct lexicon and grammar for each language

Evidence for:

where the two languages diverge grammatically, the child will acquire two different sets of rules

bilingual children select which language to use based on the context

children bilingual in sign language and a spoken language may say a word in one language and sign it in the other simultaneously

“Just remember, when someone has an accent, it means that he knows one more language than you do.” ―Sidney Sheldon, Windmills of the Gods

Sources: 1 2 3

Writing Notes: On Children Writing Notes: Children's Dialogue

[days-of-storm]

Perth's RamKing headcanon post S1 of My Engineer.

(And no, he hasn't watched Manner of Death)

[spotsupstuff]

Cap's got a new voice claim! feat. a tiny bit of Sparrows n her's unchanged vc because 1. it's cute to hear them together and 2. I snorted. The vibes are so different

[songs: So Familiar by Jean Castel and Driving Myself Home by Rose Betts]

[weneedatdcharacterwho]

We need more bilingual characters. At certain moments, they speak a quick phrase in spanish or french, then they realize they have to explain what they said.

.

[sunlitmcgee]

The biggest lore reveal of this update is that Wally Darling knows fluent Spanish.

[thebisexualwreckoning]

Bilingual (technically i speak enough languages to be considered a polyglot but eh) problems are that I speak Bangla at home but we have guests over who do not speak Bangla and I was taught it’s rude to speak in a language when other people in the room don’t understand it as well but I’m still in Bangla headspace because I didn’t know guest was at home so I just asked my mother the weirdest Hindi/bangla mash up of where we’re going, realised and just awkwardly walked away because just no

All of this is to say that there is some merit to it when authors write about how their characters forgot how to switch languages when speaking with someone else, they just don’t make it awkward enough

[swanno-arts]

Actually no he's got a design now.

He's the crunchiest autopilot out there he got the end of the production line treatment and is an asbestos hazard with poor articulation and screaming servos whos barely given any proper maintenance. godspeed

[sentientcave]

Last line(s) challenge! Tagged by the one and only @glossysoap (if you have good taste go read her snippet of her Orc Price project because it is HOT)

Here's a little bit from chapter 6 of Retirement Party featuring poorly translated Spanish (If any friends or followers speak Spanish, especially Filipino Spanish (which has, notably, been on the decline for a long while, but it's the language that Dalisay and her grandmother have in common, since Dalisay doesn't speak Tagalog and Lola's English is so-so), and want to help me out, give me a holler. It's probably an unnecessary detail but we love unnecessary details here.)

Segment below the cut!

You're not sure what possesses you, but you get up, and you make him sit, and you go to fix his coffee and wrap a bag of frozen peas in a tea towel. When you turn around, he's reached across the table to pull your laptop closer, smiling at the camera when Lola claps her hands together, delighted.

"Es guapo, Dalisay. Pero no joven, ¿eh?" She says, laughing. He's handsome, Dalisay. But not young, huh?

"No," he agrees, "soy demasiado mayor para ella. Todavía soy lo suficientemente egoísta como para intentarlo de todos modos.” I'm too old for her. I'm still selfish enough to try anyway.

You set down the coffee and glare at him. But you still gently set the ice pack on his raised ankle, squeaking as he pulls you into his lap, sitting you on his other thigh. "John!" You protest.

"Oh, relájate, apo,” Lola chides, laughing, unhelpfully reading the situation just the way John wants her to. She seems impressed by John's accented Spanish, happy to not need to use English to speak with him. "Yo también fui joven una vez. Me preocupaba que ella nunca encontrara a alguien.” Oh lighten up, apo. I was young once too. I was worried she would never find someone.

"No es que ella no pudiera,” John says. "Ella es tan hermosa, pero mantiene la distancia." It's not that she couldn't. She's so beautiful, but she keeps her distance.

Tagging (no pressure): @dragonnarrative-writes , @mortuarywriting and @charliemwrites

[yury-is-writing]

Trabajando en ello

[confused-beany]

When someone talks shit about a character in their native language thinking they'll get away with it but then the character replies back in the same language is just... PEAK

[catholicjinx]

Se pa vre francé (as you can see 💀) but I think it's close enough lol Seeing french speakers makes me excited too cuz it's like! If I was born in my parents' country I could speak that!! So I technically speak it!! Let's have a dance party oui oui baguette croissant!! (Do you speak/learn any other languages?)

LMAO its so exciting for me too!!!! I complain in french a lot and sometimes it takes over me when im like Really upset and i have no idea why??? It doesnt help that im southern so its like cowboy french its honestly so embarrassing 💀

A DANCE PARTY SOUNDS SO FUN💯💯💯 i learned french at a young age but i do know some korean/russian and im conversational in spanish but its honestly just from living with spanish speakers so dont take my word for it

[incorrect-toriko-quotes]

Coco: это все твоя вина

Toriko, rolling his eyes: Yeah, yeah, I get it.

Komatsu: You speak Russian?

Toriko: No, but since we were kids I've since learned the phrase "it's all your fault" in every language he speaks

[keulixeutin]

So hey! How was your day? Hope you're having a good week!

I'm not the most experienced person with requests but here we go: I just read your "lovelorn and lovable" and I really like it, it's just so cute! Could you please write a "previous hurt/comfort" type of thing were the reader feels insecure of their relationship with bakugo in the beginning of it because they still can't see this little things he do to show he loves them? I would be really grateful if you could make it gender neutral too but if you don't want to write it at all, is also completely fine.

Thank you either way, have a good day!

hi hi!!!  i’m doing much better now that i’m leaving my stupid ass job bahhahah.  i hope life is also treating u well, and i really appreciate the request!!!  it’s my first one; i was so excited!!!!  it’s also long as fuck and i’m not sure it constitutes as a drabble anymore (considering it now also has a title) but whatever LOL.  anyways thanks for enjoying my L&L fic, and i hope u enjoy this one, too!!!  🥰🥰🥰

title: multilingual. summary: requested. you weren’t always so confident in your understanding of bakugou’s love language.  a companion piece to lovelorn & laughable.

cw: gn!reader, gender neutral pronouns used.  hurt. fluff. swearing.

wc: 1765.

A fifteen second video of you and Bakugou trends for three days.  It’s something innocuous, something that Bakugou always does for you; you’re genuinely surprised that it catches so much attention.

The clip starts with a sleek, black car pulling up to you in front of a mall entrance.  Bakugou steps out, dressed in ripped jeans and a pale sweater, donning round, gold glasses.  He steps to the other side of the car, opens the door for you, and takes your many shopping bags.  Before closing the passenger door, he dips his head inside the vehicle, presumably to kiss you in greeting; then, he closes the door, pops open the trunk, and places your bags gently in the back.  The video ends with you and Bakugou driving off. 

—The internet goes wild.

There are people who adore seeing the private habits of a Dynamight in love, but there are many others (the louder ones) who can’t believe it—who won’t believe it.  They accuse the both of you of faking the relationship, claiming that moment—and many others—is staged for a PR stunt.  They’re can’t see that Dynamight is capable of touching without burning—that Bakugou is capable of loving without scarring.

It’s funny.  Hilarious, really.  You send screenshots to Ashido and Kaminari to cackle about the comments throughout the day.  Bakugou, on the other hand, is unfazed.

Once, you ask out of curiosity if it hurts his feelings to have these rumors circling.  In return, he asks, You agree with ‘em?  Of course, you say no.  He rolls his eyes so aggressively that you’re dizzy yourself, and he says, Then why would I give a flying fuckity fuck?  After his hostile response, Bakugou collapses on top of you on the couch, his weight making you complain and your complaints making him smirk.  He wraps his arms around you like a promise, and he falls asleep while you send skull emojis to your friends and curl your fingers into his hair.

Your relationship with him wasn’t always this easy to understand; you didn’t always understand Bakugou.  A while back, you might’ve considered his answer to mean that he was annoyed with you.  

At the very start of your relationship, you are too preoccupied with his words and grunts.  It’s not that they aren’t important, but you hadn’t yet learned that what he says in his actions are just as—if not more—important.  You had to learn his language—not how he says I love you with his lips, but how he says it with his hands, the tilt of his head, his proximity, his silence.

Of course, without understanding that his language its a nonverbal one, it’s difficult at the beginning.  Several weeks into dating him, you’re so focused on what he says that it chips away at you.  His muttering, his growling, his sighing, they all hit you harder than they should’ve.  With every it’s fine’s or it’s whatever’s, you’re left more and more confused and insecure.

He tells you, Wait here, as he enters the gas station, and you wonder if it’s because he doesn’t want you slowing him down in between the small aisles.

He says, Just shut up and sit down, in the kitchen, and you think he finds you a useless helper and unwanted presence.

He says, Yeah, yeah, when he brings you flowers and chocolate-covered fruits on Valentine’s Day.  That night, you lay awake in your bed, afraid that he did it out of obligation and not because he truly wanted to.

These are the little things that start to break you.  

You think you can ignore or get over them.  You think he’ll soften sweetly with time.  Logically, you know you should bring it up.  You’re a big supporter of open communication in relationships, but there’s a part of you that’s scared that, if you do bring it up, he’ll break off the relationship instantaneously—and you know how ridiculous it sounds.  If he doesn’t want to be with you, then it’s his loss; that’s how you should view it, but…  You can’t help but want it to work so badly with him.

You don’t bring it up with your friends because you know what it is they’ll say (the same things you’d say to them if the situation were reversed), so you do the easier thing and let it sit, and simmer, and sadden, until, finally, you break down in the shower, sobbing beneath hot droplets.

Your heart clenches and unclenches painfully as you let out your distress, sorrow, and guilt.  You know this isn’t a longterm solution, crying in the bathroom in secret, but at least you’ll get some of it off your chest.  You’ll feel clean and smell great, and you’ll make room in your heart for more things to carry and bury inside.

When you finish, you dry off, throw on pajamas, and step out of the heated and humid room—and you come face to face with Bakugou leaning against the wall opposite of you.  

He knows something’s wrong.

You pretend that nothing’s out of the ordinary, but, of course, he sees right through your half-hearted act.  Instead of coming clean, though, you double down, insisting that it’s something work-related and that you’ll tell him another time.

He doesn’t believe you—his eyes narrow and his jaw tenses—but he doesn’t press.  Instead, Bakugou says he’s here if you need something, and then he returns to the kitchen.

You stand there, trying to reconcile the reality your fears had created with the present in front of you.  You thought that he’d try and drag it forcefully out of you; you were afraid he’d follow you around the apartment with fiery words and fierier glares, but he doesn’t, and you feel immensely guilty that you’re surprised.

You stare at the corner of your glass coffee table in thought, wondering where you are supposed to go from here—and then you realize that it’s clean.

When you had hopped into the shower, you had a several books on the table that needed to be read, three cups of water you hadn’t finished, and a wad of napkins that you had been too lazy to throw away.  Now, the table is clean and wiped down.  The books have been organized by size, biggest on the bottom, and neatly stacked in the corner of the coffee table.  The cups and trash are gone.

Actually, a lot of your trash is gone, you think, looking around your apartment.

The blanket on the couch has been folded, the small trashcan underneath your desk across the room is emptied, and the various items and junk you’ve scattered around your little place have either been reorganized or thrown away.  Food has been laid out on your dining table, and when you look to the kitchen, Bakugou is washing dishes; one of the cups that had been sitting on your coffee table is in his hands, covered in soapy suds.

You watch Bakugou put the last mug into the dishwasher to dry.  Your back is still wet and warm from the bathroom, and in front of you, the room is peppery and spiced.  You will yourself not to become suddenly overwhelmed with this quiet and cry. 

You hungry? Bakugou asks.

Yeah, smells good, you manage to say.

You make your way toward the table.

Something tickles at your mind.  Something tugs on your heart.

Something tells you to pay attention, to watch carefully.

So you do.

Bakugou fills your bowl for you.  You mention that you like the searing on the vegetables, and then you notice that he puts more of them on your plate (some nights later, you see seared vegetables show back up on the dinner table).  When you’re both finished, he puts the food away and clicks his tongue and scowls furiously when you try to help.  You feel a sharp turn in your stomach, but you push it down to wait, to watch.  You grab another plate and Bakugou takes it from your hands instantly.

You’ve had an ass day at work, yeah?  So just fucking sit down.

You take a seat on your couch and turn on the TV.  You scroll through channels, but you’re thinking about Bakugou’s harsh swearing and intentional movements, how sharply they contrast, how you’re only ever focusing on one half of it.

How did you forget?

That’s part of why you fall for him in the first place: the things he does for his friends without needing to be asked and without needing to be thanked.  You’ve seen him excuse himself to the bathroom to sneak off and pay for the group’s meal; you’ve seen him walk all of them home after drunken nights out; you’ve seen him answer the phone at 4 AM and, despite his reluctant, sleepy swearing, lay awake until the other falls asleep through their nightmares.  He’s attended Kaminari’s second cousin’s birthday party because Kaminari had asked—begged, really—and attended dancing classes with Ashido because she needed a last-minute partner.

Bakugou takes a seat right beside you, and leaves all that space to the left.

Perhaps you’ve been going about this the wrong way.

Perhaps you don’t know his language as well as you thought.

So you learn.

Over the next few days, you watch closely and think back carefully.  Slowly, you learn to read his actions and decipher his words.  You learn that he tells you to wait in the car because he wants to get the items for you; you learn he tells you to sit down because he wants to cook you dinner after your long day; you learn he mutters as though disregarding your thanks to hide his pink cheeks and sweaty palms and beating heart.

(Later, you teach him a thing or two about your language, too, how yours is a verbal one, how if you can learn to understand him, then he, too, can understand you.)

Now, months later, it’s still not easy—but it’s easier.  You hear what he says, but more importantly, you see what he does, and Bakugou, in turn, sees what you need and says what he means.  Sometimes, anyways.  (Swearing comes much too easy to him.)

Later on, you tell him how you felt in those beginning weeks.  You think it’d be a quick conversation, a fast laugh, but Bakugou doesn’t take it well.  You’d never seen him so red-faced and speechless before in your life, like he couldn’t believe you could look at him and think he’d love you in any other way.

[xx-angelfreak-xx]

arts my friends made for my birthday

the first was made by @werrrrrrrrrrrrrrrcat