#language ask game

[dreamingofmoonshadows]

Language asks are amazing!! ☾, ✌, ☯, ♡?

☾ : I have already answered this, so I will answer with another one of my favourites. 'കൗതുകം' (Transliteration : Kauthukam'). It translates to curiousity, intrigue. It is a pretty word, one I loved hearing, as it was rarely used in casual conversation.

✌ : My favourite saying is:

'ഒന്നുകിൽ കളരിക്കുപുറത്തു അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഗുരുക്കളെ നെഞ്ചത്തു'.

Literally, it translates to 'Either outside the Kalari, on upon your guru's (teacher's) chest', referring to the display of the martial arts of Kerala, Kalari (Both the art, and the building where you learn it share the name, thus the phrase 'outside the Kalari'.) The meaning of the proverb is basically 'either too much or too little, but never in moderation'. I have been the proud recipient of it my entire life, twice from my actual Kalari Gurus! *Proud*

☯ : I adore malayalam for a variety of reasons, but I think my favourite thing about it is the diverse slangs and dialects of the language. From the northern tip of Kasargod to the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram, malayalam changes its accents, its usages, its phrases. Barely anyone speaks the proper written form of malayalam in day-to-day life. The slangs are all gorgeous in its own way, and I have a special fondness for the literature written in dialects and slangs.

♡ : I learned English, Hindi and Sanskrit in school. English for 12 years, Hindi for eight, and Sanskrit for six. I am fluent in both English and Hindi, and though I can't speak Sanskrit, I have a rudimentary understanding of it. I am also fluent in my mother tongue, Malayalam, but I never learned it scholastically. I learned Malayalam as anyone learns their mother tongue - through hearing it, through reading kid's magazines, and being taught by my parents.

Thank you for the ask~

Ask game

[max1461]

Easily Xhosa. Your avi on here is one of its best consonants, plus it just has a good vibe anyways. It’s complicated but in a good way given the way it’s used in Western media because it brings forth good discussions of how we portray languages.

Ooooh I like this answer. Xhosa has one of my favorite consonant inventories in general; it almost has Sino-Tibetan vibes except for the clicks.

[gemsofgreece]

❀ & ♡

♡ : which languages do you speak/have you learned in school?

I was taught English and German in school. (Besides Modern and Ancient Greek obvi). I am currently learning Spanish, Finnish and Latin through apps on my own time. And trying to practice my German again.

❀ : which language(s) would you like to speak fluently?

All the aforementioned ones hehe especially German because I once got two certificates but at this point I feel like I was taught this language in some dream… Wie schade!

In a world where I would have unlimited brain capacity, I would also like to know Icelandic, Albanian, Chinese and Māori or some other Polynesian language.

[lesbitorte]

☆ y ☮ por favor 🥺

☆ : give the first lines of a song which is originally in your language

Qué rabia me da el amor, voy a arrancármelo // Qué rabia me da el amor, voy a quedármelo // Prefiero lo tortuoso del ritual // Que lo decoroso de estar siempre igual

This is Arrancarmelo by Wos and I'm in love with his music.

☮ : translate the first lines of your favourite song in your language

Okay, not sure if the question asks for fav in my language or fav in english and translate to either BUT it doesn't matter because I don't have a favorite song, just songs I'm currently obsessed with xD

Right now ls another song by Wos, he released it recently and it's called DESCARTABLE so I'm translating a bit to english

Voy a ver si hay algo nuevo que buscar en tus ojos // Si hay algo viejo que me saque el enojo // O si insisto con la misma manera // Búsqueda inútil de atrapar lo fugaz

.

I'm trying to see if there's anything new to look for in your eyes // If there's anything old that could take my anger away // Or if I insist on my ways // Useless search of the fleeting

Not my best translation BUT i like it, i think it convey the lyrics enough to be understandable

(language ask game)

[writingonesdreams]

Langblr ask meme: t :D

t. Have you ever taken in media (music, movies, tv, books, etc) in the language(s) you're learning?

Yes, I do all of that and more I'm English. I still remember the time when listing to english songs was just imagining what they could be saying XD. It's been mainly tv shows and anime that got me so far in English, very positive motivation.

I like to rewatch favourite movies in english after seeing then in tv in slovak so I can enjoy the voices and nuances in original, mainly with American movies.

TV series I watch exclusively in English. Same with books, it's a rarity to read a book in my native language lately. I should go back to that a bit.

I know a few German songs, but I never watch anything in German? Probably why my daily language is so weird and news people talk too quickly for me at times. Funny I don't have this problem in German lectures, but that is a very high proper German. I hate the freaking shortcuts in German - they have such long words they like to shorten everything and it's a nightmare when you don't know the original word but everyone expects you to and of course the translator doesn't work for shortcuts.

Ahh all comes down to daily use :D that's why I'm confident in English and not in German.

Thanks for the ask :)

[gemsofgreece]

♧ και ✌

♧ : favourite word from the english language translated in your language

My two favourite English words might be a little unusual. The first one is “accelerate” which in Greek is επιταχύνω (epitahíno). The second is “blacksmith” which in Greek is σιδηρουργός (siðirurɣós) and σιδεράς (siðerás).

✌ : favourite proverb/saying from your language

«Μάτια που δεν βλέπονται γρήγορα λησμονιούνται.» “The eyes that are not gazed upon get quickly forgotten.” It’s pessimistic realism but it is a good wake up call about how all sorts of relationships need work and frequent communication in order to be maintained or be profound.

*answered in English for more accessibility to all

[max1461]

strangely a languagr about you is only english (though perhaps old english, deapite and WITH all the modern nuances and flexibility of it) in my head. Im sure you probably (i think you posted that you do) speak and understand way more than just eng, i dont know if its your native language, and i hope this isnt taken badly- i mean it nicely and with fascination, and geniuine aprechiation to english as a language without relation as a political tool. But the way your syntax and thoughts flow, at least how theyre expressed in your posts, is only really with such a cadence and charm in english which allows near word-salad paragraphhs to be very coherent. In an endearing way i want to say you as person make me think of english. Your trailing on and on and on in, like an upwards spiral of paralilogramic thesoi is to me much like how old english texts in murals and illuminated manuscripts are. Very rooty, despite your many uses greek-etymology words ("orthogonal" comes to mind), very grounded, very real, sprawling like ivy. english!))))

wow, thank you!!! this is such a nice thing to say and, like, it makes me very happy that my writing comes off in such a specific way. thank you!

[writingonesdreams]

b. How are you learning new languages?

e. How did you decide what languages you wanted to learn?

f. Would you say you're proficient enough to write a scene of a story in the other language(s)?

l. What is your favorite language you've learned (if you're learning/have learned multiple)

b. Mainly through actually living in them. Through hearing lectures, watching movies, listening to songs, reading and writing in them and speaking with other people.

e. Came as necessity and advantage. My parents send me to an austrian school to learn German when I couldn't speak it at all, when I was 10. That is one dramatic but efficient way to learn language, let me tell you XD. I had trouble understanding for a year and trouble speaking for the second, but hey here I am, writing scientific papers in it now. I had to learn English for classes but this is also a language I learned the most myself in my free time. Started as watching tv shows that I watched in original cause I couldn't wait for the subtitles. Binge watching shows really can teach you something. XD

f. Haha I do this everyday in English. Surprisingly turned out as my fave language to write in or maybe I'm just that used it by now. I read in English the most cause the ebooks are cheaper, so ofc I get the most vocab there, even though it's actually my what, fourth language. Writing in my mother language would be easier, but it also kinda feels off to write in that tounge after the years...plus I kinda started writing in English so my mom, a professional editor, couldn't read my work. I was very self-conscious as a kid and now I'm paying for it, cause the one language I'm comfortable writing in now is the one she can't edit for me.

l. English is probably my fave, cause it's me free and me time language. Reading, writing, friends, blogging, I do it all in English and I feel pretty good at it at this point. Even more assured than in German, since that's a language my brain connects to school and assignments XD and I admittedly don't have German friends to practice actual speaking with, so my level of daily German, the one with slang, dialects and shortcuts for everyday use is actually lacking for this. I'm known to write the best academic essays and have the best "high" level vocabulary, but start talking about movies and drinks and I have a hard time keeping up. XD

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Thanks for the ask! I'm not currently learning any new language outside my main four (Slovak, Czech, German, English), but switching between them on dialy basis is difficult enough and I still have lots to learn, even though I'm really good and functioning in all of them. It's just really hard for a writer like me, cause I love words and I was always good with them, and learning new languages like German and English mostly through shock and intense exposure XD makes me extra conscious about making mistakes and not being able to find the right word at the exact moment. Not to mention that the more I do in one language, the more difficult the others get. After an uni class in German I feel like an ape trying to talk to my parents in my mother tounge. XD

Just fun to think about what a multilingual life is like and how many people have it like me :D Maybe I will learn Russian and Polish one day, cause my mom says for a Slav like me it would be super quick and easy, since our languages are so similar. I learned French and Latin in school, but I don't use those, so ofc they get rusty. I can get the general meaning out of French texts and I was really good at writing in it, but I don't have any speaking or hearing opportunities, which is the most usual problem when learning languages.