[vlindervin7]

All I can think abt is that one quote that basically just describes that you can’t be your true self in your native language bc there’s too much emotional attachment, but that second languages allow speakers to be truly free with their words

[vlindervin7]

“Some things could only be written in a foreign language; they are not lost in translation, but conceived by it. Foreign verbs of motion could be the only ways of transporting the ashes of familial memory. After all, a foreign language is like art—an alternative reality, a potential world. »

- Svetlana Boym, “Estrangement as a Lifestyle: Shklovsky and Brodsky”

“Bilinguals overwhelmingly report that they feel like different people in different languages. It is often assumed that the mother tongue is the language of the true self. (…) But, it first languages are reservoirs of emotion, second languages can be rivers undammed, freeing their speakers to ride different currents.”

- Love in Translation by Lauren Collins from the New Yorker, August 8 & 15, 2016

[aspoonfuloflanguage-deactivated]

Pour être belle, on a seulement besoin de se regarder dans le miroir et se dire « je suis belle ».

Petit à petit, tu verras, tu deviendras belle. Sans changer ton corps. Sans changer ta peau. Le changement de mentalité, c'est ça qui change tout.

[girllearnslanguages]

Life update!

I’m not sure if anyone reads these, and I know I don’t come on here often enough.

I just want to say that I started learning French intensively in quarantine from the Spring because I was really bored, and last week, I took my DELF exam, level A2! The results won’t come out for a while, but I feel pretty okay about it, I think I have a solid grasp.

My goal for next year is hopefully to get to B1, and then I’ll go back to working seriously on my Russian, which I believe I left at a low A2 level. Now I’m probably back to A1, but I don’t mind, the journey to me is the whole thing.

I also started a new Instagram journalling page upon the encouragement of someone I just met, with whom I felt an instant deep connection. She encouraged me to document my thoughts online and share my passion for writing with strangers online.

My username there is @Pas_de_fille, because I do ballet and speak French, and my account is about taking photos of my feet, so it simultaneously means ‘step of the girl’ and ‘[there is] no girl’. Please give it a follow if you want! It’s new, I literally have no followers, but I feel passionate about it.

[dostoyevsky-official]

russian joke which goes: a pessimist is sitting and groans, “things can’t get any worse.” an optimist walks by and says, “cheer up! of course they can get worse!”

[ftgloss]

[tupacabra]

people who say “melk” instead of milk

[neanerbeaner-deactivated2019090]

I say melk…

[tupacabra]

[leadingtofreedom-deactivated201]

you know, melk is actually the dutch word for milk

are you really going to beat up all of holland

[roguetitan-deactivated20140517]

[languages-georg-blog]

So I used to have a Russian friend who had a pretty thick accent and like a lot of Russians tended to eschew articles. She would say things like “Get in car.” And stuff.

Well one day this asshole who had been kind of tagging along with us asks her why she talks like that because it makes her sound dumb and I still remember her response word for word.

“Me? Dumb? Maybe in America you have to say get in THE car because you are so stupid that people might just get in random car, but in Russia we don’t need to say that. We just fucking know because we are not stupid.”

[annarcho-nicolesmith]

One time I was proof reading a paper for a Russian student. As I was correcting her paper with her, the many mistakes in her grammar started weighing on her. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, almost sobbing,

“In Russian I am so intelligent and clear. In English I am like [an] idiot”

Respect to anyone trying to master a foreign language. I get so sad thinking about that student.

[pomme-poire-peche]

[lady-byleth]

Full offense but people who make fun of someone else’s accent or belittle their limited vocabulary when they’re speaking a language not native to them are fucking disgusting and are just begging to be punched.

They’re speaking your language because you don’t know theirs. That’s not something they should be made fun of, it’s something that should be commended because learning a language is hard fucking work.

I hate people who do this so much.

[russianwithpolly]

Некоторые русские фразеологизмы со словом "Сидеть"

🌀 Сиде́ть сложа ру́ки – (literally: to sit with one’s arms folded).

To sit twidding one’s thumbs

Meaning: to be idle; to sit still doing nothing.

Пример/Example:

Нам нельзя просто сидеть сложа руки - We can't just do nothing.

Мы не можем сидеть сложа руки, когда эти предметы исторического наследия остаются украденными - We cannot sit idly by while those historical artefacts remain stolen

🌀Сиде́ть на чемода́нах - (literally: to sit on one’s suitcases)

Packed and waiting to go / ready to go / have all one's things packed and be waiting for the moment of departure.

Пример/Example:

С раннего утра весёлая компания сидела на чемоданах и с нетерпением поглядывала в окно.- From early morning, the cheerful company packed and waiting to go, looking impatiently out the window.

🌀Сидеть между/ на двух стульях. – (literally: to sit between/on two chairs)

To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds; to play a double game; you can't do it both ways

Meaning: to try to adhere to two different, irreconcilable points of view; to try to keep the favour of both sides in a dispute

Пример/Example:

Сидеть на двух стульях, как это делаешь ты, опасно. - Straddling two worlds as you are, it's dangerous.

🌀Се́сть в лу́жу - (literally: to sit down into a paddle)

To put one’s foot in it: to get oneself into fix/spot

Meaning: to get oneself into an awkward position or compromising situation; to let oneself be duped; to do or say something stupid.

Пример/Example:

На этот раз он сел в лужу. - He fell down badly that time.

🌀Се́сть на мель / быть на мели́ - (literally: to sit down on a shoal)

To be on the rocks; to be in low water; to be in a tight corner

Meaning: to get into an extremely difficult situation; to be in unsatisfactory circumstances, especially with little money.

Пример/Example:

Слушай, я сейчас на мели. - Listen, I don't have the money on me.

Через пару месяцев мы будем на мели. - In a couple of months, we'll be declaring bankruptcy.

🌀Сиде́ть на ше́е - (literally: to sit on one’s neck)

To leech off (someone)

Meaning: To be a burden to smb by being dependent on him for care, monetary support etc .

Пример/Example:

После колледжа он несколько лет сидел на шее у родителей, пока наконец-то не съехал.- After college, he freeloaded off his parents for several years before finally moving out.

[linguistika]

I love it when language textbooks are like:

Here’s the names of all the chapters! Here are the textbook’s main characters; they’re all secretly in love! Here’s how to say hello!

[unusualrussia]

“Early Russian silent movies often had two endings — a tragic one for the home market and a happy one for export. Conversely, foreign movies at the time often were made with a happy ending for the home audience and a tragic ending, specifically for Russia.”

— Quite Interesting

[languagessi-deactivated20210423]

“Studying and teaching Native languages must be done with intention and purpose to promote the people and their cultural values you’re learning from and about.”

— Taté Walker

[semper--vivum-deactivated202203]

noticing improvement in your target language(s) is so rewarding i wish it upon all of you ❤

[tchaikovskaya]

[langblrwhy]

[omoi-no-hoka]

JLPT Level: Unlisted, but the kanji is N1

This kanji has 3 parts:

氵

The “water” radical

門

Open gates

⽟

Jewels, riches. (the little ` at the bottom has been left out for simplification)

Put these three together to represent “a home’s wealth growing in abundance.” The water radical also gives it the literal meaning of “an enrichment of moisture,” which can be used in terms of agriculture or beauty products, for example. You see it in a lot of beauty product ads in particular. 

[girllearnslanguages]

Shopping in French: additional phrases

There are many little words and phrases you hear and use at shops (that you may not even notice when you buy something in your native language!), like...

La monnaie: change

Vous avez la monnaie ? Do you have the right/exact change?

Non, je n’ai pas la monnaie. No, I don’t have the right change.

Vous avez de la monnaie ? Do you have any small change?

Non, je n’ai pas de monnaie. No, I don’t have any change.

Vous payez... Are you paying...

...en liquide ? ...in cash?

...par carte (de crédit) ? ...by (credit) card?

...par chèque ? ...by cheque?

Vous prenez les cartes ? Do you take card?

Non, juste du liquide. No, just cash.

Some other ways to ask for the price, if you’re bored of c’est combien ?:

Ça fait combien ? How much is it?

Ça fait 23 euros. It’s 23 euros.

Ça coûte combien ? How much does it cost?

Ça coûte 5 euros. It costs 5 euros.

Je vous dois combien ? How much do I owe you? (Usually said in markets when you’re speaking to a vendor, not at supermarkets speaking to a cashier.)

I know French speakers drop the ‘ne’ more often than not. But for written purposes, I’ve kept the ‘ne’ in negations so they’re clearer. It’s totally up to you how you want to speak!

[similarjapanesewords]

作家 and 作者

While both words mean “author”, you use them differently.

作家 is the job title, the writer. So if you asked what that guy over there in the chair does for a living, you would say 作家, because he is a writer.

作者 is author, used to refer to the person when talking about a written piece of work. So if someone asks you who wrote the book you’re reading, you would use 作者.