TAC 2016 - vijayjohn

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vijayjohn
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Re: TAC 2016 - vijayjohn

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-09-30, 5:14

OldBoring wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:Wait, did I never tell you? I work for Apple Maps. They're so secretive that that's all I'm allowed to say. :ohwell: :lol:

Then your work has no impact on me. I think in China foreign companies are not allowed to get map data, so even Google Maps and Apple Maps use the data provided by Gaode Maps. :P

Ah, but we may use data provided by Gaode Maps in ways that Gaode Maps does not! :partyhat:

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Re: TAC 2016 - vijayjohn

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-30, 18:59

There's a lot of Malayalam words whose meanings I have trouble remembering, but I'm actually starting to think that my Malayalam has reached a native-like level by now and that my issues with vocabulary are similar to native speakers of English learning/reviewing vocabulary, e.g. for the SAT or GRE (or some other university-level entrance exam). I've been talking to my parents and their relatives and friends in Malayalam as much as possible. This morning, I asked my dad flat-out (in Malayalam), "I pretty much know as much Malayalam by now as you do, right?" and he said, "Yes" (also in Malayalam). So today, at the end of the year, I've decided to finally (or at least tentatively) give myself four yellow stars for Malayalam in my profile.

I've also recently come to realize that although there's a theory that we acquire our first language rather than learning it, I have had to explicitly learn every single language I know (have I said this before? I feel like I have right now, but I don't remember when I did, if ever). I had to learn English (as in, with books and everything) and lose the Malayalam I had learned naturally from my parents. Then I had to spend years and years (re)learning Malayalam, and of course, I've explicitly studied all kinds of other languages since then.

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Re: TAC 2016 - vijayjohn

Postby dEhiN » 2016-12-31, 0:18

vijayjohn wrote:Wait, did I never tell you? I work for Apple Maps. They're so secretive that that's all I'm allowed to say. :ohwell: :lol:

You told me a bit about the job, but not who you worked for? I'll keep asking you questions every so often and eventually learn all about your job! :twisted:

vijayjohn wrote:There's a lot of Malayalam words whose meanings I have trouble remembering, but I'm actually starting to think that my Malayalam has reached a native-like level by now and that my issues with vocabulary are similar to native speakers of English learning/reviewing vocabulary, e.g. for the SAT or GRE (or some other university-level entrance exam). I've been talking to my parents and their relatives and friends in Malayalam as much as possible. This morning, I asked my dad flat-out (in Malayalam), "I pretty much know as much Malayalam by now as you do, right?" and he said, "Yes" (also in Malayalam). So today, at the end of the year, I've decided to finally (or at least tentatively) give myself four yellow stars for Malayalam in my profile.

Congrats!

vijayjohn wrote:I've also recently come to realize that although there's a theory that we acquire our first language rather than learning it, I have had to explicitly learn every single language I know (have I said this before? I feel like I have right now, but I don't remember when I did, if ever). I had to learn English (as in, with books and everything) and lose the Malayalam I had learned naturally from my parents. Then I had to spend years and years (re)learning Malayalam, and of course, I've explicitly studied all kinds of other languages since then.

Yeah I always wondered about that theory. Just because a child learns their first language in a different way than adults doesn't, to me, mean that they magically "acquired" it. Personally I think their brains just do a better job of passively processing and internalizing what they hear from those around them, than we as adults do. That's probably why native speakers can't usually tell you the rules of their language but can tell you what sounds incorrect.
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vijayjohn
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Re: TAC 2016 - vijayjohn

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-12-31, 0:23

dEhiN wrote:You told me a bit about the job, but not who you worked for? I'll keep asking you questions every so often and eventually learn all about your job! :twisted:

Questions can be left unanswered, y'know. ;)
Congrats!

Thanks! Or நன்றி. (Or its cognate in Malayalam നന്ദി, but I don't think we use it as often as Tamils use நன்றி).
Yeah I always wondered about that theory.

I think everybody has always secretly been wondering about it. :P


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