Howdy!

Howdy! 

Long time, no see, my friends. How are you? I hope you're well, enjoying the sunshine wherever you are. Life here in Stockholm has been far from dull. Here's an update...

...I managed to burn my hand and thus decided to stop drinking tea. Apparently drinking tea is very, very dangerous. Fortunately it was my left hand and I have also forgotten my promise. So, there was no real harm done. In fact, a smoking hot cup of tea is waiting for me! 

...Belgium was lovely - much less conservative than I expected. To me, Brussels equals the European Union, a haven for all bureaucrats. Glad to admit I was wrong.

...Dutch is a funny language. All language learners have come across false friends. Klant is a spectacular false friend. Look it up! 

...speaking of languages, it's funny how one can hold a fairly decent level in a foreign language, but then struggle with other aspects. My fancy British university did not teach me how to write copy in English. Then again, I studied Politics and Russian, so maybe the initial plan did not include copywriting. Practice makes perfect, though, so no worries. I love writing in English, so I'm glad to be doing what I do. 

...we are addicted to Elementary. Or rather, I've got a wee crush on Sherlock Holmes. And that British accent. Lovely. 

...best of all - Friday is a public holiday, so there are not many days left of this week. All in all, May will be exciting and June will start with two weeks of holidays. Looking forward to that. 

Now, how are you? 

Traduciendo, bebiendo, aprendiendo.

Aiming.

Dear fellow language-learners. 

As you may have noticed, this month is all about habits and promises and resolutions and whatnot. Let's make a short summary of how to say these things in the languages spoken at the Playground.

• English: Habit. Goal/aim. Motivation. Success. Failure. 
• Finnish: Tapa. Päämäärä. Motivaatio. Onnistuminen. Epäonnistuminen. 
• Swedish: Vana. Mål. Motivation. Framgång. Misslyckande. 
• Spanish: Costumbre. Meta. Motivación. Éxito. Fracaso. 
• Polish: Obyczaj. Cel. Motywacja. Sukces. Porażka.
• Russian: привычка. цель. мотивация. успех. неуспех.
• Slovak: Zvyk. Cieľ. Motivácia. Úspech. Zlyhanie. 
• Hungarian: Szokás. Cél. Motiváció. Siker. Kudarc. 

[Habits] [Photo Diary] In 2015...

Life is all about habits - it's all about turning our wishes and desires into a form of behaviour that will turn into a habit. Only a habit will provide the constancy required for any real change in the current state of affairs.

In 2015, this is one of the things I want to turn into a habit:

[500 Days][Joy] Word Of the Day: Decadence

So, I'm visiting my parents and drinking Baileys from a wine glass. Only silence and the scent from candles surround me. Haruki Murakami's newest book awaits me and life feels generally very good.
To be honest, my life is far from decadent - BUT I do like the word. As it turns out, though, it is a very boring word to translate.

On the ferry today - while taking too much an interest in the people around me - I did even scribble down a few words on decadence.

And today's language lesson:

Swedish: dekadans
Russian: декаданс
Polish: dekadencja
Slovak: dekadencia
Hungarian: dekadencia
Spanish: decadencia

What a boring word... Finnish, we trust in you to spice things up a little bit...
Finnish: rappio THERE WE HAVE IT :)

The Art of Communication, pt. 2: the Language Perspective

In a previous post from yesterday, I wrote the following:

 The word communication comes from Latin communicare, the meaning being to share. It is the sharing of thoughts, feelings, ideas, opinions etc. When communicating, there is a receiver - a listener, a reader, a somebody. Addition: this somebody always translates the message s/he receives. 

I often like to think of communication in terms of language learning. How much does one need to know in order to be able to communicate fluently? Why is it easier to write than to speak? How does communication differ between languages and cultures? After all, language is communication. Now that I write this, I realize that there are two posts to be written. One on language and the other one on healing. 

Now I would like to continue this topic of communication in language learning. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic. 

Many - if not most - people learn a foreign language because they want to be able to communicate in it, either for business or pleasure. It is probably only read language nerds who feel motivated to learn a language just because they can.

Language learning is commonly divided into four sub-fields: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The more passive fields, listening and reading are often considered the easier ones. One of my questions "why is it easier to write than to speak?" might not be completely correct - it is my perspective that writing is easier than speaking. Some people might not agree with me. Writing is easier because one has more time to check up words, grammar... in other words, to be more precise. However, maybe this preference is connected to personality. Maybe introverts like writing more than extroverts, while extroverts are the bold speakers?

There is also the aspect of perfectionism. I remember when I was living in Russia. I refused to speak to people until I felt "ready". Just imagine how happy I was when the first comment I received was "oh, you sound like a Russian". I have mixed feelings about this perfectionism. Whereas I know that bold people who talk will learn quicker, my doubt is whether they will learn better. How to define better is, of course, again a question of personal preferences. Now we are suddenly touching the topic of fluency. What is fluency in a foreign language? When is it achieved? Maybe this topic is also connected to that of definitions. What is one's definition of language?

Yes, language is communication. But how deep does the language learner want to take the communication? Communication is so much more than the words we produce. It is how we produce them and how we use them, too. Fluency in a language requires a lot of knowledge. What words to use and when, how to say them, how to write them. Communication is about encoding and decoding. We know what we want to say, but we need to express it in such a way that the receiver translates it correctly.

Language-learning, then, is not a simple exercise. The learner, in order to gain fluency, needs to be aware of the ways in which that particular language is encoded and decoded. The ways to gain that knowledge are many; some do it by talking, others by strictly keeping their nose in the books. Whichever method one chooses, I believe it is important to be in contact with the target language, as often as possible,

Tidig gryning [SWE: Early Dawn]

Tonight's translation finds its inspiration close to home. Edith Södergran was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet who lived and wrote in the first decades of the 20th century. Her career, as well as her life, was a short one. She died at the age of 31. She is probably the most known Finnish poet and one of the most important Swedish-speaking modernists.

Below you will find two of her poems in Swedish - Tidig gryning and Vierge moderne - as well as my translations of them. The first poem I find soothing, there is something hopeful about it. The other one, I believe, is a good description of womanhood and the contradictory aspects and the complex whole of the self. 


Tidig gryning

Några sista stjärnor lysa matt. 
Jag ser dem ur mitt fönster. Himlen är blek, 
man anar knappast dagen som börjar i fjärran. 
Det vilar en tystnad utbredd över sjön, 
det ligger en viskning på lur mellan träden, 
min gamla trädgård lyssnar halvförstrött 
till nattens andetag, som susa över vägen. 

*******

A few final stars shine dimly.
I see them from my window. The sky is pale, 
one barely senses the day that begins in the distance. 
A silence is resting over the lake,
a whisper is hiding between the trees,
my old garden is listening half-distractedly
to the breaths of the night, rustling over the road


Vierge moderne

Jag är ingen kvinna. Jag är ett neutrum. 
Jag är ett barn, en page och ett djärvt beslut, 
jag är en skrattande strimma av en scharlakanssol... 
Jag är ett nät för alla glupska fiskar, 
jag är en skål för alla kvinnors ära, 
jag är ett steg mot slumpen och fördärvet, 
jag är ett språng i friheten och självet... 
Jag är blodets viskning i mannens öra, 
jag är en själens frossa, köttets längtan och förvägran, 
jag är en ingångsskylt till nya paradis. 
Jag är en flamma, sökande och käck, 
jag är ett vatten, djupt men dristigt upp till knäna, 
jag är eld och vatten i ärligt sammanhang på fria villkor... 

********

I am no woman. I am a neuter. 
I am a child, a page and a bold decision,
I am a laughing ray of a scarlet sun...
I am a net for all gluttonous fishes,
I am a bowl for the honour of all women,
I am a step toward chance and ruin,
I am a leap into freedom and the self...
I am the whisper of the blood in a man's ear,
I am the shivers of the soul, the longing and the denial of the flesh,
I am an entrance sign to new paradises. 
I am a flame, seeking and jaunty, 
I am a water, deep but daring to your knees,
I am fire and water in an honest context on free terms... 

Po polsku

Letni Dzień

To już jest koniec lata.

Ja tutaj słyszę muzykę, nic nie robię.

Za chwilę zacznie padać deszcz,

świat jest cichy.

A myślę, jak piękny jest ten język.

Jak piękny jest ten świat.

Mowię, że ten jest tylko letnim projektem.

Mowię, że tylko chcę go ulepszyć.

Wydaje mi się, że to nie prawda.

Jesteś wyjątkowy, jesteś tajemnicą.

Mowiąc prawdę, nie potrzebuję ciebie,

ale bez ciebie nie mogę żyć.

Ja chcę cię znać, jak znam mój własny.  

Linguistic Impossibilities

A while back, I had the following thought:

I have a vague memory of having read somewhere that Franz Kafka had an identity crisis of sorts that stemmed from what he called "linguistic impossibilities". I was reminded of this the other day when I spoke about the art of writing with some friends: sometimes it is so extremely difficult to express oneself in a language that one is supposed to know inside and out. For example, even though I know a language at native level, I still feel limited and "rootless", not being able to express myself the way I would like to. Other people think it sounds good, though.

Indeed, I managed to find one article on Kafka's linguistic impossibilities (here). Living in Prague at the beginning of the 19th century, German-speaking Jewish writers faced a problem related to language and writing:

"[Jewish writers] exist among three impossibilities, which I just happen to call linguistic impossibilities.... These are: The impossibility of not writing, the impossibility of writing German, the impossibility of writing differently." (F. Kafka)

 I have always wanted to write. I have written letters, e-mails, blogs. But I also always had a feeling that my language was too weak, that I had not the right skills to perfect the tool and to use it as it should be used in the contexts I want to use it. I know languages, sure I do, but I cannot turn a single one of them into poetry. In a way, I find this issue to be related to Kafka's linguistic impossibilities. When I was young, I was taught to express myself in Swedish - a language that I hated, now I only dislike it. I remember how I used to say that I'd love to write but the stories don't come to me. Now I think that the stories have been there all along, but I did not know how to express them properly. Swedish is a language that is not me, it is not my essence. However, I know it better than any other, and it's the only language I know how to play in.

Writing does fill me with joy, and this summer I have been writing. This blog has not been my focus this summer, instead my attention has drifted toward an old-fashioned notebook. I think I have solved my linguistic dilemma: I write different texts in different languages. The main story - the big one - is written in English. Only the draft, though. I will translate it myself and add the poetry and the life to it in Swedish.

Petit-déjeuner suédois - frukost på svenska

What I love - and I mean absolutely love - about weekends is the breakfast. Generally, I am not a breakfast person (as long as I get my coffee) and I don't believe that it is the most important meal of the day. However, it is nice when one has the time to calmly enjoy the food, and the coffee, and the news (or, great blogs) without the need to rush to the train.

I thought I'd make today's breakfast experience a lesson in language and culture.

This is a kanelbulle (cinnamon roll) and it is one of the finest and tastiest sweets of the Swedish cuisine. These are so delicious and you will find them in every cafe, every supermarket, in people's freezers and you will be most likely to find them in your nearest IKEA as well. And the smell? Just imagine the smell, heavenly!

Don't forget to celebrate the day of the kanelbulle on October 4.

Here comes a short list of how to say kanelbulle in the languages covered in this blog:


English: cinnamon roll
Finnish: kanelipulla
Russian: коричная плюшка
Spanish: rollo de canela
Polish: bułka cynamonowa
Slovak: Škoricový koláčik
Hungarian: fahéjas tekercs

Hello Polish [Language Challenge]

Long time no see. But my language studies have continued and next time it is time to begin with Polish [an evaluation of my progress in Slovak will come later next week].

I did learn from past mistakes and decided to take a small test of Polish, in order to have some idea of where the journey would begin. As a reference point, I decided to use the Polish proficiency test at www.transparent.com at http://www.transparent.com/learn-polish/proficiency-test.html

So, no perfection but the score is OK.

I believe that I need to work on:

• Some grammar 
• ...but mostly vocabulary. 

Vocabulary is the key for communication! As with Slovak, focus will be placed on creating text and translation. Here the advantage is that my Polish is a lot better than my Slovak so I will be able to create more freely!

Mango & Peach Smoothie

This mango & peach smoothie is refreshing and the lovely color is energizing. [Oh. Let's learn languages the smoothie-way..] The following ingredients are needed for 2-3 servings:
1 mango
1 apricot
Some orange juice
Skimmed milk.

Just throw everything in a mixer and enjoy.

Prísady: mango, broskyňa, pomarančový džús a mlieko bez tuku

Składniki: mango, brzoskwinia, sok pomarańczowy i mleko beztłuszczowe.

Ингредиенты: манго, персик, апельсиновый сок и обезжиренное молоко

Oops. [Language Challenge]

This week, while working on my language project/challenge, I realized that I had completely forgotten one of the essential rules of goal setting - having a tangible goal. 

How can I really see any improvement if I don't know where I stand and have no idea where I am heading?

In order to solve the issue I decided to jolt down all the words that I could think of in Slovak in order to define my current level. The solution is far from ideal because it wasn't thought through. I also don't believe that the amount of words can be used to measure one's level in language.It doesn't work that way - in the ideal life, quality should come over quantity.

Apart from this mishap, I am quite happy about the challenge so far. I have done some writing, I have learnt some new vocab. All in all, it's fun AND it's a way to kill time on the train. 

Moja ranná káva (SK: my morning coffee)

Ahojte!

Ako sa máte? Tu je všetko dobré.

I'm currently visiting my parents, or to be more precise - their dog. My parents are off travelling this weekend and I am having a loooong weekend from work. In a while I'll also need to defend my thesis. Then, what?

I'm quite happy about having been able to work on my Slovak this week. SJ (the main train operator in Sweden) had quite a chaotic week, which gave me loads of time to study Slovak.

The material that I use for my Slovak adventure is a book called Slovak for You by Ada Bohmerova. It's not the most interesting textbook I have seen, but it serves its purpose. I'm also carrying around on the Little Prince (Malý princ), attempting to read it once in a while.

My problem when it comes to Slovak is that I understand it. Is that a problem? It sure is! Because I understand quite a bit, I don't make much of an effort to actually memorize the Slovak version of words and grammar. The other day I was trying to put together some sentences, which was very hard as I intuitively wanted to use the Polish alphabet instead of the Slovak one. Silly me!

I believe that one can learn a lot by analyzing words and sentences. So, let's analyze the "Ako sa máte?" 

Ako sa máte? How are you?

Ako = how (compare with jak in Polish and как in Russian)
sa - this is actually a reflexive formant, which belongs to the verb mat' (to have).
máte = they have.

Conjugation of mat' and nemát' 

Ja mám - ja nemám
Ty máš - ty nemáš
On, ona, ono má - on, ona, ono nemá

My máme - my nemáme
Vy máte - vy nemáte
Oni, ony majú - oni, ony nemajú

And how to reply...

• Ďakujem, dost' dobre/celkom dobre. Quite well, thank you. 
• Bohužiaľ, nie vel'mi dobre. Unfortunately, not too well. 
• Dobre/ nie dobre. Well/ not well. 

The Multiple Language Experiment - Summer 2014

A while back I wrote about picking up some of my old languages.  I have given this some thought and have decided to do a little language project as I finally have the time to do so. I spend a total of 80 minutes on a train each working day, so why not spend the time efficiently.

3 languages. 5 days a week. 5 weeks for each language. 15 weeks.

The languages are Slovak, Polish and Russian. And this is how I'm going to do it:

• Day 1: Read from a book or other text
• Day 2: Read an article on current affairs
• Day 3: Translate the article into English
• Day 4: Translate a poem into English
• Day 5: Write a short story

I will be starting with Slovak because it is the weakest of the three languages. The goal is to be able to produce something in the language, a written text.  We will see how it goes.

Elu on väärt elamist [notes on Estonian]

Elu on väärt elamist - Life is Worth Living

How much time have you spent thinking about Estonian? 

Let me tell you, Estonian is quite an amazing language. Funny and beautiful at the same time. My boyfriend thinks it's like a more cheerful version of Finnish :)

Finnish and Estonia belong to the same Finno-Ugric language group, but they are not mutually intelligible. As a Finnish-speaker I can understand some things, but most of the time I'm out in the blue, all puzzled about what is going on around me.

Take for instance the following sentences:

• How are you? Estonian: kuidas sinul läheb? Finnish: Mitä sinulle kuuluu? 

• I don't understand. Estonian: ma ei saa aru. Finnish: minä en ymmärrä. 

• Thank you very much. Estonian: tänan väga. Finnish: kiitos paljon. 

• Life is worth living. Estonian: elu on väärt elamist. Finnish: elämä on elämisen arvoinen. 

In general, I must admit that I know shamelessly little about both the Estonian language and culture. For a country that is so close, its history, culture, language and literature are surprisingly far away. I will definitely try to improve my knowledge in the area.

A tip for you who are unfamiliar with Finnish and Estonian literature: the Finnish writer Sofi Oksanen (her mother is Estonian) has written a couple of internationally acknowledged novels, which pay attention to issues relating to Estonia. 

Pravda [SK: Truth]

Pravda

Pravda! -- Ja o nej poznám veľa.

Jej hlas mi vždy bol najdrahší.

Bohovia si ju nerozdelia

v hre pri hazardnom mariáši.

Jej trpezlivým slovom večným

kdekto sa lživo honosí.

No jej sú cudzie sladké slečny,

neznáša zlaté podnosy.

Pravda je ako voda v studni

-- čistá a prostá, hlboká.

Pravda je úsvit nezáludný,

ktorý ťa budí z obloka.

Je v tvrdých dlaniach zapísaná,

zasiata v brázdach našich čiel.

A nie je ťažká žiadna rana

na cestách, ak si za ňou šiel.

Ján Majerník,  Stalo sa, 1978

Truth

Truth! --- I know much about her .

Her voice was always the dearest to me.

May the Gods not break her

in the game of hazardous poker.

On her eternal voice of patience

many would falsely pride themselves.

Indeed, hers are strange sweet ladies,

 not carrying golden plates.

Truth is like water in a well

-- pure and simple, deep. 

Truth is the non-deceptive dawn

that awakes you from the window.

She is written in the hard palms,

planted in the furrows of our aims.

And on the roads no blow 

is heavy, if you'd gone for her yourself.

Ján Majerník,  Stalo sa, 1978 - translation mine

Doing It Right? Notes on Translation.

All of us are customers. We purchase items and services that come with a lot of information. We (or at least I) expect the information to be correct and understandable. Companies (big and small) need to think about cost-efficient solutions when creating the items and the services, as well as the information surrounding them. Logical, isn't it?

When it comes to translation, a lot of things can go wrong. If I hobby-translate some poem, my errors will (hopefully) not have a negative impact on anyone. I do not ask anyone to pay for my translation services or any other services that require translations to be correct. In other word, this criticism is not aimed at language-learning individuals. I question the behavior of companies that do not take these things seriously. However, in the role of customer I feel that I have the right to expect the service provider to provide me with correct information and correct translations. This past weekend I went to Estonia with an Estonian ferry company that provided all information in four languages: Estonian, Swedish, Russian and English. That is great, isn't it? But - and of course there is a but - why pay for a translator if nobody proofreads the text? My opinions continue after the examples. I have done a word-by-word translation of the Swedish texts.

Beauty salon Hera Salongid is for You who You love Yourself and value Your time. When You are always hurrying Yourself in Your hectic life and don't have time to go everywhere, help is sometimes closer than You think! We help You find the most important - Yourself. To again find inspiration within You and to move toward new experiences and challenges. Here with us Your face, Your Body, Your hands and feet can relax. 

The cleaning of the cabins starts well before the ship arrives to the harbor. I suite and Lyx cabins are cleaned during the cruise, other cruise cabins are emptied only trash bins. The passengers may store their baggage (misspelled) and their personal belongings in the cabin until the ferry arrives to the harbor. We kindly ask you to leave the cabin door open when the journey is reaching its end.  

Here we have a ball pit, slide, toys, pain tools the toilet and nursery for the children. During school holidays there is a play leader for children. NB! Parents are responsible for their children. 

The latest dance hits choose the DJ. Modern sound technology and impressing Light suits all who value the trendiest beats. 

These examples are harmless. Nobody will get hurt if it is the hits that choose the DJ rather than the opposite. But, how can I trust that information concerning more important things (what to do when the boat starts sinking) is correct? Can I be 100% that the staff will understand what I say if there is no intention to use the language correctly? (Here I would like to mention that staff with name tags indicating that they know Swedish rather spoke English). It would be fine with me that Swedish wouldn't be used at all - but if you are going to use it, do it properly! Am I a happy customer? Not really.

Time For A Language Project?

My dear friends, I have been thinking (miracles do happen from time to time). My fingers are itching for a new language project, but I do not know where to start. One thing is sure, I will not start a new language as I have more than one language that I could improve - I don't think that I need to know more languages.

Quality over quantity is the keyword this time. I do not need to impress anyone with the quantity of languages that I speak - I prefer to be able to show that I speak them well. 

So. Where do we stand at the moment? (obviously at some crazy place as I'm speaking of myself in the plural). Swedish, Finnish and English are OK. Of course they could be improved. I don't think that an effort put into mother tongues or advanced languages is ever wasted. But they are OK. Spanish, Russian, Polish. I know them well, but have forgotten a lot. They need to be improved. Hungarian, Slovak: need to be improved even more. And then there's French and Germany, languages that I learnt at school and would like to be able to read in. Or at least order coffee :)

So, now I need tips. 

How would you organize a project for improving your skills in 5-7 languages? There is no need to worry too much about grammar, so it is mainly the vocabulary that needs improvement.  

The Many Faces of Language Learning

As many of you know, I love learning foreign languages. There is nothing quite as wonderful as grasping the meaning of new, exotic sounds and words, writing that very first sentence.

In the past couple of month I have come across another type of language learning. It has been a learning process because the field is completely new to me. Quite frankly, it has been a great eye-opener.

In my Master's thesis I did a critical discourse analysis (CDA) on parts of the constitutions of Slovakia, Poland and Russia. According to Wikipedia, "Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views language as a form of social practice and focuses on the ways social and political domination are reproduced in text and talk". 

The approach gave me a completely new view on language-learning. What do all those little words mean? What is their impact? What is the context of the whole story? Who is involved? 

When doing a critical discourse analysis, one may take one of several approaches. My work was inspired by the analysis process developed by Norman Fairclough. In essence my analysis focused on the relationship between language and norms within a complex and transformative context, including such factors as discursive events, meanings, representations and assumptions. 

I believe that a critical stance is needed in most aspects of life in order to understand the world around us - and a language nerd like me obviously loves it when language is thrown into the mix. 



Further reading; 

• Fairclough, Norman (1989). Language and Power. London: Longman.

• Teun A. Van Dijk. (2008). Discourse and Power. Houndsmills: Palgrave.

• Wodak Ruth (ed). Critical Discourse Analysis. Available at https://www.academia.edu/2544299/Wodak_Ruth_Ed_Critical_Discourse_Analysis._Four_Volumes