| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 |
veggie_recipes
[ aimingforpeace ]
|
8:20a |
Making Broth/Stock
I'd like to start making my own veggie broth that I can either can or freeze. My favorite off-the shelf is  Soooo flavorful, but my grocer doesn't always stock it and I also want to cut down on buying it since the packaging can't be recycled. Any favorite recipes? |
linguaphiles
[ calcifer13 ]
|
10:19p |
For so
Hello Linguaphiles! Please help! I have some difficulties to understand the following passage; The Time Traveler ( for so i t will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. Please tell me what does this 'for so' mean in this context. Thank you so much in advance! |
prime_liquor
[ djmermaid ]
|
3:02a |
another bone-headed LJ policy announcement
I wanted to make sure people saw this while it may still be possible for the decision to be changed. they're going to take away the option for "unspecified gender" in new account signups. I don't like it. it's discriminatory, unnecessary, and it leaves people out! I posted a comment over in the change announcement post and am encouraging anyone with a setting other than "(unspecified)" to change to that. tell your friends! here's the post: http://community.livejournal.com/changelog/7932846.html Current Mood:  annoyed |
linguaphiles
[ kaji_sensei ]
|
3:02a |
Great Firewall in Japanese?
Was doing a translation today, and had need of an adequate translation of "The Great Firewall of China" into Japanese. The dictionary produced 金盾, and another option could just be to go with 中国のファイアーウォール, but I was wondering if there was anything in current use in Japan that captures a bit of the play on words in the English original. And, just to generalize it a bit more, if you want to post translations of the phrase into other languages, have at it! |
| Monday, December 14th, 2009 |
linguaphiles
[ tisoi ]
|
9:39p |
Google's logo
Wow. Although I'd lost interest in Esperanto and the whole Esperanto movement eons ago, I thought this was rather cool.  |
linguaphiles
[ k0dama ]
|
7:50p |
Making a game about Language Acquisition
Heya all, I've been thinking about making a game to help people who want to begin to learn Korean. For most Korean children (including myself) my first formal educational experience was learning to read and write in the Korean script, and perhaps for this reason, a lot of educational material that teaches Korean usually begins with how to read and write the Korean script. But I've also had some success with learning French, German and Russian using Pimsleur, which has no writing at all. Looking back on how I started to learn Japanese, it began with mimicking quotes from a show I liked or mumbling along with a song. By the time I was studying how to write in Japanese I already knew a few sentences I could write. For Korean, it doesn't romanticize nicely, so I can see why a lot of learning sites want to show people how to read and write in Korean first. But I think this can come off as being really overwhelming, and that showing the gamer how to say some basic phrases (This is x. What is x? Who is that? Where are you?) or how to think in terms of Korean grammar (SOV not SVO like in English) would be a bit more relevant/engaging. I'd love to read any comments about how you acquired your first or second or other languages, or any experience you have with the Korean language. |
linguaphiles
[ spamsink ]
|
3:57p |
|
| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 |
discworld
[ drjon ]
|
9:32a |
It looks like Sam Vimes is alive and well and living in New Guinea
saw this, had to share... Apparently, Papua New Guinea's crime-buster, Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek, was ambushed outside his Port Moresby home on Friday evening. When he entered his driveway, three armed men surrounded his vehicle. He suffered a gunshot wound to his arm as he rammed one of the cars belonging to three attackers... { more } |
| Monday, December 14th, 2009 |
linguaphiles
[ oryx_and_crake ]
|
6:17p |
Yorkshire dialect
Could someone please explain Yorkshire dialect to me, using written examples (e.g. they say dawg instead of dog, etc.) Thanks! UPDATE: I probably had to be more specific in my request. The book I am translating now has the following two sentences: "They spoke broad Yorkshire. Humphry’s own accent was educated Yorkshire, with some flat vowels." To translate it, I need to understand what "flat vowels" mean. Could someone please give me some examples of that, specifically? And please do not direct me to videos and such, I know there are plenty of them online but in most cases I am not even able to hear the difference. |
linguaphiles
[ thesilentpoet ]
|
5:29p |
How would I best translate Merry or Happy Christmas into Egyptian Hieroglyphics? It's for a holiday card. Happy Holidays works too, if that's any easier. Or at least, what is a good translator site? Already have the ones higlighted from the userinfo, but any additional help would be appreciated. Most of the sites I know/use on a regular basis are for the Romance or Germanic languages. Thank you for any help! |
| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 |
wellingtonnz
[ blkrabbitofinle ]
|
10:31a |
Is there anywhere in central Wellington that sells a variety of small succulents/cacti? Mitre 10 didn't have any sort of a gardening department last time I was there. There used to be a stall selling them at the Willis St Sunday markets but I haven't seen that for a while either. |
| Monday, December 14th, 2009 |
vegrecipes
[ hopeleslove ]
|
1:00p |
Mushroom halp!
Hey all! I find myself in possession of nearly three pounds of mushrooms. I would hate for any of these to go to waste but I'm sort of stumped for ideas. I'll be making a nice mushroom soup, but that will only use up 2 cups. As an added dilemma, my sister HATES mushrooms. So, your challenge if you chose to accept it: What are some sneaky ways I can use mushrooms? A less challenging challenge: what are your favorite mushroom recipes? |
linguaphiles
[ nyzoe ]
|
1:13p |
Hi Linguaphiles! I'm almost done with that pesky master's thesis, I promise, but right now I have one more question to ask. I was wondering whether you'd be able to say the following in English: " Maxwell is surprisingly/incredibly/remarkably much taller than his twin brother"and " Maxwell is surprisingly/incredibly/remarkably much too heavy" (If knowing the context makes judging the sentence easier, imagine that Maxwell is a boxer who has been trying hard to stay in his lightweight class, but when he gets weighed after a while, turns out to have put on a remarkable amount of weight despite his efforts.) Also - what about the same sentences without much? My intuition says they're grammatical with much, but ungrammatical without, but then I'm not a native speaker... Thanks a lot - I'm crediting this community in my acknowledgements ;) ETA: Adverb placement tends to influence their interpretation pretty much, and as I'm interested in a particular interpretation, it's quite important that the adverb stay in place (right before the adjective). Surprisingly, Maxwell is taller/too heavy might sound better than any of the above sentences, but it's not the kind of sentence I'm interested in. See also my reply to dustthouart a couple of posts below :) |
linguaphiles
[ harehare ]
|
4:02p |
Please translate this Polish song (Again)
So... I know i said I'm going to learn Polish, but...>_< Somebody please translate this song? Just quick translation will be fine. It's a beautiful song. Thank you very much |
wellingtonnz
[ amphigori ]
|
8:56p |
Pimping the Kapcon larp!
 KapCon is coming up this January, and this year's larp "Reunion" offers a host of great costuming and roleplaying opportunities. Adopt a persona from one of many planets and find out what happens when the interstellar gates open for the first time in hundreds of years! Spots are filling up fast but there are still plenty of roles available. Never larped before? The larp team will be happy to answer any questions you may have and help you every step of the way. Information about "Reunion" here: http://kapcon.rpg.net.nz/?q=reunionAnd for more information about larps check out: http://www.nzlarps.org/ |
wellingtonnz
[ danjite ]
|
12:39p |
|
| Sunday, December 13th, 2009 |
linguaphiles
[ theunixgeek ]
|
2:28p |
Comprehensibility of Old French and MiddleInsu English
Why is it that, compared to their modern counterparts, Old French is easier to understand than Middle English? Take, for example, the opening verses of the "Song of Roland" (1140): Carles li reis, nostre emper[er]e magnes Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne: Tresqu'en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne. N'i ad castel ki devant lui remaigne; which can easily be "translated" into: Charles le roi, notre grand empereur sept ans tous pleins a été en Espagne [?] la mer conquis la terre [?] Il n'y a aucun chateau qui devant lui reste [I think I can see how the verb "to remain" crawled into English] Granted, quite a few of the words were more recognizable since I'm also familiar with Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan, yet the first four lines of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (late 1300s), written over two centuries after the Song of Roland, is, at first sight, barely understandable to modern English speakers, and can only be "translated" after a closer look and more easily if one is at least remotely familiar with the development of English orthography: SIÞEN þe sege and þe assaut watz sesed at Troye, Þe borȝ brittened and brent to brondeȝ and askez, Þe tulk þat þe trammes of tresoun þer wroȝt Watz tried for his tricherie, þe trewest on erþe
[?] the siege and the assault was ceased at Troy,
The [?] [?] and [?] to [?] and asked,
The talk that the [?] of [?] there wrought
Was tried for his treachery, the truest on Earth
In short, why does it seem that English underwent a more radical change than French? |
linguaphiles
[ ciroccoj ]
|
11:36a |
Ayuda por favor
Can any native Spanish speakers (preferably South American) help me tell my cousin, who's going to Chile for Christmas, "Have a great time and give your family a big hug for me"? I know all the words, but am not sure if what I've got written will sound a bit... off. Like saying "Have a time that is great, and give that family of yours a big hug on my part," which is all perfectly correct grammatically, but just not how we say it. Current Mood:  curious |
linguaphiles
[ euphoric1dr ]
|
9:26p |
Losing motivation/frustrations with language learning
Hi all, I wonder if anyone has ever experienced something like this, it sounds very counter-intuitive to what would be expected but..nevertheless, I am experiencing it. I've been able to find a few people to help me with my Chinese, while I'm residing here in Taiwan, but what's been strange is, I am finding myself losing motivation for learning. I guess because, being here and the more I practice and learn, I realize how MUCH there is to learn. I'm not sure how to measure my learning but I just feel like it's so much to learn, and maybe I'm being too hard on myself - but for myself personally I don't feel I've improved. I kind of feel stuck - like I've hit this plateau, and now I'm not sure how to progress, where to pick up or in what direction to go in. I realize now, how NON-linear the study of language is. Maybe its somewhat linear up to a certain point, then it's like the universe just opens up and there are so many different paths to pursue, to learn all the things one must learn. Tips? Advice? Suggestions? I don't want to abandon the goal and study of learning, but i'm not sure how to get back on track. |
linguaphiles
[ panzeleche ]
|
2:46a |
English Rs
The R in English really are a weird thing, aren't they? The type of R used in 'run' by American and British English speakers, at least. According to Wiki, it is either an alveolar or postalvelor approximant (although alveolar trills, retroflex approximants, and labiodental approximants are common as well). World-wide, it is found in few languages, nearly no Indo-European languages excluding some obscure dialects, and is generally one of the hardest new sounds to make in English (or so I've observed). How exactly did such an atypical sound develop in English? I mean, Middle English didn't have this sound and preferred to trill the R, but Early Modern English has this R. To extend this further, how do such strange sounds develop in languages? Swedish has all these weird vowel sounds and a consonant whose existence is in doubt. Welsh has that lateral frictive ɬ. I assume these sounds are rare because they are harder to make than similar-sounding sounds. If such, why would they arise if they are more difficult to make? Now, I've learned that there are two types of 'r's in English ( North American English in particular). There is apical r, which is made with the tongue tip, and there is bunched r, made with the back of the tongue bunched up against the back of the mouth and with rounded lips. What exactly is a 'bunched R', in linguistics terms? Pre-emptive thank you to everyone! |
| Saturday, December 12th, 2009 |
linguaphiles
[ frozen_fields ]
|
10:18p |
German --> English
would anyone be kind enough to help me out with the following? "Was ich mit ihm [einem Lehrstuhl] anfange, wird meine Sache sein gemäß der Freiheit des Dozenten angesichts des unbestimmten Gebildes dessen, was an der Universität Philosophie heißt." I think I understand the beginning ("what I thereby begin will be my thing/subject"), but I can't seem to grasp the rest. |
linguaphiles
[ tisoi ]
|
6:11p |
|
linguaphiles
[ _ice_lady_ ]
|
9:56p |
Name these Chinese characters
We have this show that deals with foreign policy that I almost never watch, but seeing it on TV accidentally, I noticed there were Chinese characters on the background behind the person being interviewed, and it seems that way in every show. Sadly, it's located in a way that the person is always covering a part of the picture, so I couldn't get a good view. I've put a Paint made picture of it behind the cut, and the red part is which I just couldn't, for the life of me, see in full, but this is what I *think* I saw. I also searched for these characters around a lot, but considering I'm learning kanji via Japanese and not Chinese, I'm probably missing some valuable resources. It's mostly curiousity on my behalf, so thank you anyone for your input! :D ( Small picture behind the cut )Thank you! And my sincere apologies on the horrible picture. |
linguaphiles
[ daniil_ognok ]
|
5:30p |
Polish etymology question
Dear Linguaphiles, I wonder if there are any Polish speakers or learners in this community? I've been browsing the Internet for the etymology of Pol. król, królik, and karzeł, but with little success. Any ideas? Thank you in advance! Dziękuję bardzo! EDIT: Off-topic comments temporarily screened. |
linguaphiles
[ incapability87 ]
|
2:01p |
Gants de chien?
Bonjour, linguaphiles!
While reading through Scarron's "Virgile travesti", I came upon the term "gants de chien", which he doesn't quite believe were invented in Carthago (but that's beside the point.)
A quick look in the dictionary told me that gant means glove, and a look at my dictionnaire analogique confirmed the existance of the above-mentioned combination.
The question remains: what, exactly, is a gant de chien? A glove made out of dog skin? A glove for dogs' paws? Something so ludicrous I'd never even think of it?
I beg you for help, my francophone comrades! Current Mood: curious |
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