#general:challenge

[guillemelgat]

I'm trying to get back into the swing of studying Basque a bit more, so I'm going to try to listen to a song every day and look up all the words I don't know. I'm starting off with this song from Idoia's newest album, De amar y desandar, which is called "Autofikzioa" and which I'm a big fan of.

ilunpetan - in the dark (from ilunpe - 'darkness')

ito - to drown

kontraesan - contradiction

errai - gut

gatibu - captive, prisoner

hala ere - despite everything, nonetheless

(Ez nago ziur zer den "urperatzear" - uste dut "urpe" eta "atze" elkartzen dituela baina ez dakit zer esaten nahi duen)

[guillemelgat]

30 Days of Vocab - A November Language Challenge!

I know I’ve been a bit MIA on this blog for the past uhh *checks notes* let’s just say several months, but I’m back, and I want to get into studying languages more regularly again. That’s why I’ve created a vocabulary challenge for November, which you all are welcome to join!

This challenge is intended to expand vocabulary in areas which are of personal interest but might not get covered in class/textbooks. Basically, it’s a way to learn the words to talk about the things that you like to talk about, and it’s scalable to your level.

The challenge is very simple. For every day in November, pick a topic that interests you, and write up a list of vocabulary related to that topic. You can use all kinds of sources to find the vocabulary, and I’d encourage you to look into ways of interacting with the topic in your target language if you’re more advanced (books, podcasts, blogs, TV shows, etc)—if you find anything good, then share that too! And that’s the challenge, it’s that simple.

If you need something to keep you on track or to give you a bit more detail, I’ve made a workbook and a set of spreadsheets for guiding people through the whole process, which you can make a copy of right here (you'll have to open each one and go to File > Make a Copy). Don’t feel obliged to use it, though. And that’s basically it, hope to see you all on November 1st!

[guillemelgat]

Repte Idiomes - Estiu 2021

INTRODUCCIÓ

Fa temps que he volgut millor la base lèxica que tinc en alguns idiomes amb els quals tinc vora un nivell B1, i també fa temps que vaig perdent l'interès en estudiar idiomes al nivell d'abans. Per això, aquest estiu només vull passar-m'ho bé estudiant, i també aprendre més paraules. Proposo el repte següent, per a mi i qui més hi vulgui participar: aferrar-nos a fer un (o més) curs(os) sencer(s) a Memrise (o Anki o Quizlet, et cètera)! No serà gaire exigent, però sí que es pot aprendre alguna cosa ^-^

OBJECTIUS

basc (~1900 paraules)

gal·lès (~1600 paraules)

romani (~2000 paraules)

amhàric (~1600 paraules)

rus (~5000 paraules)

HORARI

El repte va des del 27 de juny al 25 de setembre (90 dies / 13 setmanes)

Cada dia: 10-40 paraules a cada curs

Cada setmana: un dia de repàs / una tretzena part del curs completada

Cada mes: un terç del curs completat!

PARTICIPA!

Pels que hi vulguin participar, podeu fer un post diarament, setmanalment, o mensualment (la veritat és que això no és gaire organitzat) comentant el teu progrés! I esteu benvinguts i benvigudes a etiquetar-me als posts amb @guillemelgat​ o bé fent servir l'etiqueta #repte-idiomes-estiu.

Comencem? Som-hi!

(English translation under cut)

Language Challenge - Summer 2021

INTRODUCTION

I’ve been wanting to improve my vocabulary base in some of my languages where I’m on the edge of a B1 level for a long time, and also I’ve been losing interest in studying languages at the same level as before for a while. Because of that, this summer I want to just enjoy myself studying, and also to learn more words. I’m proposing the following challenge, for myself and whoever else wants to participate: committing to doing one (or more) whole course(s) on Memrise (or Anki or Quizlet, etc). It won’t be too demanding, but we might learn something ^-^

GOALS

Basque (~1900 words)

Welsh (~1600 words)

Romani (~2000 words)

Amharic (~1600 words)

Russian (~5000 words)

SCHEDULE

The challenge will go from June 27 to September 25 (90 days / 13 weeks)

Every day: 10-40 words on every course

Every week: one day of review / one-thirteenth of the course complete

Every month: a third of the course complete!

PARTICIPATE!

If you want to participate, you can make a daily, weekly, or monthly post (honestly this isn’t very organized at all) commenting on your progress! And you’re welcome to tag me on the posts with @guillemelgat​ or using the tag #repte-idiomes-estiu.

Shall we begin? Let’s go!

[guillemelgat]

Image credit: Vaikom Temple Sreekovil Murals, Sivavkm on Wikimedia

For the tl90days challenge this week, I’m learning about Kerala mural paintings, which are a form of frescoes painted on the walls of South Indian (primarily Kerala) temples depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. Here is some vocabulary related to them, please let me know if you catch mistakes!

കേരളത്തിലെ ചുമർ ചിത്രങ്ങൾ /kēraḷattile cumar citraṅṅaḷ/ - Kerala mural painting

കരിങ്കല്ല് /kariṅkallŭ/ - granite

ചെങ്കല്ല് /ceṅkallŭ/ - laterite

നിർമ്മാണം /nirmmāṇam/ - construction

നിറക്കൂട്ട്‌ /niṛakkūṭṭŭ/ - coloring

ചുവപ്പ്‌ /cuvappŭ/ - red

മഞ്ഞ /mañña/ - yellow

നീല /nīla/ - blue

പച്ച /pacca/ - green

കറുപ്പ്‌ /karuppŭ/ - black

വെള്ള /veḷḷa/ - white

ഹിന്ദുമതം /hindumatam/ - Hinduism

ക്ഷേത്രം /kṣētram/ - temple

കൊട്ടാരം /koṭṭāram/ - palace

[guillemelgat]

WOTDs in Malayalam

I’m cramming a week worth of Words of the Day into one post for Week 4 of the Target Language 90 Days Challenge. Theese were all words that my dad sent to me when we were doing a WOTD thing, plus the sentences I wrote with them and his corrections, so they should be reasonably correct?? Although he also can’t spell super well so??? Let me know if you see any mistakes.

തണുപ്പ് /taṇuppŭ/ - cold (n.)

അച്ചന് തണുപ്പ് ഉണ്ടൊ? /accanŭ taṇuppŭ uṇṭo/ - Does father have a cold?

ഒന്ന് /onnŭ/ - please*

ഒന്ന് ഇവിടെ വരു /onnŭ iviṭe varu/ - Please come here (polite/formal)

സുഖം /sukham/ - health

എനിക്ക് സുഖം ഇല്ല /enikkŭ sukham illa/ - I am sick (lit. I do not have health)

ഉപ്പ് /uppŭ/ - salt

ഉപ്പ് എനിക്ക് ഇഷ്ടമാണ് /uppŭ enikkŭ iṣṭamāṇŭ/ - I like salt

ഉടനെ /uṭane/ - immediately, at once

ഞാൻ ഉടനെ പറയഞ്ഞില്ല /ñān uṭane paṛayaññilla/ - I did not say it immediately

കുട്ടി /kuṭṭi/ - child (n.), small (adj.)

എന്റെ പൂച്ച കുട്ടിയല്ല /enṛe pūcca kuṭṭiyalla/ - My cat is not small

ഉന്തുക /untuka/ - to push**

അമ്മേ മാലതി എന്നേ ഉന്തി! /ammē mālati ennē unti/ - Mom, Malathi pushed me!

* - also means one, as in the numeral

** - I think this might be my family’s dialect, if other people don’t recognize it that’s probably why, also the sentence may not be spelled 100% correctly

[guillemelgat]

I made my bujo this week in Malayalam for the TL90Days challenge! (yes I do make a bullet journal no I never post it on here because what goes on there is between me and God alone) Since last week was Diwali, I thought I’d make that my theme (I usually do it based on a song but I don’t listen to any music in Malayalam 😅), please appreciate my diya and fireworks. Here are the words that I learned for this:

Days/Months:

നവംബർ /navambar/ - November

തിക്ങൾ /tikṅaḷ/ - Monday

ചൊവ്വ /covva/ - Tuesday

ബുധൻ /budhan/ - Wednesday

വ്യാഴം /vyāḻam/ - Thursday

വെള്ളി /veḷḷi/ - Friday

ശനി /śani/ - Saturday

ഞായർ /ñāyar/ - Sunday

Other:

വികാരങ്ങൾ /vikaraṅṅaḷ/ - feelings

നന്ദി /nandi/ - thanks, gratitude

ജോലികൾ /jōlikaḷ/ - jobs, tasks

നടക്കുക /naṭakkuka/ - to walk

വെള്ളം /veḷḷam/ - water

ശുചിത്വം /śucitvam/ - hygiene

ഉറക്കുക /uṛakkuka/ - to sleep

എഴുതുക /eḻutuka/ - to write

ജോലി ചെയ്യുക /jōli ceyyuka/ - to work

ഭാഷകൾ /bhāṣakaḷ/ - languages

ദീപാവലി ആശംസകൾ /dīpāvali āśamsakaḷ/ - Diwali greetings

A lot of these words I was very unsure about, so let me know if you see any mistakes/corrections!

[guillemelgat]

Hobbies Vocab in Malayalam

This is part two of Week 2 for @langblrgang​’s Year End Challenge! The assignment was to look up some vocabulary related to my hobbies, so I made a list of things I vaguely like to do and then made my dad translate them all. Unfortunately I have no idea how to spell anything in Malayalam and some of these weren’t in the dictionary, so the spellings may be a bit strange in places. Also it’s quite likely that some of these are informal or dialectal, so if any look weird to native speakers that might be why. Either way, let me know if you spot typos/mistakes/anything else!

കൃഷി /kr̥ṣi/ - farming

കൃഷി ചെയ്യുക /kr̥ṣi ceyyuka/ - to farm

കൃഷിക്കാരന്‍ /kr̥ṣikkāran/ - farmer

തോട്ടം /tōṭṭam/ - garden

തോട്ടക്കാരന്‍ /tōṭṭakkāran/ - gardener

ചെടി /ceṭi/ - plant

പൂവ് /pūvŭ/ - flower

വളക്കുക /vaḷakkuka/ - to grow

വരയ്ക്കുക /varaykkuka/ - to draw

എഴുതുക /eḻutuka/ - to write

കഥ /katha/ - story

വായിക്കുക /vāyikkuka/ - to read

പുസ്‌തകം /pustakam/ - book

നടക്കം പോവുക /naṭakkam pōvuka/ - to go for a walk

സൈക്കിള്‍ ഓടിക്കുക /saikkiḷ ōṭikkuka/ - to ride a bicycle

നീന്തുക /nīntuka/ - to swim

പഠിക്കുക /paṭhikkuka/ - to study

ഭാഷ /bhaṣa/ - language

കേള്‍ക്കുക, കേൾത് ഇരിക്കുക /kēḷkkuka, kēltŭ irikkuka/ - to listen to, lit. to hear and to sit hearing (second one is from my dad and idk how to spell it)

പാടുക /pāṭuka/ - to sing

പാട്ട്, സംഗീതം (formal) /pāṭṭŭ, sangītam/ - music (first one is lit. song)

കാണുക, കാണ്ടെ ഇരിക്കുക /kāṇuka, kāṇṭe irikkuka/ - to watch, lit. to see and to sit seeing (see note above about “to listen”)

കളിക്കുക /kaḷikkuka/ - to play

ഫുട്‌ബോള്‍ /fuṭbōḷ/ - football, soccer

ക്രിക്കറ്റ് /krikkaṛṛ/ - cricket

ഉണ്ടാക്കുക /uṇḍākkuka/ - to make

[guillemelgat]

For my grammar review for week 3 of the Langblr Gang End of Year Challenge, I tried reviewing the difference between the two Malayalam verbs for “to be”, ആക് and ഉണ്ട്. There isn’t a lot of difference between them, as far as I can tell the main difference is similar to that in Romance languages, with ആക് being for a general truth or habitual state, while ഉണ്ട് is more temporary. However, the  difference seems a lot less marked than that. Here’s an expanded version of what’s in the graphic above:

ആക്  | āk

CONJUGATIONS

present | ആണ് /āṇŭ/

past | ആയിരുന്നു /āyirunnu/

future | ആയിരിക്കും /āyirikkum/

participle | ആയ /āya/

negative | അല്ല /alla/

USES

Identity | to say something is something | ഞാൻ മേരി ആണ് - I am Mary

State | to describe the emotional, mental, or physical state of someone or something | അവന് എന്നോട് വെറുപ്പ് ആണ് - He hates me (lit. has hatred for me)

Existence | to say that something exists | കേരളത്തിൽ മഴ ആണ് - There is rain in Kerala

Attribute | to describe the qualities of something | ആവീട് വലുത് ആണ് - That house is big

Location | to describe where something is | പുസ്തകക്കട ആ വഴിയിൽ ആണ് - The book shop is on that street

Continuous aspect (-ing) | with the infinitive ending in -ka, this works like -ing in English | ഞങ്ങൾ പോവുക ആണ് - We are going

Adjective formation | with the participle, to turn a noun or Sanskrit-derived word into an adjective (x being y) | മിടുക്കനായ കുട്ടി - smart boy

ഉണ്ട്  | uṇṭŭ

CONJUGATIONS

present | ഉണ്ട് /āṇŭ/

past | ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു /āyirunnu/

future | ഉണ്ടാക്കും /āyirikkum/

participle | ഉള്ള /āya/

negative | ഇല് /alla/

USES

Possession | with the possessor in the dative case, to say someone has something | എനിക്ക് കാര്‍ ഉണ്ട് - I have a car

State | to describe the emotional, mental, or physical state of someone or something | അവൾക്ക് പനി ഉണ്ട് - She has a fever

Location | to describe where something is | അവിടെ മലകൾ ഉണ്ട് - There are mountains there

Continuous aspect (-ing) | with the present tense ending in -unnu, this works like -ing in English | രവി പഠിക്കുന്നുണ്ട് - Ravi is studying

Adjective formation | with the participle, to turn a noun into a possessive adjective (x having y) or an adverb into an adjective | വെള്ളമുള്ള കിണര്‍ - well with water

I hope that helps, let me know if there are typos or mistakes! I am still not 100% clear on this either, so if you’re confused that’s probably on me :’)