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nora | my posts: #studysunshine • german • englisch • gaeilge • soon dutch • linguistics nerd • minority & endangered languages

[kephas-rolling]

this meme format is <3

[luxlightly]

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it a thousand more times: No piece of dystopian fiction has ever been a prediction of the future. They are observations and criticisms of the present. 

[luxlightly]

“Wooow! How did Orwell predict the surveillance state so well in 1984??” 

He didn’t. He was making an observation of the surveillance state that already existed in his present, and exaggerated it to make the metaphor obvious.

Learning and discussing these works in terms of them being predictions and having test questions like “do you think his prediction came true?” is not only pointless, but actively counterintuitive. When you frame these works as being ‘people from the past knew that the future would be terrible’ you shift the entire perspective to one of some kind of nostalgia for a past that didn’t exist. 

These author’s aren’t oracles. They’re satirists. Their predictions ‘come true’ because they were already true when they wrote them. 

[sociolinguo]

Woorabinda school pioneers Indigenous science-culture lessons

Woorabinda Primary School's science program blending Indigenous knowledge and mainstream studies is winning over students, parents and the community.

“Woorabinda is an Indigenous community on Wadja Wadja, Wadjigal and Ghungalu land 170 kilometres south west of Rockhampton.

Woorabinda State School has 165 students from kindergarten to year six.

This year, the school has developed a hybrid science curriculum which blends Western teaching with traditional knowledge of the local landscape and language.”

[gaeilge-rules]

Tá nuacht iontach agam díobh. Tá an clár 'Murdair Mháim Trasna ar fáil ar chraoltóir TG4 arís!! Beidh sé ar fáil do go dtí deireadh na míosa! Molaim go láidir díobh é a fheiscint.

Is scannán faisnéise é faoi cheann de na cásanna cúirte is conspóidí in Éirinn. In 1882, dúnmharaíodh cúigear i dteaghlach amháin. Tá a fhios againn inniú gur ciontaíodh roinnt fear a bhí go hiomlán neamhchiontach as an gcoir.

Tá léirmheasanna maithe faighte ag an gclár.

I have great news for ye! The programme 'Murdair Mháim Trasna' is available on the TG4 player again!! It will be available til the end of the month. I really recommend ye to watch it.

It's a documentary film about one of the most controversial court cases in Ireland. In 1882 five in one family were murdered. We know today that some of the men convicted were completely innocent of the crime.

It's gotten some good reviews!

02/10/2020

[mylifefullofsunshine]

So happy right now, that I was able to understand the gist of it before having to read the english text of ^^ 2 years of Irish havent been for nothing

[one-time-i-dreamt]

Have people lost their minds completely???

[dragonmasque]

“The poor will always be with you” DOES NOT MEAN “Make sure to maintain an impoverished underclass.”

Fucking hell.

[langsandlit]

Anglos just seem to have a parallel non-Christian religion they insist on calling Christianity even when every precept they believe in so blindly has nothing Christ-like.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

We talk a lot about the mental benefits of being bilingual but we never mention how Welsh speakers' walking speed is a quarter faster, look.

[studyelement]

Doing well is much easier said than done. The best tip I have is to just do the work. It’s going to suck, but there’s no secret other than doing the work. Though, there are ways to make doing the work easier!

I. Time Management

Have a planner to gain a general idea of your week.

Schedule your time for studying but also schedule time for breaks.

Every morning I check what needs to be done for the day.

I treat college as a 9-5 job with a lunch break. This may not work for everyone, but this thinking allows me to be done by 5, and I usually finish everything for the day by that time.

Take a break after you finish an assignment. Allow yourself to feel proud for finishing and give yourself a reward.

Break up projects into smaller parts, this is incredibly important. It’s easier to do an outline, then a few paragraphs rather than doing an entire essay at once.

It’s not time well used if you don’t focus on the task at hand. If you’re having trouble, get rid of distractions using apps that limit phone/internet usage.

Don’t waste time on techniques that don’t work for you. I don’t rewrite notes, it doesn’t help me study. Instead I do extra textbook problems or I watch a video on the topic. 

Sometimes it’s hard to motivate yourself to do the work, to study. Then just do a single problem, a single page or paragraph. Usually starting is the hardest part.

II. Studying & Learning

Be present during class by asking questions and answering problems.

Use phone-locking apps like Forest if you need to to stay focused on the class.

Skim lecture notes ahead of time. You don’t need to take notes on them, the professor will tell you what’s important.

It’s ok if your notes aren’t pretty as long as they’re functional.

Practice problems until you can’t get them wrong.

Try to teach the material to someone else. This will show holes in your understanding. Pretend to teach if you don’t have a friend in the same class.

If you need, study in the library. Honestly, studying at my desk in my dorm has worked just fine for me though.

Do the homework, there’s no way around it. This is probably the biggest tip here. Do the work.

Actually do the homework, don’t just copy answers. Understand the answers. You can’t copy on a test.

Speaking of tests, do as many practice tests as you can find. Once the real test comes around, you won’t be as nervous and it should feel familiar.

Nice pens and notebooks aren’t required. However, spend a dollar and get a pen that writes well enough that you’re not wasting time during class getting it to work. (I’ve been through this)

Do the extra credit. There’s no reason not to, and your grade will thank you.

Go to tutoring, not everyone knows everything. You might even make a new friend since most tutors at my school are also students!

Realistically, you don’t need to do every reading assignment as long as you know what your professor tests on. If you don’t have the time, its fine to only skim the assignment.

Make study groups. If you don’t have a friend in the class, it’s as easy as asking “want to work on the homework together?” In my experience, most people are happy to work with you.

Go to your professors office hours if you need help. Your professors are a valuable resource.

Ask your friends for feedback, I do this all the time.

III. Treat Yourself

Sleep and eat well. Coffee is not a breakfast.

Please, don’t force yourself to cram a subject overnight. This is where time management comes into play.

An over-stressed student is a bad student, but a little bit of stress is healthy.

Find what motivates you. Personally, I wish to become a researcher so I work hard towards that goal to get into a good grad. school.

You don’t have to join a club. I’m not in one, and my social life is just fine since I spend time playing games with friends at night.

But join a club if you want, even for a single day. You might meet some friends.

Really do whatever you want with regards to your social life. Do what’s comfortable for you.

If you need it, colleges have a therapist that you can make an appointment with.

[laranjatoranjalaranja]

Academic writing advice inspired by Umberto Eco’s ‘How to Write a Thesis’:

Planning

Determine primary sources/bibliography.

Determine secondary sources/bibliography. 

Find title.

Brainstorm a table of contents with as much detail as possible (with chapters, sections and even paragraphs and sub-paragraphs - see How to Write a Thesis’ own table of contents as an example at the end of this document) (if the first drafted table of contents is good enough, it will not be necessary to start the writing from the beginning).

Do a first draft of the introduction.

Note-taking and research

Use Google Scholar to make sure you do not miss important sources.

Keep the table of contents in mind when researching and take notes of which sources could go where.

While note-taking, differentiate which parts could be used as quotations from the ones that are simply important for the argument.

Eco underlines the importance of what he calls reading sheets, which can be understood as your notes on your readings. According to him, these should contain:

information about the author if he is not a well-known figure;

a brief (or long) summary;

they should mostly consist of quotations (accompanied by all the corresponding page numbers)

any commentaries you might want to add;

an indication of which part (or parts) of your table of contents the information mentioned belongs to.

Keep reading sheets on primary sources (which should be the longest) separate from those on secondary sources (which should only be 1-2 pages long).

In the end, re-read the notes and color-code all the different parts according to where they would fit in your table of contents.

Writing and editing

A good place to start would be by redrafting the introduction.

Define every key/technical term used/mentioned unless indisputably obvious.

General writing tips:

keep sentences short;

do not be afraid to repeat the subject twice (ex: Roberta went to the shop (…) Roberta bought carrots and tomatoes);

avoid excessive details;

avoid subordinate clauses (orações subordinadas);

avoid vague language;

avoid unnecessary adjectives;

avoid the passive voice.

While drafting, write everything that comes to mind. Leave the editing for the end.

Use your tutor as a Guinea pig. Make them read your first chapters (and, progressively, all the rest) well before delivery is due. 

Ask for as much feedback as possible. Ask colleagues, friends and/or family to read your work. They will provide you with more diversified feedback, as well as allowing you to know if your writing is clear to anyone.

Stop playing ‘solitary genius’.

Don’t insist on starting with the first chapter. Start with what you know best and feel more comfortable writing about, then fill in the gaps.

Leave time for editing and try to take at least a one or two days long break in between writing and editing. 

Do not forget to fill in the gaps. When you revisit your writing, go through it with all these writing tips in mind as well as a conscience of what your most common mistakes are.

Use Hemingway in the final editing phase.

Quotations and footnotes

Since there are two kinds of sources (primary and secondary), there are also two kinds of quotations: either we quote a text which we will interpret, or we quote a text which supports your interpretation.

Some quotation rules to know:

“Quote the object of your interpretive analysis with reasonable abundance.”

 “Quote the critical literature only when its authority corroborates or confirms your statements. (…)  when quoting or citing critical [aka secondary] literature, be sure that it says something new, or that it confirms authoritatively what you have said.”

“If you don’t want readers to presume that you share the opinion of the quoted author, you must include your own critical remarks before or after the passage.”

“Make sure that the author and the source of your quote are clearly identifiable.”

“When a quote does not exceed two or three lines, you can insert it into the body of the text enclosed in quotation marks. (…) When the quote is longer, it is better to set it off as a block quotation. In this case the quotation marks are not necessary, because it is clear that all set-off passages are quotes, and we must commit to a different system for our observations. (Any secondary developments [like the quote’s reference] should appear in a note.) (…) This method is quite convenient because it immediately reveals the quoted texts; it allows the reader to skip them if he is skimming, to linger if he is more interested in the quoted texts than in our commentary, and finally, to find them immediately when need be.”

Some footnote rules to know:

“Use notes to add additional supporting bibliographical references on a topic you discuss in the text. For example, ‘on this topic see also so-and-so.’”

“Use notes to introduce a supporting quote that would have interrupted the text. If you make a statement in the text and then continue directly to the next statement for fluidity, a superscript note reference after the first statement can refer the reader to a note in which a well-known authority backs up your assertion.”

“Use notes to expand on statements you have made in the text. Use notes to free your text from observations that, however important, are peripheral to your argument or do nothing more than repeat from a different point of view what you have essentially already said.”

“Use notes to correct statements in the text. You may be sure of your statements, but you should also be conscious that someone may disagree, or you may believe that, from a certain point of view, it would be possible to object to your statement. Inserting a partially restrictive note will then prove not only your academic honesty but also your critical spirit.”

“Use notes to provide a translation of a quote, or to provide the quote in the original language.”

[apricitystudies]

every minute spent on planning saves you ten minutes spent on execution. short essays probably don't require that much preparation beforehand, but if you're writing something longer you should probably spend some time planning first. this is the process i go through when planning my essays, and i find it works really well!

[apricitystudies]

a few people have asked for a post on how i use onenote, so here’s a quick guide! also obviously not sponsored lol

[allthingslinguistic]

Indigenous Activists Are Reimagining Language Preservation Under Quarantine

A number of language revitalization professionals report that their projects are not just continuing under quarantine—they’re expanding.

When Virginia Beavert received her Ph.D. in linguistics at the age of 90, it was the culmination of almost eight decades of work preserving the Ichishkiín language. A member of the Yakama Nation, she had started doing language documentation at the age of 12, when she served as an interpreter and transcriber for researchers studying languages of the Pacific Northwest’s indigenous groups. As an adult, Beavert worked on the first-ever Ichishkiín dictionary, recorded Yakama myths, and contributed to grammars and word lists of her mother tongue.

Earlier this summer, when she addressed fellow language activists from around the world via Zoom at a conference, she struck a determined tone. “I want to let you know that we are here,” she said to the camera at one point, “and we are supportive.”

As is the case for so many during the pandemic, language activists, linguists, and others who work on revitalization campaigns are reimagining their work at a time when coronavirus has made in-person meetings impossible. It’s a transition that has taken on particular urgency given the fact that the speaker pool for the world’s threatened and endangered languages skews older—precisely the population most at risk from the pandemic. This problem is compounded by the fact that indigenous communities not just in the United States but around the world are disproportionately affected both by the virus and by the economic toll of the shutdown.

Against this backdrop, the push to keep language revitalization going under lockdown is a symbol of cultural resilience—and, for many, an opportunity to build national and international solidarity among indigenous peoples around the world.

Read the whole thing. 

[yuk-tepat]

Typology

You know what analytical/isolating, agglutinative, and fusional languages are, I presume. You’ve heard about heads and dependents and word-orders, you can tell the difference between head-initial and head-final. You know what SOV, SVO, VSO, VOS, OVS, and OSV mean, and which ones like prepositions and which ones like postpositions. Maybe you know what an ergative language is. Is that all? What else do you know about your language? Some things to think  about:

Does your language have vowel harmony? OK, but does it have consonant harmony?

What restrictions does it place on the shape of roots? Are they different from restrictions on the shape of words or syllables? Can the same phoneme occur twice in a root? Are phonemes from the same class required, or banned?

Is its prosody stress-timed, syllable-timed, or mora-timed?

If it’s tonal, does it have contour tones? Is tone lexically determined? Does each syllable have marked tone?

Does your language mark grammatical relations in clauses? Does it bother to mark them at all?

Is your language accusative, ergative, tripartite, transitive, or neutral?

Is your ergative language totally ergative or split-ergative?

Does it have active-stative alignment? What determines the alignment of intransitive subjects? The semantics of the subject? The semantics of the verb? Something else?

Is it a topic-prominent language?

Does it use some other system, like an Austronesian ‘trigger’ system, or direct-inverse marking? What determines the order / marking of the arguments? An animacy hierarchy?

Does it mark experiencers of experiential verbs like agents or patients or something else?

Does your language have any ditransitive verbs? Is it dechticaetive or secundative?

Can a sentence omit any argument of the verb? Only the subject? No arguments at all?

What is the word order, and what determines it?

Is it consistently head-final or head-initial, or mixed? And where does the split occur?

Is there V2 order, or another unusual order?

Do certain structures, like subordinate clauses or questions, require different orders?

Does something other than syntactic relations determine word order?

Do relative clauses precede their head, or follow their head, or does it have internally-headed relative clauses?

Does it use a relative pronoun, another linking word, a special inflection, or no marking on the relative clause?

Does it allow gaps in a relative clause, or require resumptive pronouns?

Does it use some less common relativization strategy, like correlative constructions?

Is your language highly deranking? Are coordinate or subordinate constructions more marked?

Do you allow serial verbs?

Is your language head-marking or dependent-marking? Or double-marking? Or zero-marking? Or marks relations on something else?

Is your language inconsistent in marking type? Where does the split occur? Is there a pattern? (E.g., head-marked clauses and dependent-marked noun phrases in Bantu.)

Is your language synthetic?

Does your language have derivational morphology, but no inflectional morphology?

Do morphemes tack on to each other like legos, one after the other, in linear order? Or not?

Does it have portmanteau morphemes?

Does it have non-concatenating morphology?

Does it have templatic morphology (e.g., Semitic triliteral roots)

Is there a limit to the number of morphemes you can tack onto a root?

Do the morphemes occur in a fixed order, or can you change the order, say to indicate scope?

Do you allow multiple roots in one word form, or does each complex word have only one root, no matter how many derivations and inflections you apply to it?

Can verbs incorporate multiple verb roots?

Can verbs incorporate nouns?

If a verb incorporates a possessed noun, does the possessor get marked on its person-marking

How many different arguments are indexed in your verbs’ person-marking? None? Only subject? Subject and object? Indirect objects too? Non-core arguments?

How do you construct comparatives?

Do you use a case form or adposition, or a particle like ‘than’?

Do you have ‘exceed’ comparatives, positive-negative comparatives, or topical comparatives?

Are motion events verb-framing or satellite-framing?

For satellite-framing languages, are the motion verbs manner-conflating or figure-conflating? Or even ground-conflating?

Do you mark evidentiality?

Do you distinguish alienable and inalienable possession?

Does your language have a copula? Multiple copulas? Does it have a separate existential verb? Does it have a ‘have’ verb?

Does it have separate words for ‘tree’ and ‘wood’?

[racialized]

no I didn’t “mispronounce” that english word, I am actively dismantling the legitimacy of this barbaric colonial language. please respect my process. 

[booksfrommyshelf]

I am haunted by all the editions of books that are prettier than the ones I already own.

[diaryofandnwoman]

[rouge-the-bat]

i seen someone saying like if ur polyam then that means ur partner "isnt enough for u" or something like what ?? just bc u have multiple partners doesnt mean u love them any less or arent fullfilled by any of them.

if u have multiple children its not like u love any of them less, its not that One Child Didnt Fulfill You.

""you have multiple friends. what, one of them isnt enough for you??? u cant love all your friends equally, even among ur best friends !! just choose one, stop cheating!""

love is different for everyone, its okay to be comfortable with multiple partners or not comfortable with that, just dont try to force one or the other on someone or put them down for being either one.

[mviread]

Betty’s Reading Room

Located in Orkney, an archipelago off the North coast of Scotland, this remarkable yet unusual memorial was created by a couple as a fitting tribute for Betty, a late friend who died unexpectedly. The couple combined Betty’s love of books and Orkney by converting a derelict cottage into a ‘reading room.’ The aim was to encourage reading and to provide shelter for passengers waiting to catch the ferry to Rousay, whilst also keeping Betty’s memory alive using what she loved the most, books.