TAC 2017 - vijayjohn

[księżycowy]

Hell, even with my "reasonable" list, I'm not sure if I'll be able to eventually add one fluentish language. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It's also worth adding that I whittled that list down over the years, and it was a fight at times.

On the other hand, my current approach will certainly avoid stressing me out with languages.

And that's an excellent thing itself!

[kevin]

And that's an excellent thing itself!

Tá, cinnte. I'm quite happy with the progress I have made with Irish this way, without having done anything that you would normally call studying the language, like following a textbook, learning off vocabulary lists or using flashcards. It's slow, but it works. Before I started having a look at Irish (but definitely not learning it seriously!) I probably wouldn't have thought that this is possible.

Anyway, it might still not be the right way if I want to become fluent(ish) in my lifetime.

[vijayjohn]

What made you stop and for how long?

I think it was a mix of not having any friends that were interested in it (this was before I started coming to Unilang, mind you)

I just didn't have friends, period. All the more time to spare on languages instead!

Plus I was never really disciplined in it, and easily fell off the wagon. Hell, I still can easily fall off the wagon.

No! NO! Like I always say, learning languages is like sex, not booze!

Fluent(ish): Polish, Irish, German, Japanese
Advanced - Chinese*, Arabic**, Hebrew

[...] Vietnamese and Yiddish. Probably be ok with a B2ish level with those two.

Huh, those aren't the languages I was expecting at all. Except Hebrew and Irish and maybe German. (I forgot about Polish. Oh, woe is me ).

Anymore is icing on the cake.

Wow, even (Ancient) Greek?

It makes me feel bad when I see how you guys are actually doing something to let a list like this not appear completely unrealistic. I know that I could do the same if I were actually forcing myself and investing the time, but I also know that it's just unlikely to ever happen. Even just one more fluent(ish) language would be awesome, and I'm not sure if I'll get there...

That's not your fault, though! Dude, the only reason why I can do all this right now is because I have no job (though hopefully I will at least go back to my contract job soon), I live with my parents, and they're not currently getting mad at me and cutting off the Internet.

On the other hand, my current approach will certainly avoid stressing me out with languages.

This is what your approach should ALWAYS do (i.e. not stress you out).

It's also worth adding that I whittled that list down over the years, and it was a fight at times.

(Tigrinya eagerly approaches your list with her squeaky, high-pitched voice like a cheerful Pixar character).
"Tigrinyatigrinyatigrinya!"
"NO!"
" But don't you looooove meeeee?"
"Yes. Please leave. "
(Sad romantic violin music plays).
"AH! Hebrew, my love!"

be right way

I'm guessing this was a typo?

[kevin]

That's not your fault, though! Dude, the only reason why I can do all this right now is because I have no job (though hopefully I will at least go back to my contract job soon), I live with my parents, and they're not currently getting mad at me and cutting off the Internet.

That might be part of the reason, but it's not like I wouldn't have a chance to use my time more efficiently if I really wanted. The point is that it would require me to work on things rather than just waiting for them to come to me.

This is what your approach should ALWAYS do (i.e. not stress you out).

From what I read on Unilang, most approaches fail to achieve that.

be right way

I'm guessing this was a typo?

Yes, should have been "the right way".

[księżycowy]

No! NO! Like I always say, learning languages is like sex, not booze!

Language learning is like what ever I want to say it's like. My story, my analogy!

Huh, those aren't the languages I was expecting at all. Except Hebrew and Irish and maybe German. (I forgot about Polish. Oh, woe is me ).

I'm curious now, what were you expecting?

Wow, even (Ancient) Greek?

I wasn't concidering classical/ancient languages at all in that list. Though I'm sure I could come up for a list for that one too if you want. If just wouldn't be for fluentish languages.

(Tigrinya eagerly approaches your list with her squeaky, high-pitched voice like a cheerful Pixar character).
"Tigrinyatigrinyatigrinya!"
"NO!"
" But don't you looooove meeeee?"
"Yes. Please leave. "
(Sad romantic violin music plays).
"AH! Hebrew, my love!"
I'm guessing this was a typo?

Fuck, I knew I forgot shit!
And what makes it worse is, we were just talking about it! Amharic! (B2ish)

[vijayjohn]

This is what your approach should ALWAYS do (i.e. not stress you out).

From what I read on Unilang, most approaches fail to achieve that.

Most people use approaches that stress them out?

be right way

I'm guessing this was a typo?

Yes, should have been "the right way".

No! NO! Like I always say, learning languages is like sex, not booze!

Language learning is like what ever I want to say it's like. My story, my analogy!

I'm curious now, what were you expecting?

Something closer to your current TAC

Fuck, I knew I forgot shit!
And what makes it worse is, we were just talking about it! Amharic! (B2ish)

Nah, it's okay. I mean, I myself just started talking about it for the first time in a whole damn month, after all!

[vijayjohn]

So I watched some videos for Dinka (well, really just one) and part of a video I'd posted in the thread I started for Krio years ago. Oh, and I never mentioned that I actually posted those two Amharic-related posts, but I did.

Oh wait, I had to go to Croatia just before I took that typology class, not after!

[księżycowy]

I swear to God it's been longer than just a month since you've talked about Amharic.


And how is my current TAC any different than my list?

[księżycowy]

Here's my Classical Language list (again, in no particular order).
Tier 1: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Old and Middle English
Tier 2: Ancient Egyptian*, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Sumerian
Tier 3: Old/Middle Irish, High German, Classical Japanese, Chinese, Old Norse, Ge'ez, Syriac, OCS**

I'm using tiers because these aren't living languages.
Tier 1 is: I want to know it very well
Tier 3 is: I want to know a bit about it at least (depending on the language, somewhere between just a bit and a good bit)
Tier 2 isn't really in-between the two, it's more like tier 1_a (in other words, other languages I'd like to know very well***, but might not get around to)

I'd include Arabic on this list too, but MSA is kinda similar to Classical/Qur'anic Arabic. But if I were to put it on the list, idk, maybe tier 1? If not 3.

*Including Demotic and Coptic probably.
**I'd say Old/Middle Polish, but I haven't explored that option or it's potential yet. I assume most resources for it are in Polish, so... Plus OCS is cool enough by itself that I'd probably learn some regardless.
***Obviously some of the languages are not very well understood, so knowing those "very well" means knowing them as well as resources and our current understanding allow. I'm mainly looking at you guys, Sumerian and Ugaritic.



I'm sure by now you can see plenty of patterns.

Still think my list is reasonable, kevin?

[księżycowy]

Thanks to OCS, I just realized I forgot to put Russian down for "advanced" on my modern day language list.

I also wouldn't mind knowing Modern Greek to an intermediate ("comfortable") level either.

Stop me! I'm spiralling out of control!
(Nah, that's the end of my "must knows", and "really want to knows")

[kevin]

Still think my list is reasonable, kevin?

Depends on how successfully Vijay continues to assimilate you.

[księżycowy]

Problem is, I was already like this before meeting Vijay. He just brings it out. We're a terrible pair.

[kevin]

Writing long wishlists is not a problem, even I can do that. Having a long list of languages that you actually know is the hard part that you still need to copy from Vijay.

[księżycowy]

Are you saying there's hope for me yet?

VIJAY!!!!!!
Let me borrow your knowledge of 20 languages, quick! (Whether or not I'll give it back is another matter.... )

[vijayjohn]

The Vijay giveth, and the Vijay taketh away.

Just kidding. You can have as many languages from me as you want! But that doesn't mean I won't still have them myself, too. I can share!

And how is my current TAC any different than my list?

Your current TAC is just Hebrew, Irish, Japanese, and Seneca. I certainly wasn't expecting Vietnamese, for example.

Problem is, I was already like this before meeting Vijay. He just brings it out. We're a terrible pair.

Let's sing in Basque together!

[księżycowy]

I swear I've talked about Vietnamese before. Granted, not much, but a bit here and there.

What else surprised you? I'm curious now.

Let's sing in Basque together!

Start up the jutebox, hero!

[vijayjohn]

I swear I've talked about Vietnamese before. Granted, not much, but a bit here and there.

What else surprised you? I'm curious now.

...Everything? Korean, Yiddish...Palestinian Arabic (THAT'S PRACTICALLY WHAT I'M LEARNING NOW!!! Well, I'm learning Syrian, but that's really not far removed from Palestinian at all).

I guess I'm just surprised that you like learning all kinds of languages I like to learn, too. I don't usually have that kind of luck even on this forum. Except with dEhiN and (to some extent) Meera. In fact, part of the reason why I'm so attached to language-learning is precisely because down here, you just don't make friends in elementary school if you like seriously studying anything intellectual. My dad and brother defended my interest anyway, though, even though I knew I wouldn't make any friends immediately if I kept pursuing it. They promised me that in the long run, it would pay off (it certainly did!) and I'd make more friends in middle school (this didn't happen, but at least people mostly ignored me there, which was definitely a relief).

Let's sing in Basque together!

Start up the jutebox, hero!

Well, to be honest, I was thinking specifically of this. It was Saaropean's nomination in FSC 26 (May 2013):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju44uWJs-z4

[księżycowy]

...Everything? Korean, Yiddish...Palestinian Arabic (THAT'S PRACTICALLY WHAT I'M LEARNING NOW!!! Well, I'm learning Syrian, but that's really not far removed from Palestinian at all).

I guess I'm just surprised that you like learning all kinds of languages I like to learn, too. I don't usually have that kind of luck even on this forum.

I won't say our goals are the same (and by that I mean the reason why we're learning them beyond just that they are cool). But yes, there is some very decent overlap in language interest.
I'm quite invested in the languages of my ancestry, biblical languages (including Arabic and the Qur'an, even if they are not biblical strictly speaking), and East Asia.
And, to a slightly lesser degree a few NAILs.

Everything else is gravy.

[vijayjohn]

That makes sense.

So far today, as far as learning languages goes, I have accomplished...nothing! Unless you count randomly remembering the word for 'egg' in Lnuismk and maybe rereading a small part of the second dialogue in Lesson 2 of Colloquial Amharic. (I think I'll try reading it again now).

[vijayjohn]

I listened to all the dialogues in Syrian Colloquial Arabic and feel kind of comfortable with them by now, even the last one (if only due to familiarity by now, to some extent). I'm pretty comfortable with the second dialogue for Lesson 2 of Colloquial Amharic now, too (I was just listening to it again while writing this post, this time without pausing in the middle even once ). I also listened to a bit of relatively basic Swahili last night, actually, as well as a bit of (not always very basic) Thai, all courtesy of LangMedia. Recently, I listened to a sampling of different varieties of Arabic there as well. The differences don't seem particularly daunting to me tbh, not like different members of a group of closely related Trans-New Guinea languages or anything.