#the mandarins

[gravity-rainbow]

You said something very true the other day: that for us, nudity begins with the face. Simone de Beauvoir, The Mandarins

[philosophybitmaps]

[beljar]

The streets would smell again of oil and orange blossoms, in the evening there would be light, people would sit and chat in outdoor cafés, and he would drink real coffee to the sound of guitars.

Cafe Scene, 1955: A view through an oval window to a pavement cafe in Venice. Colour Photography book. (Photo by Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images) // Table of Two in Venice by Douglas Gray // Simone de Beauvoir, from The Mandarins, 1954

[shojojidais]

I've always been able to avoid being caught by the snare of mirrors. But the glances, the looks, the stares of other people, who can resist that dizzying pit? I dress in black, speak little, write not at all; together, all these things form a certain picture which others see. I'm no one. It's easy of course to say "I am I." But who am I? Where find myself? I would have to be on the other side of every door, but when it's I who knock the others grow silent. Suddenly I felt my face burning; I felt like ripping it off.

The Mandarins, Simone de Beauvoir

[wehavewords]

“I tried to love you less. I couldn’t.”

Simone de Beauvoir, The Mandarins

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[yeehawpim]

when your grammar accidentally transfers

[thestuffedalligator]

My brother-in-law has a Thing where he gives me increasingly rare copies of The Bee Movie and it’s long since gone from “Goofy running gag” to “I don’t know how much money he’s willing to commit to this bit and it Scares Me.”

Where the fuck can we go from here

[ayin-me-yesh]

In light of Duolingo laying off its translators, here are my favourite language apps (primarily for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and te reo Māori).

Multiple Languages

Anki is a flashcard programme and app that's not exclusively for languages. While making your own decks is ideal, you can also download shared decks for most languages.

If you're learning Japanese, specifically, Seth Clydesdale has websites for practicing alongside Genki's 2nd or 3rd editions, and he also provides his own shared Anki decks for Genki.

And if you're learning te reo Māori, specifically, here's a guide on how to make your own deck.

TOFU Learn is an app for learning vocabulary that's very similar to Anki. However, it has particularly excellent shared decks for East Asian languages. I've used it extensively for practicing 汉字. Additionally, if you're learning te reo Māori, there's a shared deck of vocabulary from Māori Made Easy!

Mandarin Chinese

Hello Chinese is a fantastic app for people at the HSK 1-4 levels. While there's a paid version, the only thing paying unlocks is access to podcast lessons, which imo are not really necessary. Without paying you still have access to all the gamified lessons which are laid out much like Duolingo's lessons. However, unlike Duolingo, Hello Chinese actually teaches grammar directly, properly teaches 汉字, and includes native audio practice.

Japanese

Renshuu is a website and app for learning and practicing Japanese. The vast majority of its content is available for free. There's also a Discord community where you can practice alongside others.

Kanji Dojo is a free and open source app for learning and practicing the stroke order of kanji. You can learn progressively by JLPT level or by Japanese grades. There's also the option to learn and practice kana stroke order as well.

[butteryplanet]

[turrondeluxe]

2003!Mikey and 2012!Mikey being silly older and little brother chronicles 🐢🤝🐢 Pt 4 - Masterpost

[longingforrotkehlchen]

He sleepy. Me too. And I want to dream of mandarin ducks.

Mandarinente ♂️ (mandarin duck) am Pfaffensee, Stuttgart-West.

[beljar]

Always the same faces, the same surroundings, the same conversations, the same problems. The more it changes, the more it repeats itself. In the end, you feel as if you’re dying alive.

Simone de Beauvoir, from The Mandarins, 1954

[corvidconventicle]

My new favourite idiom is 画蛇添足 basically meaning to ruin something by overdoing it

Quite literally ‘draw snake add feet’

Pinyin: Huàshé tiānzú

Traditional: 畫蛇添足

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

jiangnan江南 vibe moments on douyin (cr: south南方南)