Imagine Your Icon Forcing You To Learn A Fake Language

I found a gem. A glossary of fandom terms.

http://www.ainself.net/irony/get_medieval/fandomvocab.htm

tips for writing bilingual characters

there are different types of bilinguals

the All Around: speaks, reads, and writes both languages pretty well

the Conversational: one language is stronger than the other; can speak the other language a lot better than they read/write it (a lot of kids of immigrants are this type)

the High Schooler: understands what’s being said to them in the other language, can’t really speak it

don’t have your characters randomly drop words from their other language mid-sentence around people who don’t speak it lol

languages are a mindset thing. like personally if i’m around english-speakers, i’m speaking english and i don’t really switch to my other language (which is portuguese)

so like if you’re writing a bilingual character who speaks spanish and have them say something like “hey chad let’s go to the biblioteca” to an english speaker i’ll probably spend 5 minutes laughing and then close your story lmao

exception: the character is speaking in their weaker language and forgot a word (”where are the…? uh… llaves…. keys! keys, where are they?”)

otherwise really the only time your character should be randomly switching languages mid-sentence is if they’re talking to another bilingual

like i don’t speak spanish but i’ve legit never heard a spanish speaker say “ay dios mio” to gringos lmao

conversations between two bilingual people can take a few different forms:

Pick One: they pick one language and kinda stick with it for the whole conversation (a conversation i might have with my portuguese-speaking mom: ”you okay?” “yeah, i’m good. how’re you?” “i’m fine, but your dad-”)

Back-and-Forth: someone says something in one language, the other person replies in the other (”tudo bem?” “yeah, i’m good. how’re you?” “tou bem, mas o seu pai-”)

Combo: they speak a combo of the two languages, a popular example being spanglish, though basically every bilingual has their own combo language (”tudo bem?” “sim, tou bem. how’re you?” “i’m fine, mas o seu pai-”)

when in doubt: just ask a bilingual to look at your stuff and tell you if anything sounds weird

That moment when a word in one language translates to a word in your language you still don't know

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for a quick change of pace–i know we’ve all seen a thousand posts about voting, but what i haven’t seen (not yet) is one saying thank you. 

thank you for those who made it out in the rain and the cold, who organized and canvassed and took on the onerous task of working with non-voting & conservative friends/family to change their stance if at least just this once. thank you for those who stood in line for hours, who had to travel because your voting place was moved, who had to jump through ridiculous fucking hoops to register, who weren’t inspired but showed up anyway for the disenfranchised and the greater good. thank you as well to everyone who voted early, absentee, and provisional. 

it mattered. 

japanese-revision:

Textbooks:

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

Read Real Japanese Fiction

GENKI: Integrated Elementary Japanese I and II [beginners]

An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese

Tobira (Gateway to advanced Japanese)

TextFugu [an online textbook]

Heisig’s Remembering Kanji

Basic Kanji Book Vol.1

Kanji in Context

Shadowing: Let’s Speak Japanese! (Beginner to Intermediate Level)

Online Dictionaries:

ALC (I use this everyday) →Expression encyclopaedia 

Goo dictionary

Weblio

WWWJDIC (with audio clips)

JWPce (downloadable dictionary for Windows)

JEDict (downloadable for Mac users)

Idiomatic Expressions

Zokugo-Dict (slang dictionary) [Japanese only]

Idioms dictionary [Japanese only]

Counters dictionary

Hovering dictionaries:  →Rikaikun for Chrome →Rikaichan for Firefox →Floating Dictionary for Mac

Current Affairs dictionary

Tangorin

Imiwa? (a dictionary for the iPhone)

Tagaini Jisho (downloadable for Windows, Mac and Linux)

Nihongodict (also an app. for iPhone and Android phones)

For kanji.

Jisho (I use this for spelling kanji for if I can’t read it)

Yamasa (I use this for learning to write)

A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters

Handwritten kanji search

Associative Kanji Learning (stroke orders)

WaniKani (reviewed and explained here)

Online reading:

Hukumusume Fairytales

竹取（Bamboo-Cutting） (vertical writing)

吉田秀幸の日記（Hideyuki Yoshida’s Diary） (recipes)

Chokochoko’s reading texts to help with JLPT

TED Talks (with Japanese subtitles and transcripts)

Learning through Films [Japanese subtitles/scripts]

Blue Sky Library (public domain books, explained here)

Manga.

Free online manga

Vomic (free online manga with voice actors)

Sound Effects (in manga, etc)

Improving your speaking:

Japanese pronunciation guide

Interactive Hiragana Pronounciation table

Topics for Language Exchanges.

Bubbly (a Twitter-like app where you can record yourself)

Audioboo (similar to Bubbly, but also a website)

My Language Exchange [to find a language partner]

Listening:

“Real World” Japanese

泣きたいときのクスリ 2007 - ‘08 (radio drama)

Writing practice:

Lang-8

Japan-Guide [for getting Japanese penpals]

原稿用紙の使い方 (How to write an essay with Japanese writing paper)

Shiritori (Japanese word-chain game)

iTalki [similar to Lang-8]

手書きブログ (Blogging by hand)

News:

NewsWeb Easy

NHK News (audio news with speed controls)

Mainichi Primary School student Newspaper

Podcasts:

JOQR (Cultural Broadcasting)

TBS Radio’s Junk

TOKYO FM

YouTube:

Afternoon Hirusagari

Jet Daisuke

バイリンガール英会話

Analog TV Forever (collections of adverts)

Real Japanese Studio

Japancast

Tofugu

Japanese sign language.

Heartful Power Hideo

Shuwa Island

TV:

Japanese subtitles for anime

KeyHole TV (to stream Japanese TV and radio)

風雲LIVE日本語（Feng Yun LIVE Japanese） (to stream TV)

映画で学ぶ実践英会話

Tumblr:

Kanji-a-Day

Holy crap Japanese

Nihongo ga Suki

Jumpstart Japanese

Nihongolog

Japanese Idioms

Nadine Nihongo

That Japan Addict

ChilliMuffin

A Little Help with Japanese

Japanese through Fandom

F-Yeah Native Japanese

J-Vocab of the Day

一文ずつ

Nihongobook

PuniPuni Japan

ぶらりめし [Japanese only]

Peaceful Chef [Japanese only]

Kumako365jp

Japanese Revision (my blog for intermediates)

Those studying in Japan.

Japanicking in Yamanashi (at Yamanashi University)

Samxuel (at Kyushu Sangyo)

Katy in Japan Town (at NUFS)

Chocotastie (at Seinan Gakuin)

Kim in Sapporo (at Hokkaido University)

Sunriseosunset / My Japan Travels (Yokohama National University)

Blogging:

Yaplog

Ameba

Learning websites:

JapaneseClass.jp

The Japanese Page

Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japanese

Erin’s Challenge (with listening and reading practice)

Maggie Sensei

Tofugu

All Japanese All The Time

Japanese Level Up

Other resources:

Lots of threads with a variety of resources for Japanese learning

JLPT Resources

Anki (flashcards for your computer, phone and online) →Yomichan (plug-in for Anki)

Quizlet (flashcards)

DJT and Okra’s pastebins (lots of resources and textbooks for download, etc)

Japanese.Livejournal (including tips on using IME)

Human Japanese (for PC and phones, excl. Linux)

I’ve added even more to the list since I first posted this and am continuing to add new things to it. So, I thought I’d re-post it. As always, if anyone has anything they would like to add, let me know!

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三

Three horizontal lines = 3

Moving right along.

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WAIT

IN JAPANESE, WEDNESDAY IS 水曜日

WHICH IS LITERALLY WATER DAY

FREE! COMES OUT ON WEDNESDAY

FREE! COMES OUT ON WATER DAY 

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so we went to an improv show and we played this game where somebody is given a trait and another player has to guess what it is based on how they answer questions

and one of the players who was a taxidermist was asked “what do you do for a living?” and she replied “oh you know…. stuff” AND TO THIS DAY THAT IS THE GREATEST PUN I HAVE EVER HEARD MY GOD

GOFUNDME: SAVE OUR NAVAJO LANGUAGE

“I never learned my Navajo language and I was never inspired to learn it.  As I got older, I realized how valuable our language is to the livelihood of our Navajo Nation. ” -Dr. Shawna L. Begay

Our Navajo or Diné language is in danger of becoming extinct.  Help us create and develop the first Navajo-English educational media TV puppet show, “Diné Bí Ná’álkid Time” which means ‘The Navajo Movie Time.’  It will inspire and teach our youth basic language skills using media as a technology tool. Parents, grandparents, children and grandkids can learn to speak Navajo  fluently together within their own homes. Long-time friends and educators, Dr. Shawna L. Begay and Charmaine Jackson have teamed up to create this new TV pilot for an all-ages audience or for anyone who wants to learn the Navajo language.   With your support, it’ll be the first educational Navajo and English puppet show that will teach and preserve the Navajo language and culture through digital media.

After several years of extensive research on the Navajo Nation, Dr. Begay recently completed her PhD from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas with her doctorate thesis, ‘Developing A Navajo Media Guide: A Community Perspective.’ As project director, she quickly realized she was a pioneer on the topic.

“When I decided what topic to study I realized there existed very little research in Indigenous educational media, especially with our Navajo people,” stated Dr. Begay.  “As Navajo people, we have our own learning objectives and Navajo way of knowing is completely different for Euro-Western schooling.  I decided that I had to research and develop our own curriculum guide that is meant to teach Navajo through media.” Dr. Begay and Jackson, co-writers of the show, developed the first 3-puppet characters and plan for many more. The pilot features Nanabah-a young Navajo girl, Gáh (Rabbit) and Dlǫ̀ǫ̀ (Prairie Dog) who will go on endless adventures learning about language, gardening, the environment and the importance of family values. Nanabah is fluent in Navajo and likes to teach children about life on the reservation with her animal friends and special guests.  Children who want to learn Navajo will also be an important part of the show by interacting with Nanabah, her friends and storyline. Dr. Begay’s research concluded there exists very little research in the area of Indigenous educational media. Currently media is a very powerful tool that can be used to teach. She is cognizant of the digital age we live in and the opportunities to utilize media to revitalize the Navajo language.   “Star Wars and Finding Nemo,” dubbed in Navajo, was a great place to start and it has garnered national exposure of our language. However, we need a show based on our own Navajo learning principals our ancestors set out for us to learn and live by. I don’t think a non-Navajo, non-Native or non-Indigenous person can do that for us, nor should they.  We, as Navajo, need to produce this show ourselves, if we are to be truly sovereign,” added Dr. Begay. Both educators, Dr. Begay and Jackson, of Naalkid Productions have been talking about this educational language project for about the past four years and still have a long way to go to finance their dream. “With the support of Navajo TV Anchor Colton Shone, our team of Navajo artists, filmmakers, family and friends, this video pilot is a huge step forward,” said Jackson.  “Our journey has just begun and the big next step is finding financial support to create a whole new puppet TV series.” We aim to raise $50,000 with this project which will allow us to continue with pre-production and production aspects of making this digital media project become a reality.  We need your help to save our language by teaching Navajo to our future generations. Pre-Production: -Script writing for the pilot show -Puppet Development/Creation -Casting for puppeteers and other talent that will be on screen -Hiring of all key cast and crew Production: -Locations and permits -Rental of Studio space -Equipment: cameras, sound, lights, etc. -Cast and Crew budget

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