This Is So Cool And Also Rosencrantz And Guildenstern's Sign Names Are Killing Me Lol

the ladies call me the subjunctive mood the way I express desire, wishes, uncertainty, doubt and fear

learning another language is always beautiful, no matter how long it takes. like, what do you mean you are crying because you had to read a sentence twice to get it, when at the beginning you had to do it five times? kicking yourself because you had to listen to an audio at .75x to understand it fully, when two months ago you could barely understand one or two words, even at your second try? getting mad because you had to research how to spell a word, when a few days back you didn't even know how to pronounce it? hell, that's amazing. keep going. you'll get there.

Reblogs were turned off but I wanted to be able to find this again

It’s crazy when you start thinking about how ancient many common names are. I’ve known 15+ people named John. My ancestors 100 years ago would have known 15+ people named John. My ancestors 1,000 years ago would have known 15+ people named John. I’ve known several dudes named Marcus, someone in 100 BC probably knew a few too. The name Alexander is over 3,000 years old.

How finns from around Finland say “I”. The formal form is “minä” and default informal form is “mä”

Most of us who have learned another language end up with the attitude that it's best to read books in the original because some things just don't translate and in a real sense, you never really read a book if you read it in translation. While I generally agree with this attitude, at the same time I think it is unappreciative of the work that translators do.

Yes, there are a lot of bad translations out there, but there are also good translations. Good translation is a skill, and it's an incredible skill given what a good translator has to be able to do. They have to be fluent in not just two languages, but the nuances of two cultures. They have to be able to understand literature. They have to have writing skills on the level of the writer they are translating. If translating classical literature, they have to understand the historical context.

A good translator will include translator notes to try and explain the nuances that get lost in translation, cultural nuances, and historical context if it's classical literature. Yes, this means that they have to teach you a little bit of the language and culture of the original. Therefore, a good translator will give you an appreciation for a language that you hadn't had before.

I have this paradoxical emotional process where listening to music in a language I don't understand is immensely appealing and pleasant to me, and it immediately makes me want to study the language, essentially taking away the reason why I was listening

Last night I ate breaded fish with my grandma, and she said that is was "bundás hal", explaining to me that "bundás" was from "bunda", fur/coat.

So, literally, "bundás hal" is a fish who wears a coat of breadcrumbs