The Lingual Writer

Monolingual vs Multilingual vs Translingual

[skittie]

Video on Haitian Creole y'all for my group project

[tifanmkreyol]

Sa'w pa konnen pi gran pase'w.

Haitian proverb

Translation: What you don’t know is older than you

Meaning: be humble, there’s a lot more you don’t know than you do

Usage: Usually said when you learn something new

(via tifanmkreyol)

[la-ragazza-occhi-cielo]

I think as you grow older your Christmas list gets shorter, because the things you want can’t be bought.

Io penso che più diventi grande e più la tua lista di regali si accorcia,perchè le cose che vogliamo non si possono comprare. (via la-ragazza-occhi-cielo)

[lingualwriting]

#bilingualproblems

me, in English class: okay brain, I need a synonym for "discovery"

brain: Entdeckung

me: ah, not quite

brain: Findung?

me: I need it in English

brain: discovery

me: a different word

brain: in English?

me: yes

brain: idk lol

me: smh

[lingualwriting]

Heyyy, can you explain the difference between Multilingual vs Translingual, please? :)

Yes I can! While both acknowledge and have to do with the knowledge of multiple languages, Translingualism recognizes the fluctuation in languages. Translingualism also allows you to mix multiple languages in your writing.Multilingualism does seem to be a combination of Monolingualism and Translingualism. With Multilingualism, it is somewhat like Monolingualism where things do have to be a certain way.

[lingualwriting]

Pokemon using Translingualism?!

It may be silly but I have been playing Pokemon all my life. Ever since Pokemon Red and Blue (which I still have to this day!). While playing the most recent game, I realized that Pokémon Sun and Moon actually utilized multilingualism/translingualism! I noticed this when doing the side mission involving the character Looker and the Ultra Beasts! Although it is not very often, Looker is seen to be speaking in different languages when something “bad” happens. Here are two video examples of this Ultra Beast side mission from a gamer YouTuber that goes by the name of CYBERNightmare.

Looker speaking in different languages occurs in the beginning and towards the ending of both videos. 

The character Looker in Pokemon demonstrates Translingualism because of the way he just speaks another language, even if it is because something “bad” happened in the game. There are a few things that he says that are translated afterwards but the rest are not. Both the translated and untranslated things he says go with the situation in the mission. 

Another place where multilingualism/translingualism is used is within Poke Finder. For those that don’t know, Poke Finder is a feature where you can take photos of Pokemon in certain areas of the game. In Poke Finder, you choose your best photo of a Pokemon and it is “uploaded” and you receive comments on the photo. Here are two examples of this:

As you can see, I have circled the comments that are not in English. It is interesting and cool to see and maybe even refreshing to see a few comments in another language. It seems to be a fun little easter egg for people that know more than one language.

I’m just glad to see that a game I enjoyed all my life was actually using something I had learned recently. I’m not sure and cannot remember if Pokemon has been doing this all along or in other games but it was pretty neat that I did notice this in the newest game. 

[lingualwriting]

english: the word "goodbye" evolved from the old saying "god be with ye"

spansih: "adiós" comes from "with god" too

french & german: "au revoir" and "auf wiedersehen" mean "on seeing you again"

welsh: um yeah "hwyl fawr" literally just means "big fun" lmao

[lingualwriting]

Writing in Spanish

From elementary school all the way up to university, I’ve always struggled with writing in Spanish. I write fairly well in English. Translating my writing skills from English to Spanish was a challenge for me. I know that both have rules to follow. With Spanish, I don’t always remember the word for what I want to say or I’ll write things out of order. The only thing I managed to somehow do correctly was remembering to put the accent marks at least. Getting written tests back in Spanish always frustrated me because I know I can write but seeing a bunch of red marks all over my paper was something I was not used to. Instead of discouraging me, those tests did motivate me to write in Spanish better. Even though I am no longer taking Spanish classes, I can tell you that on my very last written Spanish test, there was only one mark on it. 

[lingualwriting]

My Monolingual Experience

As far back as I can remember, it was always “English only” for me. I was surrounded by family that knew Spanish, Creole and French. But they all only spoke English to me. Knowing only English was probably great academically, but outside of that, I was certainly “othered” and even ridiculed for only knowing English. Because of experience ridicule and people getting upset at me for only knowing English, to this day, I am somewhat afraid of speaking Spanish and I also think I sound terrible when I try to speak some Spanish. 

I have always done well when it came to literature and writing. This is probably the only benefit I had from being a monolingual. I struggled with Spanish in school. Only my mom would help me out and she did not learn Spanish until her mid-20s. My dad would never help even though he was born and raised in a Spanish-speaking country! 

In more recent years, I have tried learning Spanish more fluently at least. I wish I would have learned Spanish sooner. I do understand more than I did when I was younger but most people don’t want to speak Spanish with me mainly because of the way I sound or they just don’t like to speak Spanish. 

With my mom’s side of the family, the only languages they speak and are fluent in are Creole and French. Sadly, none of my cousins and myself do not know Creole or French. It was never spoken or taught to use. Again, English only for us. Though, I have only picked up a few words and phrases from both languages. 

One day, I would like to be fluent in another language despite what I experienced when I was younger! 

[voluptuous-vulpix-blog]

"I don't speak Engish. I speak American. It is a language with hundreds of Spanish words, German words, Yiddish words." -Richard Rodriguez

[languageoclock]

[at the supermarket] mum: come on we need to go, what are you doing? me, looking at the multilingual food packaging: umm nothing…

[memrisedaily]

[hermionerd-studies]

So here is yet another post about Spanish that I hope you all langblrs will like. I present to you 10 words that exist in Spanish but don’t exist in English.

Knowing and using them in your vocabulary shows how fluent you actually are so hopefully this will help you.

1. Chueco/a: 

This can be roughly be translated as “not straight” BUT NOT IN THE SEXUAL ORIENTATION KIND OF WAY. It literally means not being able to do something in a straight line. 

For example: Not able to draw a straight line? You draw chueco/a. Tried kicking a soccer ball in a straight line but it ended up in the far left side of the court? You kick chueco/a.

2. Empalagado/a: 

This is what happens when you eat too much sugar. 

For example: You know that feeling of nausea and awkward fullness after you have eaten like five cupcakes, two chocolate bars and three bottles of soda? THEN is when you feel empalagado/a.

3. Despistado/a: 

So I Google-translated this word and it came out as “lackadaisical”. I don’t think anyone actually uses that word. SO, it means someone who doesn’t pay attention to anything and daydreams most of the time. It is not a permanent feature tho, you can be despistado/a just during your math class. 

For example: If someone asks you a question and you don’t answer because you were too busy thinking about Zac Efron, then you are despistado/a.

4. Tocayo/a: 

It refers to someone who shares name with you. 

For example: Let’s imagine your name is Hermione and suddenly you meet someone whose name is ALSO Hermione. Voilá! That person is now your tocayo/a.

5. Buen provecho: This is not a word but a phrase. It means something like “have a good meal”, it is kinda close to saying “bon appettit” in French. It is frequently used before you start a meal but also as a sign of respect when you run into someone who is currently eating. Also, it is not a phrase used only for “fancy” situations, it actually works whenever someone is eating. 

For example: If you are eating at a restaurant with a group, you say buen provecho before you start eating, but also let’s imagine you are walking around the city and see your boss eating tacos from a food truck, then you also say buen provecho. Freaking good manners.

6. Desgraciado/a: Oh this is a funny one. You might think, at first sight, that this word refers to someone who is not very graceful. WRONG. If you Google-translate the word, it may drive you to think it means “unfortunate”. ALSO WRONG. This is what you call someone who has been a jerk. Someone who didn’t treat you right. Like honestly, someone you really hate. 

For example: Your boyfriend just dumped you on your birthday? He is a desgraciado. Your group-project colleague disappeared during the whole process and just showed up to put her name on the project? She is a desgraciada. It is such a powerful word, I love it.

7. Llorón/Llorona: It refers to someone who cries A LOT. It doesn’t necessarily mean someone who cries but also someone who is very sensitive and gets sad about a lot of things, especially if those things aren’t really important. 

For example: Your sister just cried because she saw a very cute dog? She is a llorona. Your best friend just got VERY upset because he got a 99/100 on a test? He is a llorón (das me tho).

8. Te quiero: This is probably one of the phrases native Spanish speakers miss the most when they start speaking English. This is what you say to someone (and by someone it means a romantic partner most of the time) when you start getting feelings for them but you don’t love them just yet. If you did love them tho you would say “te amo”.  

For example: You have been dating someone for a while now and you know they are amazing but you are not in the “love” point just yet, then you say te quiero to them. No commitment, you guys.

9. Desvelado/a: It refers to someone that hasn’t slept for a while. 

For example: When you pull an all-nighter and show up to class late, with huge bags under your eyes and basically just feeling like a living-dead, you are desvelado/a.

10. Lampiño/a: It literally refers to someone that doesn’t have facial/body hair. 

For example: If you are trying to grow a beard but just can’t seem to grow any hair on your face you are a lampiño/a. Also, if you do not have to shave your legs at all for the summer because you have been blessed with the lack of body hair, then you are lampiño/a.

[mylanguagestudies]

Well unleast for me

[chapmangamo]

A fancy cross-over guest comic I did for @webcomicname, a super duper series by Alex Norris - a nice man. We’re sharing a table at Thought Bubble in Leeds this weekend, so come on down and say hi!

[my-bundle-of-thoughts]

• ik ben niet de waarnemer ik ben de schrijfster • I’m not the observer I am the writer • Je ne suis pas l'observateur, je suis l'auteur •

Annedi Bergsma (it’s my life. I write my own story)

[millionsmillions]

For me, language was a kind of initiation into multiple realities. For if one language could be certain of a table’s gender and another couldn’t be bothered, then what was true of the world was intimately tied, not to some platonic ideal, but to our way of expressing it.

Ana Menéndez on being a multilingual writer in the twenty-first century. (via millionsmillions)