I want to take this man's voice and make it into an elixir that I will take a swig of every night so I am guaranteed a good night's sleep with nostalgic dreams of days gone by.
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
a ‘hot minute’ can be both a very short period of time, and a very long one. however, a hot minute in the past (“It's been a hot minute since I've seen you!”) is most often a long duration, while a hot minute in the future (“I'll be with you in a hot minute!”) is most often a short duration. this suggests some very strange things about the temperature of time.
hi!!! do you tv shows in swedish you can reccomend? i would try saying this in swedish but all i can come up with is du har rekomendationer för tv program en svenska? which is probably wrong?
Hey! Sorry for the late response!
These are some Swedish TV shows that i watched and enjoyed (i think i recommended most of these before, so i also added some that are on my "to watch" list):
Now, pardon me, but before I get to the meat of this post, the LGBTQ+ stuff, which is what I know we're all looking for 😁 I gotta do a little rant first
😌🙏😙💨
While I deeply appreciate the efforts of several groups over the last couple of years to translate English-language terminology and understanding of gender and sexuality, and the digression and non-conformity belonging thereto, I believe that, ultimately, it's a placeholding wedge-in that contributes to the wider problem of Anglicisation, or more accurately "Béarlachas", as it affects the Irish Gaelic language.
(Yes, I do be calling the language Gaelic - No, I am not American. I have a reason for doing so which I'll elaborate on in another post*.)
Now, Béarlachas is *not* borrowing and loaning words from English and using them seamlessly in Irish - a thiarcais, Irish speakers have been under the yoke of that language for over nine-hundred years, stating that we cannot adopt and adapt its words to our language is tone policing and language oppression of minority language speakers at it finest 🤌.
No, "Béarlachas" is the enforcement of the English-language thought process onto Irish. It comes from a place where thinking that English is more advanced, and has developed ways of understanding, and assuming that no other language, or in this case, Irish, has not caught up, or needs to rely on English.
You can see how this is a problem, right?
Queer people have always been everywhere. People distorting gender and sexuality norms have always been around. I remember growing up and an elderly family member from deep deep rural Ireland saying "Them townies always be looking down and calling peeple transvestites - sure out here that's only Amateur Dramatics!"
One of my parents has a story of knowing an "Auntie Bob" in their local town, someone who lived on the edge of the village, but not shunned by any modern transphobia standards.
There are so many queer stories lying under the surface - so plentiful that I'd encourage anyone to talk to older family members, or elderly people in your community. Now obviously, they won't have our modern terms like "queer" and "transgender" for them, but the stories, the people, are there 🎊.
- rant ends -
Anois! What we've all been waiting for:
LGBTQ+ slang, slurs, terms and explanations in the Irish language 🏳️🌈🥳
Starting off, what does the Irish language call "gender" and "sexuality"??
Sex (the act) is usually referred to by learners, second-language speakers and official dictionaries as "gnéas" - but a lot of vernacular speakers refer to it as:
Collaíocht
The word comes from the word collaí, meaning "carnal / sexual", which itself comes from the word colla, which in turn is a variant plural form of the word colainn, meaning "body". So a way of understanding collaíocht, would be thinking of it as meaning "body-ing", which ultimately, I think, is a cuter, more accurate and reflective way of referring to the act than Sex.
Gnéas
This is the word most dictionaries have down to describe the act, but let's have a fresh look at the word. Just as teas (heat) comes from the word te (hot), the word gnéas comes from the word gné. The following is the entry from the Ó Dónaill (1977) 'Irish-English Dictionary' for 'gné':
1. Species, kind...
2. Form, appearance
Form, appearance... further down the entry, we also have the word "aspect", as in "every aspect of the matter"... I wonder... sounds an awful lot like gender here to me - and at the time of Ó Dónaill, Ua Maoileoin and de Bhaldraithe composing their dictionaries, 'sex' and 'gender' would have been interchangeable terms.
While I have yet to look into this further, I have to wonder whether ascribing "gnéas" to the act of sex, rather than sex as in "gender" is a case of Béarlachas: applying English-language understandings to Irish-language words.
Which brings me around to:
Inscne
The word that I suspect of being a definite case of applying an English-language understanding to an Irish-language word. Inscne comes from Sean-Ghaeilge "insce", meaning a saying, a statement or word, and was applied to the sense of grammatical gender, or 'noun class'. Modern groups and most second language speakers apply the word to the English understanding of gender (most vernacular speakers I know simply borrow "gender" from English). Again, my own opinion and proposition, would be to use gnéas for gender, collaíocht for the act of sex, and cineál for sex (body type).
Cineál
Furthermore, Scottish Gaelic 🏴 also uses 'gnè' for gender, and 'tar-ghnèitheach' for transgender. The word for sex as in body type is 'seòrsa' - which is equivalent to the Irish cineál, which also has been used to describe body types. I think this understanding of the word cineál would be great to separate the traditional understanding of gender = body, and help us in any case to destigmatise bodies 🤷.
*The above have been kinda the groundwork. Here come the slang and slurs™️ proper*
Piteog (derog.)
This is the one most people who've done a little digging will've come across. The explanation that usually comes with it is 'effeminate man, sissy' or 'fairy (derogatory)' - but let's break down this word more, and discover the misogyny, reductiveness, wlw-erasure and why it to really only refers to mlm and transfeminine members of the LGBTQ+ community:
Pit is the Irish for 'vulva'. -óg or -eog is a suffix that kind of implies "like" - e.g. a camóg is something that's kinda cam (bent), i.e. a hurley. Piteog literally means "something like a vulva" 🤷.
Buachaill bán
No, not the Whiteboys of 1800s agrarian agitation in Ireland 🤣, but again another term for men-loving men. I think it's kinda poetic that the rainbow 🌈, the modern global symbol of LGBTQ+ people, is made up white light through a prism, and that the colour white was used to describe a sector of LGBTQ+ people in Ireland fadó.
*The only reason I'm saying this is an mlm term is because I've never come across it being used to describe wlw or other queer identities - but perhaps it could be used in a broader context?? Idk.
Lúbtha ("lúpthaí" i gConamara)
Literally translates as "bent". Lúb as a verb means "1. to loop, 2. to enmesh /to net, 3. to bend". Those in/from the Gaeltacht that I've spoken to of an older generation use it casually, with no obvious negative intent behind it, tho I've come across several middle-aged people who are scandalised if you say it (to the same extent as saying someone's 'bent' in English) but I dunno if that is from intergenerational difference is use (whether it became a slur in the last half-century or so) or if it comes from Gen X aversion to calling people 'bent' in English, and them correlating it to Lúbthaí in Irish.
Cam (slur)
Cam is a slur. While yes, it simply means 'bent', it carries the connotations of "crooked, sly, conniving" and in its usage, it is almost always unmistakeably intended as an insult.
Aiteach
I just want to put this on the list to discuss it. "Aiteach" is a modern construction. If you look up 'queer' in the dictionary, one of the entries you'll get is "ait", meaning 'pleasant, likeable, comical, fine, queer'. Ait is still used in everyday language (we all know the phrase "Is ait an mac an saol"), and was never used to describe LGBTQ+ people, but because of its positive connotations and appearance under "queer" in the dictionary, -each was added onto the end to describe LGBTQ+ people without having to use the abovementioned slurs. Yes, it is borderline Béarlachas, but most young Gaeil (Gaeltacht natives / vernacular speakers) I know don't have a problem with it 😁.
Gearrán
I've noticed the conspicuous gap of wlw specific terminology in this list. What can I say, 100 years of Catholic nationalist censorship on top of a patriarchal organisation of society makes them hard to come by. However, while I've never heard this word used, I've been seeing Gearrán more and more in online spaces lately.
(No, it's not related to gearán (complaint), and the two r's change the vowel sound of the 'ea')
It translates to a gelding, or a pack-horse, and according to Ó Dónaill (1977), can also mean a "Strong-boned woman; drudge, jade", and if that isn't a euphemism for a butch lesbian, idk what is.
Alright, that is an infodump and a half!
And there's still so much I could say... Lads, let's just say there's loads more to come 🤣
I'm white/a settler, can I learn a Native American language?
Of course, people can learn any language they can find resources for. So with this question, people are mostly looking for moral permission. Would it be harmful for me to learn one? Do I have the right to learn one?
The short answer: It depends. It depends on a lot of factors. Key things this post will focus on are:
Which one do you want to learn?
Why do you want to learn it?
How do you plan on learning it?
What are you going to do with it once you do get some fluency?
Some tribes feel very differently about outsiders learning it than others do. And individuals within tribes have an even wider opinion range.
There is no "one" correct answer, and I think if white people go about seeking to get a direct clear cut yes or no answer, that by itself is a sign that they are not very educated in Native American language activism and the needs of Natives.
To explore this topic, I organized a survey for Native people to share their thoughts. It involved questions about how they personally feel, how their tribe as a whole tends to feel, and how their opinion varies between white people vs other Indigenous people not from their own tribe. 53 respondents participated, and 3/53 choose to not disclose their tribe. Throughout the rest of this post, I use "Native" for short. Please see below the cut for all the results and exploration! Note: this is very long. But for all allies / people interested in learning these languages, it is well worth your time to read and learn from Natives.
The General Opinion
In total, only around 9% were in total support of white people learning a Native language, and around 4% were neutral. The remaining 87% had varying levels of concerns and discomfort.
The group that had concerns was further divided by their degree of discomfort:
Around 28% of all responses were firmly against white people learning their languages.
Around 17% of all responses also expressed extreme discomfort with white people learning, but they acknowledged certain circumstances they felt it could be okay.
Around 42% of all responses said they were mostly okay with white people learning, but they still had concerns and discomfort. Many people in this category also said they only were okay with it out of fear of the language dying out. Even if they felt white people could potentially help, they still felt extremely bitter and disliked it, especially since white people are the reason why the languages are in danger in the first place.
To contrast this with how respondents felt about other Indigenous people from different cultures learning their language, the results were around: 57% in total support, 24% mostly okay, 11% mostly against, 4% totally against, and again, 4% remained neutral.
Even people who did support white people learning Native languages, either fully or mostly, almost every single one expressed that they felt more comfortable with other Indigenous peoples learning them, as they would be more likely to respect the language.
These statistics by themselves mostly show that the general opinion is that of caution and unease around white people learning Native languages. Yet, as stated above and shown by the statistics, its not a clear cut yes or no. Now we will explore our more specific questions and results relating to those from the survey.
1) Which one are you interested in?
Since this portion focuses on trends within specific tribes, the responses from the 3 people who chose to not disclose their tribe is not considered. The 50 responses with tribes come from 25 tribes, though only a few are explicitly explained here.
The biggest group of responses came from Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people, with 10 responses total. Of those 10 responses, in reference to how they personally feel about white people learning, the results were: 6/10 mostly okay, 1/10 mostly against, 2/10 firmly against, and 1/10 neutral.
To contrast with this, when these same 10 Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people talked about how their tribe as a whole feels about white people learning their language, regardless if they agree or disagree, the results were: 1/10 totally okay, 2/10 mostly okay, 2/10 mostly against, 1/10 firmly against, 4/10 neutral or did not know.
Some important context for the Ojibwe / Anishinaabe case, is that they are one of, if not the, largest tribe north of Mexico. Despite having these numbers, it does not make the top 3 Native American languages in terms of reported number of speakers.
Which brings me to the next case study, Navajo, which is the Native American language in the U.S. with the most amount of speakers. This one is also an important case study because this language has something no other U.S. American Native language has: a Duolingo course. Albeit a very small one, it exists. 3 respondents were Navajo.
None of the 3 responses reported being totally okay with white people learning it, both in terms of personal feelings and from the tribe as a whole. One person reported both themselves and the tribe as a whole as firmly against it, one person felt more okay personally but said the tribe was more against, and one person was more neutrally aligned and believed it was best decided on a case by case basis. When discussing the Navajo experience of learning the language, all 3 expressed how while there are abundant resources, many of them are not adequate enough to actually teach the language properly, demonstrated by the extremely small Duolingo course and the inaccessibility of other resources. 2/3 respondents talked about how the language's history in WWII negatively contributed to white people's treatment of the language.
The final case study I want to highlight isn't so much one language, but the languages that people reported being firmly against outsiders learning. These are sorted by individuals not wanting white people to learn (I-W), individuals not wanting other Indigenous people to learn (I-O), responses saying the tribe is against white people learning (T-W), and responses saying the tribe is against other Indigenous people learning (T-O). Those tribes/languages are as follows:
Ojibwe: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Michif: 2 (I-W)
Zapotec: 1 (I-W)
Nahua: 1 (I-W)
Washoe: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O)
Cherokee: 1 (I-W)
Cree: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W)
Blackfoot: 1 (I-W)
Mi'kmaw: 1 (I-W)
Navajo: 1 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Hopi: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Oneida: 1 (I-W)
Taino: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Lakota: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Atikamekw: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Paiute: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
From these, only Hopi was expressed to be firmly against anyone who isn't Hopi learning it across the board, with Ojibwe and Navajo having firmly against in 3/4 opinion categories.
What I hope people have gotten from this section is that opinions deeply deeply vary. This does not mean that you should ask around until someone inevitably says yes, and then you go wild. It means that this is an on-going conversation that never ends, and that if you go through with it, you have to respect that many people are not going to be comfortable about it, and don't owe you anything. And if every single person you talk to says "no", perhaps that is a sign that you are better off finding other ways to involve yourself.
2) Why do you want to learn it?
The primary concern people had about white people learning their languages was motive. Within the survey, respondents were given the chance to discuss both good and bad motives for white people learning Native languages. The answers were very consistent across all responses, and all reported ones are listed here.
Reported bad motives include:
Colonial reasons like missionary work or anthropology
Just because they can, because they "like it", find it "fun", as it is an extensive of their white privilege to be able to learn these while actual Natives struggle to do so
Because they think its "exotic" and fetishize it
To falsely claim being Indigenous, to seem more like an ally without doing anything else, or just speak over Native people in general
Because they view it as a "challenge", to seem smarter/unique
Anything for a profit (teaching, for a brand, etc) - profit being either literal money, personal / social status, etc
Out of white guilt, as a way to try and get out of being held accountable for colonialism
Reported good motives include:
To communicate with Natives in their own language to displace usage of colonial languages like English, French, Spanish, etc
Learning for Native family members, romantic partners, friends, or if they have Native children to help ensure the child grows up speaking it
People invited to learn to do volunteer work / activism under the guidance of Natives and elders
Some motives had mixed views:
Learning the Native language of where you live. Those in favor viewed it as contributing to decolonizing by restoring that language's priority to the land. Those against viewed it as robbing opportunities from actual Natives to learn their own language and white people trying to "indigenize" themselves.
"Appreciating" the culture. Since appreciation and appropriation have such fine lines that white people readily cross often, this motive by itself can be a mixed bag.
Learning it as a person in power like a doctor, academic, lawyer, social worker, etc. Some say this can enable people to contribute and better support Natives, some think it will only further contribute to white people stealing our languages and making it harder for Natives to learn, or will enable white people in power to more easily abuse Natives.
Wanting to "save" the language. This topic will actually be explored in another post of mine in the future, so I won't say much on it now. To summarize it: Native languages thrive when Natives speak them, not when white people speak them.
From this section, the main thing to be considered is that Native languages cannot be treated like other languages, and mere "curiosity" isn't necessarily a compliment. The history white people have with them is not in the past, and these issues are very much still abound today. Bad motives for learning can be just as deadly as "ignoring" Native languages. Even in Europe, these motives paired with peoples' lack of literal interaction with Natives, can create an atmosphere of disrespect, even if unintentional.
3) How will you learn it?
Like motives, the respondents were given a chance to discuss both respectful methods of learning and disrespectful methods of learning. The good and bad reported reasons were mostly inverses of each other, and all responses could be sorted in 6 overarching answers of good/bad pairs.
Learning from Natives, and not white people. Any sources created by white people are inherently culturally inaccurate at best or outright colonialist and exploitative at worst. Any classes attended and resources consulted should be made and approved by the respective tribes.
Paying to learn, and not just using free sources. Considering that white people are the reason these languages are dying, many responses expressed that paying for the right to learn is the LEAST white people can do. Paying for education supports Native academics and communities, and shows respect, as using free resources just feeds into white entitlement.
Learning within a community, and not with other white people or by yourself. Many expressed that even if you buy a reputable textbook from a Native author, that isn't enough. Responses expressed that white people should be immersed within a Native community as they learn, since this is the only way to ensure they not only learn the language accurately, but so that they learn proper respect and cultural context. Many people did explicitly cite online programs like Duolingo as NOT being a good way for white people to learn. Even just learning with one Native friend is leagues better than self-study.
Learning in a way rooted in tradition, and not colonial values. By prioritizing oral usage, exploring cultural stories (that Natives choose to share willingly), and not pushing western concepts like standardization onto the languages, the languages are better respected and understood. As stated above, meeting this expectation requires connections to Native communities.
Learning with humility, and not prioritizing yourself. Not taking up limited space or copies of resources away from other Natives, not demanding to be taught more than what is shared, and being able to accept "no" as an answer is the bare minimum amount of respect and care.
Prioritizing decolonization over linguistic endeavors. White people who choose to learn a Native language should not only treat it as a fun language-learning hobby. Learning a language should be a secondary pursuit on top of the main cause of supporting and contributing to decolonization.
Much like the last section, a main thing to take away from this is that Native languages much be approached by white people in different ways than they might approach European languages. This section may particularly frustrate white people who are interested, especially if they feel they can't afford to pay for opportunities to learn. Yet working through that frustration, and putting in the work to learn in a respectful way, is necessary if one wants to be a good ally and to not assume a position of entitlement with these languages.
4) What will you do with your language knowledge?
This topic of debate does not end once you know some/much of the language. Assuming you learned a language with the right motives, and you learned in a respectful way, you now have the responsibility to not abuse and exploit what was given to you. And if those two assumptions were truly met, I would hope you don't want to abuse your knowledge! Much like the methods of learning, good/bad ways of using language knowledge formed inverse pairs. Response are summarized here:
Using it to give back to Natives, not white people. This isn't your new fun party trick to share with your white friends. If you reach a level of fluency, and then suddenly stop all engagement with the community and turn inward to your white circle, it was wasted on you.
Sharing with others when acceptable, not at your own discretion. Creating your own educational resources is not respectful, but sharing what you were given with other Natives of that tribe freely can be a way for you to use your privilege to give back. Many responses expressed that the primary time a white person should take on a position of "teaching" a Native language is if they have a Native child they are raising with it, and even then, they should always defer to their Native partner and their child's community to lead and guide that endeavor.
Integrating into the community, without taking on authority. As stated above, teaching of your own accord is not appropriate. If you are invited to help with teaching efforts, go for it! But in general, assuming the position of "language expert", correcting other Natives, and other such behaviors is never acceptable. That's not to say people can't make careers/livelihoods out of Native language advocacy - only to say that any such decisions should be made with and guided by connections to the respective community.
Letting it shape your understanding of the land, without claiming it as your own. Learning the original names for local landmarks, places, foods, and animals can help displace the normalcy of colonial-imposed languages. As always, language knowledge should motivate and guide people into activism for Natives in all areas, not just language-activism. And a major part of this is constantly checking yourself, your privilege, and unlearning every harmful notion taught by the colonial power. Having the honor to see the world in a new way can be a great tool for doing so.
The best way to summarize not only this section, but this entire grand topic as a whole, is that its not about a language. Its about healing a community, healing the land, and righting the wrongs of colonialism. For white people, their relationship to that endeavor is a very strong and very loaded one.
I'm sure this post will make certain white people very mad at me. And of course, the data for this came from a rather small sample size, and other Natives are more than welcome to add onto this. As stated numerous times, the goal of this post was not to say "yes you can" or "no you can't". The goal was to give insight to the wide variety of views, and to give guidance on ways to become involved that maintain the respect and autonomy of Natives. If you view this as me shattering your dreams of learning xyz Native language, then you have deeply misunderstood the message here. Respectful questions are more than welcome, yet I will be turning anon off just for my own safety. Any racism will be blocked.
what’s the difference between these two verbs for “to learn”?
well, as it turns out, the difference has to do with how you learned the information you’re referring to—namely, whether you learned from another person or not. check out this explanation from a hinative thread:
習う・・・人から教わる（おそわる）こと / to be taught by someone
学ぶ・・・知識や技芸を身につけること / to acquire some knowledge or skill
学ぶには、学習する、勉強するという意味もあります / 学ぶ can also mean to 学習する or 勉強する.
so, 習う is for things you learn from people and 学ぶ is for things you learn from books, etc., or as a synonym for studying. here are some examples (from the same hinative thread):
本を読んで英語を学びました。 (never 習いました)
ピアノを母から習いました。 (not 学びました)
example 1 specifies that the new information comes from a book, while example 2 specifies that it comes from the speaker’s mom. it seems like such a fundamental difference between the two, but i know i for one had never heard of it before!
anyways, i hope this quick little lesson was helpful. また今度ね！
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